Careers in the Gaming Industry

CAREERS IN THE

GAMING INDUSTRY

Institute Research Number 435 ISBN 1-58511-435-9 O*Net SOC Codes 39-3011.00, 39-1011.00, 43-3041.00, 11-9071.00, 33-9031.00

CAREERS IN THE

GAMING INDUSTRY CASINO RESORT EMPLOYMENT DEALERS TO MANAGERS STATE REGULATORS THINK OF A BUILDING AS LARGE AS A SPORTS ARENA, ENCOMPASSING

thousands of individual rooms, a large gambling floor, swimming pools, kitchens, golf courses, stages, thrill rides, restaurants, retail shopping, luxury accommodations and amenities, indoor nature habitats (marine and jungle environments) and several thousand visitors every day.

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That’s a modern casino resort. They’re all over the world, their numbers are growing every year, and they employ thousands of people in a wide range of different and essential positions. In the United States, the casino as it is now known is a relatively new phenomenon. Of course, gambling has existed in one form or another for thousands of years, but formal, legal, brick and mortar casinos only really started to appear during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Due to poor financial times, several states legalized gambling around the same time that the nation repealed Prohibition. Since the founding of the country, casinos were largely found in border or port cities. Some of the first casinos were riverboats traveling up and down the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Those disappeared toward the end of the 1800s. Most early gambling was done informally in saloons and taverns. In the mid-1940s, a New York gangster thought of a different vision for legalized gambling. He thought that a casino with a luxury hotel and glamorous entertainment next to a small airport would draw people from all over the world. Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel pioneered the idea of a gambling destination that would draw in millions of tourists. In 60 years, Las Vegas went from being a tiny Mormon outpost and Hoover Dam construction town to being one of the fastest growing cities in the country – going from less than 10,000 residents to more than a half-million. Many of the residents of Clark County work, in one way or another, for the casino industry. A casino needs a large team of professionals to keep the games playing and the gamblers moving. At the point of contact with the gamblers are the dealers. The dealers must be masters of the games they run on the casino floor. The training not only involves an absolute knowledge of the rules and game play of each game, they also have to be able to operate at lightning speed. A dealer has to be able to do certain kinds of math instantaneously. In a game of blackjack the dealer has to announce the count of every hand at the table as it falls and correctly announce the result of every additional card added to each hand as well as his/her own. The dealer also has to calculate winnings and ratios of pay for bets as they come in. This has to be done quickly and correctly every single time without fail. 3

On a craps table, a team of dealers work in concert to manage several bets by several gamblers playing at any given time. Dealers there must know where every bet is, what ratio it pays out at and who gets paid based on the roll of the dice. There are many dealer-run games in a casino, each with different rules and different requirements for correct play. While the dealer is doing this math, receiving cash, changing it into chips and paying or taking bets, he/she is also the face of the gaming establishment and the person with whom the gambler will have the most contact with. Above them in the hierarchy on the gambling floor are the pit bosses and floor men, usually former dealers who watch all of the games simultaneously. While they are keeping an eye on how everyone is playing, they’re the more direct line between the player and the house. The pit bosses arrange for special arrangements for big players and can accommodate players with nearly anything they need to stay at the table. There are waiters and waitresses serving customers at play and security guards to do everything from escort cash boxes to keeping a close eye on rambunctious guests. There are security officers watching the casino floor from banks of screens accurate enough to count chips on the tables. In the back of the casinos, teams of employees count every dollar changed into chips on the casino floor. The millions of dollars they come into contact with every day are handed over to accountants. The accountants report to business administrators. On the other side of the walls, away from the glitter and noise, a casino is no different than any other large business operation. Since a significant portion of casino revenues are generated from slot machines, casinos have teams of highly educated electrical engineers and electronics experts on hand to keep those machines running smoothly. When they’re not servicing those machines, the same workers are managing the miles of wires (coaxial, telephone, electric and fiber optic) running through the walls and the floor. While the money is changing hands on the casino floor, there are still many other facilities to consider. A modern casino resort offers more than just gambling. These operations include every feature of a full-service hotel. There have to be maids, desk 4

