Classes forming soon to learn the casino ropes

Want to be a dealer at one of Pennsylvania's casinos, soon to offer table games?

You need to know more than when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.

You must master "chunking, mucking, and racking" chips, know the casino chain of command, understand how to spin the wheel and call the dice.

Dealers who want to work table games - recently approved by the state legislature and expected to come to casinos over the next year - will be required to get as many as 160 hours of training to earn a license to run even one game.

The guidelines for gaming-school instruction were recently developed by the Department of Labor and Industry in consultation with the Department of Education and the Gaming Control Board. The guidelines, in part based on rules in other states that have table games, were posted on the Labor Department's Web site last month.

Required training hours vary by game: 120 for blackjack, 160 for craps, 80 for poker, roulette and baccarat.

"People who play poker for fun have no idea how intensive this training is," said Paul Pierpoint, vice president of community education at Northampton Community College, which is gearing up a training program. "There's a lot of repetition and a lot of practice. Some of these are complicated, high-stakes games."

Community colleges in Bucks County and Philadelphia are reviewing the curriculum and looking into the possibility of offering training. Community colleges in Montgomery and Delaware Counties said they had no plans to do so.

Pierpoint's school in the Bethlehem area will train workers for the Sands Casino in Bethlehem and Mount Airy Casino in the Poconos.

The staffers working on the courses are also getting an education, Pierpoint said.

An employee recently was told to order "dealer shoes." She wondered how she could possibly know what size feet future dealers would have, he said. In casino world, "shoes" are the device from which playing cards are dealt.

"We're learning a whole new language," he said.

Pierpoint expects most people to become licensed in two games to start, the minimum requirement for hiring.

In some places, casinos likely will offer the training, said Richard McGarvey, a spokesman for the Gaming Control Board.

Four of the state's nine casinos have applied, he said. Pennsylvania estimates a need for about 5,000 dealers, he said.

Already, several of the nine casinos in operation, including Harrah's Chester Casino, have begun holding job fairs to hire dealers and other staff in anticipation of table games.

Besides the Sands, Mount Airy and Harrah's, Pennsylvania has casinos in Bensalem, Wilkes-Barre, Harrisburg, Washington County, Pittsburgh, and Erie. Five more casinos are scheduled to open, including two in Philadelphia, one in Valley Forge, and two others in locations yet to be determined.

The training programs will cover game rules, terminology, types of bets, procedures for inventory, and strategies for game protection. It also will instruct students in how to recognize problem and compulsive gamblers.

"They really need to make sure they are in control of the table at all times," McGarvey said.

Pierpoint said Northampton bought its program from Atlantic-Cape Community College, which has trained more than 50,000 workers at its casino career institute since 1978.

The Sands and Mount Airy have committed to hiring many local dealers, 100 at Mount Airy and about 200 at the Sands. In addition, the casinos will import experienced dealers and managers, Pierpont said.

The managers will start three months early and teach the classes at Northampton, Pierpoint said. The casinos also are supplying tables for training.

"We're going to have 18 blackjack tables at our Bethlehem [campus] alone," he said. "It will look like a small casino floor."

Registration for the noncredit classes, which will run four to eight weeks depending on the game, began Monday for the Poconos location and begins today for Bethlehem. The classes start this month. Graduates will get certificates.

Starting wages will exceed $28,000, probably closer to $35,000 with tips, Pierpont said.