Are Dealer Schools Legit? | Las Vegas Advisor

The question regarding employment for a college student and the comments made about it, prompts me to ask about those dealer schools. Do they result in paying positions in the gambling industry? Are they legit? Would that be a place to go for a young math major looking to enter the job market?

[Editor's Note: This answer comes from Andrew Uyal, a table-games supervisor at a Strip megaresort.]

If you're looking to enter the job market in Las Vegas, in casino gaming specifically, starting at a dealing school gives you the best chance. The best of them, and one we've recommended in the past, has unfortunately closed its doors, but a handful of others include PCI, CEG, and Royal Dealing schools. These are the best way to learn the fundamentals, including the rules and mechanics of being a casino dealer.

As far as whether the dealing schools are all legitimate, unfortunately, not all of them are. There are quite a lot to choose from and not all of them are run by people with qualified casino knowledge. Some are run by people with good knowledge who, in turn, hire people who aren't qualified to teach the classes. It's a bit of a risk, like any class of any kind, all the way up to the university level. You never know what the teacher/professor you get will be like.

If you stick to the bigger-name schools that we mentioned, though, you're more likely to be in a good situation. One of the marks of a quality dealing school is a job-placement program. The people who run the best schools often have connections with a few casinos to which they can send their students for an audition upon completion of the necessary courses. The job-placement program doesn't guarantee a job, but it gets you a chance.

Any school that promises you a job is worthy of caution. The good schools will tell you that you get out of the school what you put into it and that getting a job after completion rests solely on your shoulders, but they do help you get a chance to audition, which alone is worth the price of admission.

You may think being a math major gives you a leg up and you're probably right. The payouts may come more easily to you than some, but casino math is different from book math. So for those who aren't math majors, don't let that deter you from wanting to be a dealer or get into the casino business. I've never gotten higher than a C in any math class I've ever taken, but casino math comes rather easily for me. It's a new angle on the math we're familiar with (or unfamiliar with, in my case).

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sunny78 Aug-08-2025

in-house training

Would think some casinos offer in-house training too? It's not brain surgery to learn how to deal blackjack, be a craps dealer, etc. and seems like in a week or so, it could be taught to people to be good enough to go to work as dealers. I frankly don't know how these people work dealing for years on end, especially when it's slow, it seems a slow job often to say the least.

Donzack Aug-08-2025

Books

Any books on casino math?

Doug Miller Aug-08-2025

Not a substitute, but . . .

I once volunteered to be a craps dealer at a charity casino night that used a real casino craps table.  I knew how to deal blackjack having played it so often, but not so much with craps.  I turned to YouTube and I was impressed by how many videos were out there, and most of them appeared to be hosted by someone with authentic experience from a casino.  I am not suggesting that you could just show up at a Las Vegas casino and tell them, “I spent last week watching YouTube videos on how to be a casino dealer, can I have a job?” but it might be a wise step to take before you go to one of those schools.

thebeachbum Aug-08-2025

Dealer - Best Job Ever

I went to the Nick Kallos Casino Gaming School.  It was a good experience that led to a job.  I was there when the door opened every day.  Nick would come by my table almost daily, watch me deal, and offer tips.  One day he stopped by and said you need to go to work.  Sent me on an audition and I got the job.  Best job I ever had.  Total enjoyment interacting with the players.  Never a dull moment.  A family illness caused me to return to Texas.  But I thank Nick for the best job ever.

Gregory Aug-08-2025

Not just dealing

I think one point that might be missed here is that there's more to dealing than just throwing cards at people.  I think you have to have the right skillset both personally and physically. Standing stationary for hours is hard.  Dealing with different types of personalities is also not skill that can not really be taught.  This goes for many customer facing careers. Just because you know how to mix a drink, does not make you a bartender.

Gregory Aug-08-2025

Not just dealing (edit)

I think one point that might be missed here is that there's more to dealing than just throwing cards at people.  I think you have to have the right skillset both personally and physically. Standing stationary for hours is hard.  Dealing with different types of personalities is a skill that can't really be taught (at least not genuinely). This goes for many customer facing careers. Just because you know how to mix a drink, does not make you a bartender.

O2bnVegas Aug-08-2025

Training vs real life

I'm guessing that a dealer is subject to more pressure/stress on the job than we imagine.  Perhaps the particular casino as well as the personality of the pit 'boss' of the day/shift has a lot to do with how much ease or anxiety felt on a given day. Both are on camera, after all!

Some dealers, when calling out "two-hundred cash" for the pit to verify, will not procede until acknowledged; others seem to go on, though maybe they are old timers who aren't under the gun as much as newby would be.  Just my guess.

One dealer told me she was disciplined when a boss accused her of turning away from her chip tray.  She swears she did not, she always puts hands at left and right of the tray if she has to look left or right.

King of the Bovines Aug-09-2025

Good and bad dealing schools

Back when I was running poker rooms in the Puget Sound area, the audition process I would do was pretty straightforward.

One school would drill the students how to pitch cards, the other didn't.  And the difference was obvious.

Only one dealer from the 'bad' school sticks out in my memory as being a good dealer - mainly because he practiced his pitch seemingly every waking momemt.

For any poker dealers reading, the dealer would be given a deck to spread out and verify that all the cards were there.

Spoiler alert - the seven of clubs was in my shirt pocket.

Actually had one guy count the stub, and still didn't know.

Then there was the craziness - acting out of turn, string betting, improper raises, half or more rules (low limit Hold'em and Omaha/8 were the main games), oversized chip rule.  Stuff like that.

The ones that were excessively nervous, or didn't try to control the table didn't get the job.

That's the big pass / fail - simply controlling the table.

Question of the Day - 08 August 2025

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