workers, concierges, valet parkers, maintenance crews, waiters, bartenders, security officers, hospitality specialists, lifeguards and dishwashers. The casinos also offer entertainment. Since one table game or slot machine is not much different than another, casino resorts regularly book the biggest acts they can. To get his casino off the ground, Siegel encouraged his friends in music and movies to come to his Las Vegas resort to play in the casino and perform on his stages. The current Las Vegas is no different, and all major casinos follow suit. While touring acts come in from all over the world, some establishments have permanent shows that run continuously. Performers like Danny Gans, Celine Dion and Circe du Soleil have their own theaters in casinos. For many years, the magic animal act Siegfried and Roy had a white lion habitat attraction at the casino they played in. To make this happen, casino resorts have entertainment business offices either booking acts for every day of the week or providing the kind of luxurious living arrangements that attract a major entertainer to set up residence in town. These establishments will also try to lure major name chefs to set up restaurants in their hotels. While every resort will offer a full-service buffet (and many are quite famous for them) they’ll also try to bring in a chef who will create a premier dining experience for their guests. More than an amenity, these restaurants are a marketing advantage for the resorts. Casino resorts thrive on bringing in more than just full houses; they need to bring in big players. These businesses have teams of professionals (designers, artists, chefs) working in concert to offer high rollers or “whales” unique and memorable experiences. The benefits of bringing in a player who is willing to drop a half-million dollars over a weekend drives casino resorts to offer lavish accommodations and premium services. Of course, when there are millions of dollars changing hands, the government is going to be watching closely. Every gambling establishment in the country has to answer to some state or federal guidelines for its operation, management and taxation. Careers in the field of gaming regulation are varied and complex. State gaming officers or agents may have expertise in one or more of the following areas: auditing, corporate security, law 5

enforcement, business administration, technology, investigation, and taxes and licensing. The regulatory agencies are the guarantors of the legitimacy and honesty of the casino industry. Gambling continues to have a negative reputation with many people. Only recently has gaming become respectable. Long held beliefs about the immorality of gambling, and therefore gamblers, still persist. Some people believe, no matter what anyone says, that the games are all rigged. If you don’t approve of gambling personally, then, needless to say, a casino career is not for you. Because the government taxes income, corporate and private, it is involved with casino oversight. Amounts of hard cash can be skimmed and underreported in a number of different ways and government regulators are on hand to make sure that doesn’t happen. But rather than a hindrance to the industry, the regulation is very much a public relations shield. Because the government is watching almost as closely as the eye-in-the-sky cameras, people can rest assured that the games in a casino are as clean as they can be. Casinos benefit from the state’s watchfulness as much as the players do. Violation of a gaming law can result in the loss of a gaming license, and no casino operator is going to risk that. Nationwide, at least 46 states have some kind of gambling, from lotteries to Native American casinos to commercial operations like the ones in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New Orleans and Detroit. Overall, casino resorts pull in tens of billions of dollars annually. The number of casino resort operations nationwide is expected to continue to rise, along with employment demands and opportunities.

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HISTORY OF THE GAMING INDUSTRY LIKE MANY PASTIMES, GAMBLING HAS BEEN AROUND FOR MILLENNIA. WHILE

the formal casino with its table games and hotel/resort operations is relatively new, people have been placing bets on everything under the sun for thousands of years. Dice and other gaming artifacts have been found in Egyptian tombs. Ancient cultures, like the Japanese, Romans and Greeks, wagered on games of skill, games of chance and athletic events. Roman chariot races were probably not the first horse racing events, but they were some of the first to offer spectators an official “window” to place their bets at. Similarly, the blood sports of Greek games and the Roman coliseum were events where people regularly and legally placed wagers. At one point in Roman history, the law ordered that gambling and dice were to be part of every child’s education. It was the French in the 1300s that invented the first decks of playing cards. Johannes Gutenberg, who invented the printing press and ushered in the revolution of the printed word, printed the first full decks of playing cards in the 1400s. The Dutch government in the 1700s developed the first true lottery for its residents (still in operation today), and the first legal casino opened in 1765 in Switzerland. After the War for Independence, American gambling operations went on without much notice by lawmakers at all. Riverboat gambling was a booming industry, and ports of call up and down the Mississippi River were known for their communities of gamblers either disembarking or getting onto these floating gaming houses. It was on the American riverboat that the French game “poque” took on aspects of British and German card games to become the well-known game “poker.” Big cities, home to established interests from other industries, started to spawn their own gaming operations. More upscale and, in many cases, private clubs started offering gaming to a clientele that could place larger bets. Where the riverboats were a more democratic, inclusive place to play for many people, more rarified operations opened in the great cities where someone sitting down with a small fortune could play against people with similar bankrolls.

