With the WSOP now underway, can you tell us about the dealers that work the event? How many are used during the course of the tournament? Are they local, or does Caesars bring them in from other parts of the country, just like Churchill Downs does with pari-mutuel clerks for the Kentucky Derby? Do they have special training and certifications in order to work? How much money do they make?
Hiring for the World Series of Poker begins in late February for rehires. About 80% of WSOP dealers are rehires. The other 20% have to audition for the job from a mix of 19 different games (unless they have so strong a poker-dealing resumé that an audition would be a waste of time).
They don’t get special training, though there are multi-page manuals full of rules for each of the games dealt, live action, and tournaments. You can see these for yourselves by going to wsopdealersandstaff.com and clicking on Dealer Information.
We couldn’t determine the total number of dealers for this year’s World Series of Poker or in past years either. But we did locate the number of dealers for the Main Event, which, averaged, have worked out to roughly one dealer for every 8-9 players -- depending on staffing, there were 720-860 dealers for around 6,800 players.
We can say that with more than 100,000 players participating in tournaments and cash games running 16 hours a day for 48 days, a lot of dealing jobs are created during the series. We understand that, with such a high demand for poker dealers, it’s not difficult to book and pass the audition, get a foot in the door, and accrue a lot of good experience during the tournament. Having the WSOP on your resume is a feather in your cap for future dealing employment.
Of course, it’s a pressure-cooker environment, not for the faint of heart. Dealers are in charge of thousands of hands a week and often switch game types every 30 minutes. Mistakes are almost guaranteed, especially for the less experienced. Some players, also the less experienced, get riled and can take it out on dealers, which causes them to get flustered, and it becomes a vicious circle.
Then there are the angle-shooters, mean-spirited players who fluster dealers on purpose. Good poker dealers try to anticipate a player’s next action, even the cards they’re holding. Angle-shooters aim to throw off a dealer’s expectation, just to make them look stupid.
Dealers come from all over the country, though this year, the WSOP isn’t participating in the H2-B Visa Sponsorship Program, which it has in the past. So no international dealers are employed. But Caesars doesn’t exactly “bring them in.” Out-of-town dealers come in on their own, paying for their own transportation and lodging. Many share houses rented for six to eight weeks; others take rooms in extended-stay motels like Budget Suites.
Meals are provided while on shift in the break room. We’ve heard it’s “a step up from cafeteria food” — a lot of baked chicken and mixed vegetables. We suspect that In N Out Burger, down the street at the corner of Dean Martin and Tropicana, gets a lot of WSOP dealer business.
Dealers are paid in half-hour increments called “downs.” Per hour, it equates to $21-$22. Tips aren’t much these days, especially when the tournament withholds 3% of the prize pool for dealer (1.8%) and floor staff (1.2%) tokes.
One of the tournament’s top dealers, who travels to Las Vegas for the WSOP, claims that she needs to earn $15,000 for the six weeks to make the whole thing worth her while, though others say they make more like $5,000-$7,000 for the entire tournament.
