Breaking In

Breaking in can refer to break-in dealers, break-in houses, and breaking in to the casino industry itself.

What Does Break-In Mean?

The word “Break-in” means being brand new. So the term “break in dealer” is referring to a brand new dealer who just started dealing at a casino and is learning the ropes.

Break-In Dealers

The first decision you have to make as a break in dealer is what game do you want to learn first?

If you have a choice between blackjack and craps, learn blackjack first. This is an easy game to learn and you can get hired and start making money quickly. As you are dealing blackjack and making money, then that’s the time to learn craps.

The reason why is because it takes a craps dealers 2 years to learn the game and become decent. Just decent. And that’s dealing the game 5 days a week 8 hours a day. This is a hard game with years of learning, so learn blackjack first. Blackjack is a game that will take you a week or two to learn.

Then you can get a job and start making money and then learn craps on your breaks or during your off hours. Besides, you’ll want to learn as many games as possible anyway because this will make you more valuable as a dealer, however if you learn blackjack first you can bring home a paycheck faster.

Takeaway: Start by learning to deal an easier game to break in faster.

Break-In Houses

A break in house is referring to a casino that hires new break in dealers and they teach them how to deal.

When you’re first starting off and you’ve never auditioned before, make a list of break in casinos and number them from 1, the casino you want to work at the most, to 10, the casino you want to work at the least. Starting at number 10, apply and audition to all of the casinos on the list until you get to number 1.

By then you will have gotten over any stage fright you might have and made all of the mistakes that were going to be made. You’ll be confident, you’ll know what to expect and you’ll ace the audition. Las Vegas casinos expect their dealers to arrive with some knowledge and then they’ll train their dealers the rest of the way.

In Las Vegas a list of break in houses would include:

• Gold Coast
• El Cortez
• the Plaza
• Tuscany
• Silver Sevens
• Ellis Island
• Poker Palace
• Joker’s Wild
• Club Fortune
• Arizona Charlie’s Decatur
• Bighorn / Longhorn
• Circus Circus
• Golden Gate
• Lucky Club
• Railroad Pass

If you know of any more Las Vegas break in houses, please let us know!

Outside of Las Vegas, in the mid to east parts of the states, some break in houses will offer a school where they teach dealers. This usually happens when there are very few casinos around.

Breaking Into the Casino Industry

Okay, so how do you actually break into the industry? Practice shuffling, cutting cheques and dealing blackjack at home.

Create your top 10 list and let’s break you into the industry.

The first thing you want to do is put your application into the system via online. Go to the casino’s website and look for Jobs, Human Resources or Careers. Find the job opening for casino dealer, multi-game dealer or blackjack dealer and submit your application.

Then a day or so later, go to the casino pit dressed in your salt and peppers and ask for the Shift Manager. Salt and Pepper means black slacks or dress pants. Black shoes. White collared long-sleeved button down shirt. When the shift manager arrives, let him know that you are interested in working there as a dealer and he’ll tell you to put your application into the system. Tell him you already did that and you were hoping to schedule an audition. He may have you audition right then and there (which is why it’s important to wear your salt and peppers). Or he may schedule you for an audition later.

Once you’ve been hired as a dealer, you’ll always be a casino dealer. You have broken into the casino industry. Congrats!

After you’ve been hired, don’t worry. They won’t throw you on your first game by yourself. You’ll be shadowed for the first few days you’re at the casino. A veteran dealer will watch you deal the game for the whole 8 hours and they will make sure you deal the cards correctly, give out accurate payouts and if something happens and you don’t know what to do, your shadow will guide you through the process.

For the veteran dealer, being a shadow doesn’t receive any additional bonus pay, it’s just a job you’re assigned to.