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Dovetailed with Prohibition, gambling was made illegal in most American states in the beginning of the 1900s and stayed that way through the beginning of the Great Depression. The repeal of Prohibition and the need to generate revenues caused many states to re-legalize gambling in the 1930s. At this time, 21 states brought back racetrack betting, and bingo parlors (mostly low-stakes charity operations) opened nationwide. By the 1950s, most states would offer some kind of pari-mutuel (pool and off-site betting) operations. Nevada had been an important mining state for many years when it legalized gambling and also liberalized its divorce laws in 1931. Around the same time, the nearby Hoover Dam project was ramping up to full speed bringing tens of thousands of workers and their families into the Las Vegas area. There had been gaming operations in Reno to the north for many years, but it took a World War to put the city on the map and bring it to the attention of East Coast interests. Noting that nearby Nellis Air Force Base, a stopover for military flights through the continental US, brought many men for an overnight stay, many casinos opened in the city to accommodate them. After the war, those operations were expanded to try to draw in tourists that would normally not come to the desert community. In less than 10 years after WWII, gambling and tourism became the number one employers in the Las Vegas valley. The city became known for its entertainment choices – something which would become a template for gaming operations everywhere. To this day, casinos everywhere include at least one major stage for musical and variety acts. During the time when the US government was doing atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the Nevada desert, Las Vegas promoters made sure tourists knew which way to look to see the nation’s newest weapons going off at all hours of the night. A good portion of the East Coast money that made the community expand were, famously, from organized crime operations. It was during this time that the casinos started offering top-name entertainment and amenities beyond the gaming operations that was the mainstay of business. With an “anything goes” mindset, the city became known as “sin city” and its legend grew. Organized crime brought its own problems to Las 8

Vegas as well as its own solutions. It could be fairly said that the seediness generated by the illegal activity helped no one, but it was also said it provided the city with a second police force. In the late 1960s, a major development that would transform the city began with the eccentric decisions of a single man. Billionaire industrialist Howard Hughes moved into the Desert Inn and rather than deal with the management of the hotel, he purchased the building and its casino outright. In two years, he purchased six other casino/resorts and started a transformation of the city that continues to this day. The important change for the city, and gambling operations nationwide, resulted from Hughes’ rethinking of the city and the example he set for corporate America. Surrounded by members of the Church of Latter Day Saints (he was not a member, but he didn’t trust anyone else with his business operations), he reinvented the city as a respectable place to visit, to host a convention and, most importantly, to invest in. Hughes made the gaming industry acceptably respectable and stable for investors of all kinds. The late 1970s and 1980s marked an incredible boom time for the city as corporate America stepped into the gaming industry and built magnificent palaces in Las Vegas. The building boom also created a population boom of seven percent annual growth per year between 1985 and 1995. Part of the boom, of course, has to do with construction. Las Vegas gaming houses are sprawling, multistory buildings with lighted, complex, highly stylized features encompassing thousands of hotel rooms as well as large gaming areas, multiple restaurants and retail shops, stages, pools, and ancillary amenities that sometime include their own golf courses and thrill rides. Armies of construction workers, electronics experts, artists and artisans are needed to put them together. After these gargantuan operations are built, other armies of cooks, maids, janitors, maintenance people, hospitality workers, dealers, pit bosses, managers, security officers, waiters, grounds people and sometimes large animal handlers, are needed to keep the palaces running. The city grows so fast that the public education system is perpetually overcrowded with the constant influx of families moving to Clark County. The formula seemed simple, but it wouldn’t work everywhere. 9

