It has been said that the only surefire way to earn money at the poker table is to become a paid dealer. There’s a bit of truth to that. But becoming a dealer is not the only career available in poker. Let’s take a look at some of the job opportunities that have been created as poker has spread worldwide.
Shuffle Up and Deal
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), some 34,110 workers were gainfully employed in the U.S. as “gaming dealers” as of May 2011. Worldwide, the number is certainly more than double that level. Not all of them deal poker, of course, but even among those who do, the majority must be trained in dealing a variety of table games.
What exactly is involved in being a dealer? They must stand or sit behind a table and operate games of chance by dispensing the appropriate number of cards to players or by operating other gaming equipment. They must compare hands to determine winners. They are responsible for distributing winnings or collecting players’ money or chips.
Dealers come from a variety of educational backgrounds and prior occupations. Before even being interviewed for a dealing job, a prospect must be able to show at least six months of experience or a completion certificate from a recognized dealing school. What personnel interviewers seem to value most in prospective dealers are good people skills, the ability to handle stress and an aptitude for quick thinking. It also helps to be willing to work any day of the week and any shift.
BLS surveys indicate that dealers make up about 18.7% of all gambling industry employees. Their hourly mean wage is $12.02, of which nearly 40% comes from tips, resulting in an annual average income of $25,010. The top five U.S. states employing dealers are Nevada, California, New Jersey, Washington and Mississippi.
Climbing the Ladder
Casinos tend to rotate dealers through various games and tables to build their experience and utility. Those who do well at the bottom rung of the ladder may very well be able to climb their way up after a year or two to a supervisory position.
Card room shift managers supervise the card room during assigned shifts. They create and administer the dealer rotation throughout the card room, ensuring that dealers adhere to the rules, procedures and gaming regulations. Where jackpots are involved, they handle payoffs during the course of their shift.
Becoming a card room shift manager typically requires a high school diploma or its equivalent and at least five years of poker room experience or related casino work. The job requires the ability to lead and direct the work of others, with a wide degree of creativity and latitude, while reporting to the head of a unit/department.
According to Salary.com, card room shift managers earn annual salaries between $35,196 and $63,295, with the median at $48,362. Bonuses can easily add another $10,000 to those figures, and benefits may include 401k or pensions options, healthcare and paid leave.
A step above the card room shift manager is the card room manager, who oversees all of the shifts and the card room personnel. This position pays $51,332 to $112,027 per year, with a median of $65,932 and annual bonuses on the order of $25,000-$45,000.
More Opportunities
Those who prefer to avoid the corporate ladder but still want to make a living off poker have quite a few options, not the least of which is writing about poker professionally. Many poker books have gone on to become bestsellers, such as David Sklansky’s 1976 classic “Hold’em Poker” and Ryan Sleeper’s 2010 “Advanced Hold’em Volume 1.” Meanwhile, well-monetized poker blogs churn out regular incomes for card-playing scribes by the hundreds.
Skilled players may find that giving poker lessons or developing tutorials actually pays better than spending hours at the table themselves. Opening a poker school is certainly a much easier business undertaking than starting up a licensed card room, and courses can be offered online to enable remote learning.
Even for those who have no card sense whatsoever, opportunities exist. The affiliate programs of major Internet poker rooms pay well for introducing new players, so that anyone with a bit of marketing savvy can hop on the gravy train. And joining a syndicate to back a player’s entry in the World Series of Poker can pay off big if the cards fall right.
Then, of course, there is the ultimate dream of working as a professional poker player. Most who survive this way start out in small stakes cash games, online or off. They may earn less than minimum wage for months and even years, as they put in the hours required to master the craft. There are no salary guarantees, health benefits or paid days off. Setbacks are common on the road to a WSOP bracelet.
As an indication of how the BLS views “Professional Poker Players,” in March 2011 the occupation was added as a match to category 27-2099: “Entertainers and Performers, Sports and Related Workers, All Other.” They are lumped together with puppeteers, story tellers, stunt performers, clowns, wire walkers and fortune tellers, which in a twisted way fits the job description just perfectly.