The good times in Las Vegas convinced city leaders in Atlantic City, New Jersey to take a chance on legalized gambling in 1976. That year, state voters approved legalized gambling in the city and the first casino opened two years later. The experiment didn’t go as well as expected. Where Las Vegas was an island of comfort in the middle of a desert, Atlantic City was within driving distance of the major cities of the Eastern seaboard. People came to gamble, but they weren’t staying in the hotels a week at a time, if at all. Revenues were not nearly as high as projected at the outset of the campaign to legalize gambling. Changes in management style and promotion have improved those results greatly for the casinos and the state, but they were 20 years in coming. Similar plans for casino gambling in other cities (Detroit and New Orleans, for instance) have met with mixed results as well. At the very same time in 1976, gambling was legalized on Indian reservations. The US Supreme Court ruled that year that states did not have the legal jurisdiction to supersede Native American tribal authority. Later court rulings reinforced that authority by establishing the tribes’ ability to establish gaming operations. By 1988, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act set the stage for gambling for profit on tribes’ land. It was left for each state to come up with particular arrangements and regulations with their respective Native American tribes. Currently, Native American gaming operations are a multibillion-dollar business. The Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut is the largest of its type in the world, encompassing more than 4.7 million square feet. The advent of Native American gaming has not been entirely beneficial, though. The casinos do not generally have the same reputation and status that other operations have. The effect on tribal politics, in some cases, has been corrosive. When a tribe’s revenues from gambling top $100 million annually, decisions about how that money gets spent can become contentious. In some states, tribal councils can throw out election results for any reason whatsoever and can have effective lifetime terms of office. Those disaffected or disenfranchised by these actions have no recourse to law outside the reservation. American states have no authority to impose on the internal affairs of the tribes residing within.

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WHERE YOU WILL WORK THINK YOU HAVE TO MOVE TO LAS VEGAS TO WORK IN A CASINO. FACT IS, YOU

don’t. Nearly every state has some sort of casino, either privately owned, owned by publicly traded companies, or owned and operated by Native American tribes. Two large and profitable casinos aren’t anywhere near Las Vegas; they are in Connecticut – Foxwoods in Ledyard, and Mohegan Sun in Uncasville. Other very large casinos in the United States are Bally’s in Atlantic City; MGM Grand, Mandaly Bay, Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace and Tropicana in Las Vegas; and Soaring Eagle in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. A growing number of casinos in the United States are owned and operated by Native American tribes. There are 278 self-regulating Native American reservations in the United States, and most of them operate casinos. There are over 400 Native American casinos in almost 30 different states. Native American casinos are concentrated in the Southwest, most of those in Arizona, New Mexico and California. Minnesota and Wisconsin follow with a high concentration of Native casinos. Many are small, but two of the largest casinos in the United States are reservation casinos – Foxwoods, owned by the Pequot tribe in southeastern Connecticut, and Soaring Eagle, owned and operated by the Chippewa tribe in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

THE WORK YOU WILL DO A MODERN CASINO RESORT IS A SPRAWLING, COMPLEX OPERATION. THE

resort must be a place to sleep, a place to eat, a place to gamble, a place to be entertained. Because casino resorts strive to be one-stop places for all of those activities (they put great stock in the need to keep people from leaving the building) the overall business plan might look more like one for a cruise ship at sea. The casino wants to be able to offer guests everything they could possibly want before they even ask for it. There are several jobs that relate to the casino end of the operation. (Jobs strictly in the hotel accommodations, food service, and entertainment areas are outside the scope of this report and are covered in different Careers Reports.)

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The dealers are the most visible employees in the casino and the ones with which the customer will spend the most time. Dealers are expected and required to know all the rules and customs of the games they’re running. Dealers have to know all of the games their particular casino offers for play. As dealers are rotated between tables regularly, they can be put on whatever table the pit boss or other manager decides needs a new dealer. As the industry changes and new games are created (something that happens with regularity), dealers have to learn those new games every bit as comprehensively as they know games that have been around for hundreds of years. They have to discern, nearly instantly, how each fall of a card or roll of the dice affects each and every bet on the table. They also have to be able to calculate a player’s winnings as quickly as possible. Speed is important to the profitable operation of a casino as well. In blackjack, for instance, the more hands played per hour mean more profit for the casino. Slowing down, unless it is absolutely necessary, is not encouraged. Dealers get tips for their work from a pool generated by all dealers in the house. Dealers must also project a positive image. Cool and confident personality traits are more important than personable and friendly. This is not to say that an engaging and exciting table persona is forbidden, but it’s purely secondary to efficient professionalism. Just a few decades ago, it was forbidden for dealers to have any conversation with the gamblers that was not related to the game. Every casino will have some sort of dress code, which may include a theme costume but will usually minimize things like strange hairstyles, obvious tattoos and excessive jewelry. All this concentration on image is crucial. Casinos, to a great extent, trade on their expertise and image as pertains to running games of skill and chance, and the dealers are the chief projection of that image. The dealers’ running and adjudication of the games must be spot-on perfect every time a gaming outcome is reached. If the dealer is hesitant or takes too much time to come to determinations about a game’s outcome, the gamblers will lose confidence in the house. Dealers must also be good judges of mood and temperament. Winning gamblers, almost as much as losing gamblers, can behave strangely, and it’s up to the dealers to spot potentially troublesome people before they become a problem. 12

Standing over the dealers are the pit bosses. Pit bosses, sometimes now referred to as pit supervisors, are the administrators of all games in a given area of a casino. They are on watch to see that everything is running smoothly on both sides of the gaming table. In relation to the individual dealers, they’re the ones watching to see that the games are being run correctly and efficiently. If a dealer is looking too stressed, too tired or is having trouble with a player, it’s the pit boss that arranges for that dealer to be replaced. The pit boss also manages pit clerks who keep track of the players wagering rates and calculate comps (special favors like free meals or room rate discounts), for more robust players. Pit bosses and pit clerks are never tipped. The pit boss is also watching the players. Because there is so much money changing hands at a casino, there’s always going to be someone trying to change the odds in their favor. If a pit boss believes some player is cheating or using some other means to turn the house’s advantage down a few percentage points, he/she has to deal with that person immediately. It’s important to remember that there are ways to beat certain games without actually doing anything illegal. In blackjack it is possible to foresee the likely outcome of play after watching enough cards fall. This is known as card counting and there is no law against it – it is not cheating. However, casinos worldwide hold the right to refuse game play to anyone they see fit to refuse it to, and the pit boss has to be able to spot the telltale signs of someone who has successfully counted the deck and has started to bet according to that advantage. Some of the most popular and economical games a casino offers are slot games. They’re profitable because the payouts can be very high compared to the bet (hence the term “jackpot”), and they’re cheap to run because the games run themselves. But slot machines are complex mechanisms that require regular maintenance. Slot technicians are employed by the casino to keep those machines running smoothly. These technicians will typically be people with electronics engineering training or experience. As new games are offered all the time (new slot machines are added to casinos on a more regular basis than table games), the mechanics have to keep abreast of new developments in the industry.

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Many casinos offer their players a sports book where people can place wagers on virtually any sporting event anywhere in the world (they’ve also been known to take bets on Presidential races and the possible baby names of celebrities and royal families). Book writers (bookies) are employed to calculate odds on sporting events and to set the point spread. Needless to say, book writers have to have an encyclopedic knowledge of every major sport. Of course, even a low traffic casino generates tidal waves of cash and coin. To handle all of this cash a casino will keep a team of cashiers back behind the cage counting and sorting bills and change. People wanting to do this job must, of course, have extensive math skills, but can also come from other professions that handle cash on a regular basis. These workers are being watched all the time, as all casino workers and visitors are, by a security system that’s legendary for its sharp eyes. Every modern casino employs technicians to operate the famous “eye in the sky,” the system of cameras that observe and record everything that happens wherever money changes hands. Every roll of the dice, every turn of a card, every time a bill is handed over and every time a bet is paid, there’s a technician watching who can roll back the tape and count the stones on a person’s ring. Technicians need to be able to monitor several screens at once and have a good working knowledge of the games being played to spot for the signs of everyday problems as well as the subtle signals that a scam is being perpetrated. On the other side of the casino’s doors, government regulators – state employees – are working with the casinos too. Casinos exist legally because the states in which they operate have allowed them to do so, and there are a host of special regulations tied to those operations. States permit casino gaming partly to bolster their own revenues, but they regulate it to protect visitors from unethical practices. The casinos have an interest in the perception that their games are professional and on the level, and the state has a similar interest. Since part of the reason for allowing casino gaming is to increase tourism, the state wants to keep the games and the resorts which house them safe and inviting. All that cash requires states allowing casino gaming to hire auditors to keep track of the money. Agents with financial backgrounds can walk into a casino at any time and look at the 14

company’s records to see that the state’s policies are being observed and adhered to. These agents must not only be able to correctly track numbers in the millions every day, but also know how to spot irregularities that indicate someone has been skimming profits off the top. Along the same lines, the state will also employ professionals who understand the particular tax climate a casino must operate in and who understand licensing for these peculiar businesses. While the casino keeps technicians on hand to service their slot machines, the states that allow casino gaming also hire identical technicians to inspect them. If there’s a belief that a particular slot machine is malfunctioning, or rigged, the state will send one of these technicians to inspect the machine for irregularities. If necessary, the technician can pull the machine’s random number generator and check it against a copy held in state archives. If there’s a problem, these technicians will quickly sort out the cause.

CASINO EMPLOYEES TELL YOU WHAT IT’S LIKE I Am a Casino Floor Manager “I started working in this casino 18 years ago, after I had been working for an insurance company. I started out dealing blackjack. I was hired by the casino and went to dealer classes for six weeks before I started work. It was tough at first. They had me working the day shift, and I didn’t make much in tips, but I worked hard, and was reliable and good with the customers, and it didn’t take long before I started working the busier shifts and was making more money than I had at the insurance company. I liked pitching cards. It becomes like second nature, and it’s something different every night – new customers, new situations. The best nights are when someone at your table has a big win. That’s fun. The toughest nights are when you have a big loser, someone you know can’t afford to lose that kind of money. Or when you have a customer who’s been drinking too much. 15

The thing about people who lose is that they think it’s the dealer’s fault. But in reality, it’s that the game favors the house, in every casino everywhere in the world. You try to be understanding, but there’s nothing you can do except let the player know that you wish luck had gone another way. It took a long time to work up to pit boss – about six years. I think it’s because it’s a small casino without a lot of turnover in management, but also because I was happy dealing cards. The retirement package is better for managers, and I was getting ready to think about retiring eventually, so I went for the bigger job and got it. I took a cut in pay initially, even though my salary was much, much higher, to be a pit boss, because I didn’t make tips anymore. As a pit boss, it was my job to make sure that the game was being played right. We have a very definite procedure, and every game is supposed to be dealt exactly the same way. Cards are handled a certain way, and money and chips are handled a certain way. This varies by casino, but it has to be followed 100 percent of the time. That procedure makes the game easier for the customer to understand, but mostly it makes it easier for surveillance to watch to be sure no one is cheating. I also had to be sure that the dealers took their breaks on time, and that they showed up for work and left work on time, and that money drops were being picked up – just basically make sure that everything is running smoothly. After about five years, I became a floor manager, which is what I did up until I retired last year. As a floor manager, I had to take care of administrative work – make sure that equipment was in good working order, that the cleaning crew was doing their job, and that supplies were being ordered. I kept an eye on a lot more things, like how the bar was operating, and that the customers were being waited on properly. I made sure that the casino floor was running smoothly.

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It’s funny – I liked all my jobs at the casino, but that job was my least favorite, probably because I had the least amount of contact with the customers, which is why I went to work there in the first place. I probably had the most fun back when I was a dealer. I can tell you that casino careers are good to get into. It can be a lot of fun, and you can make a lot of money. You have good benefits, and you’re seen as a professional. I guess the advice I would give is that when you’re having a hard night, just know that the next night will be different. And keep on smiling.”

I Am a State Gaming Commission Regulator “I work for the Nevada Gaming Commission, the regulatory agency that oversees all gaming operations within the state. For a number of reasons this is a very good job to have. One of the best things about the job are the benefits. I’m a state employee and have the same benefits as any other person Nevada employs. I get full medical coverage (medical, dental, vision and drug coverage), three weeks vacation in my first year (maximum of a month) and 11 paid holidays. There’s a defined retirement plan with medical benefits, a deferred compensation savings plan and full life insurance. There’s also a lot of security in this job. Since gaming is a big industry in Nevada, one that isn’t going to leave anytime soon, there will always be a place for people who want to oversee the casinos and make sure they’re following the rules. It’s a good job because we need people with a wide variety of backgrounds, and you can get training that you can take to other professions. We take people with backgrounds in auditing, corporate security, administration, technology, investigations, taxation and licensing. In our financial department, an accounting major can pursue their CPA while on the job, and work with the NGC counts toward that CPA at many colleges and universities. A bachelor’s degree is required for administration, technological and enforcement positions. 17

All of the different departments have entry-level positions. Applicants’ backgrounds are checked for their education, previous work history, their financial history (there can be no significant debt), their criminal history and their driving record. There are gaming operations all over the state – you must have a good driving record. On the plus side, governors come and go, so do state legislatures, but the agents of the NGC are stable. Only the chairman and the board members of the gaming commission are subject to politics at all. On the other hand, there are strict rules about where we can go and what we can do in our private time. I and my co-workers cannot gamble anywhere in the state of Nevada or at any casino where we are sent to work outside the state. Also, we cannot own stock in any casino gaming operation or the corporations that own them. Failing to observe these restrictions are grounds for dismissal. There are some dangers to the job. In the enforcement department we do have the power to arrest people and that can pose a threat. By comparison, however, it’s nowhere nearly as dangerous as being a police officer. In a way, we’re an integral and important part of the gaming industry. In a very important way, if an unstated way, we’re part of the system that keeps the casinos popular. There has been a belief in the past that the games are fixed and there’s no real way to win. This isn’t true. Sure, the games are all in the house’s advantage, but there are no “fixed” games. If we run into a situation where a slot machine has been tampered with, we have the power to arrest people. If we get a report that a particular kind of slot machine isn’t operating as advertised or some table game is being operated in an irregular manner, we get sent out to investigate. If there is something wrong with that machine, we pull it and find out what’s wrong. If there’s something irregular about a table game, we send agents to the casino to watch it.

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Every slot machine in the state has microchips in them called random number generators. The chips determine where the reels on a game, or whatever other indicator of play there is, stop after money is put in and the game is activated. There is a copy of every kind of RNG for every kind of machine at use in the state in our offices. If there are complaints with a machine, we can pull that machine’s RNG and test it against our copy. If there’s something wrong with the chip, whether it’s damaged or has been tampered with, we’ll know and notify the casino’s management. The health of the casino industry in this state is tied to the health of hundreds of businesses. The management of the casinos know this and give us every consideration and courtesy when we require assistance. In the end, this means that every game being played in the state is clean and being watched to see it stays that way. That’s very important. If people believe, or have proof, that the games in the state aren’t honest, they’ll stop coming here on vacation and everyone suffers. Any honest gambler knows that games at the casino are stacked in the house’s favor. If they weren’t, there wouldn’t be an industry, but the games are fair as advertised.”

I Am a Casino Host “I’ve worked all up and down the strip of Las Vegas. I started working in Vegas at the slots. I pushed a change cart and serviced the machines and one day my boss asked if I would do some kind of goofy promotion where I took this cart with a Karaoke machine all over the casino. About four days later, he said that I had a way with customers and asked if I wanted to be a host. It’s a pretty good job, so I said I would, and I’ve been doing it now for 10 years. Basically I’m the guy who gets things for customers. It’s my job to make sure they’re comfortable and having a good time and have everything they need because if they do, they’ll stay in the casino playing. 19

It’s usually things like free dinners and free rooms, or “comps.” But I also track down show tickets and tickets to sporting events like boxing and other niceties like a special rental car or bottles of champagne. Most of it is pretty average stuff. Sometimes I do get the unusual request, and that’s fun, but most of the time it’s just regular stuff that customers are looking for. The best thing about the job is taking customers to concerts and shows and sporting events. And it’s also a challenge finding everything customers need, so I like that. The worst thing is dealing with people who want things they can’t have. There are a lot of customers who just aren’t playing enough to get the comps. But they ask all the time anyway and I have to tell them no. I do make a good living. I have two new cars, and live in a $350,000 house. When the job is good, it’s a lot of fun. When it’s not fun, you have to move along and go somewhere else. I work a regular work week – five days a week and I usually work the late shift, but that’s what I like because that’s when all the action is. I work every single Super Bowl weekend, every New Year’s Eve and just about every weekend. I prefer to work those kinds of hours because that’s when it’s busy. I’m scheduled to work eight hours a day but I usually work 9 or 10. I just stay as long as I need to get the job done. I would tell people thinking of getting into this career to start their client lists. It’s true that if you want to get into the really good jobs – the ones where you can make six figures, you have to bring something to the table. And that something is gamblers – especially high rollers. It really is a fun way to make a living, especially when you work at the right place.”

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PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED JUST ABOUT ANY EMPLOYER CAN TEACH YOU HOW TO PITCH CARDS. WHAT

casinos are looking for in their workers is a personality type that will help the casino be successful, and help patrons have a good time. As much as any skill set, casinos want people with solid customer service skills and great interpersonal skills. They require that their workers are high energy, have no criminal record, can pass a drug screening, are honest and have a high level of integrity. People who do well in this career have a pleasant disposition, and are in good physical health (you have to be on your feet for long stretches of time). Good math skills can’t be overestimated. It’s not just a matter of being able to count to 21. You must be able to figure out in your head what the winnings are when a blackjack is a 3-2 pay. Or a 1-2.5 pay on an $18 bet. It requires practice and solid skills to be able to compute winnings quickly. Some states and cities – all of Nevada, and Atlantic City, for example – require card dealers to be 21 years old. Otherwise dealers must be 18 years of age. You must have excellent eyesight and hearing, and the ability to tune out extraneous noise in a casino. A high threshold of sensitivity, combined with detachment, will help you remain calm. Certainly you don’t want to appear insensitive when a player has lost a good chunk of money. You want to be able to genuinely empathize, but you also have to maintain a healthy emotional detachment. You simply can’t get depressed when you watch a gambler loose too much money.

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POSITIVE FEATURES CASINO JOBS ARE PERCEIVED AS GLAMOROUS AND FUN, AND THE NIGHTS ARE

brightly lit and action packed. To a degree, that’s true. You will have the opportunity to work in surroundings which are designed to appeal to the customers. Good lighting, shiny and clean slot machines, and often opulent building features are all part of a day on the job. Very often, particularly in large casinos, you will have the opportunity to encounter the very wealthy and the very famous. Certainly every day you’ll work with people who are vacationing, and who for the most part have let down their hair and are in a good mood. In big gaming cities like Vegas and Atlantic City, you’ll come in contact with tourists from around the world. Another great thing about casino work is that even though it can take some time to work your way up to top positions in the casino, you can start your career with little training – certification, on-the-job training, or an associate degree – and quickly work into a job where you’re making a very good living. Once you land work in a casino, hard work is rewarded. Most casinos prefer to promote from within their current ranks, rather than hiring management from outside. The majority of casino workers are protected by unions. Most employers offer health insurance and paid vacations. Schedules are flexible, and seasonal work opportunities abound. You also will be able to live in some of the fastest growing, most attractive areas of the country.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS GET TING STARTED IN A CA SINO CAREER MAY NOT REQUIRE MUCH

preparation, but it may be months or even several years before you’re earning top wages. Be patient as you begin your career, and realize that you – like everyone else who lands a premium casino job – have to pay your dues. You’ll work odd hours at first, and probably throughout much of your career. Weekends, holidays and night shifts are when you’re able to make the most money, so you will probably want to work those odd hours. 22

Casinos can be noisy and crowded, so if that environment bothers you, casino work may not be suitable for you. Likewise, if it bothers you to work around cigarette smoke, or in an environment where alcohol is served, you may not care for working in casinos. It can also take an emotional toll, particularly if you haven’t learned how to detach emotionally from watching people bet more than they can afford to lose. As much as it is a stereotype, there are people who find themselves down on their luck and take their meager savings to a casino in hopes of hitting it big. That almost never works out. As nice as it is to be able to live in some of the more beautiful and desirable areas in the country, you also must keep in mind that the cost of living can be expensive in places like Las Vegas. So until you’ve reached the upper end of the earnings scale, getting by will require some discipline. If you are interested in a casino career because you happen to like to gamble, you’ll want to keep in mind that casinos have very strict rules on where their employees can – and can’t – gamble on their days off. Most casino professionals do not themselves gamble since they know exactly how the odds are stacked against the player.

EDUCATION THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR CASINO WORK – ESPECIALLY WORKING AS

a dealer, or working in security – is very specialized. Often, casinos have their own training programs for new hires. The classes are free, and students earn minimum wage while they attend. The training period is usually two to four months in duration at the onset of employment, but workers can continue taking classes to hone their skills. Increasingly, community colleges and universities are offering dealer training courses and certification. The University of Tulane offers a casino management course of study, as does the University of Southern Mississippi, as part of its tourism management program. All over the country, colleges offer everything from a handful of classes to certification, to degree programs for those interested in casino work. Examples include Morrisville State College in New York, Michigan State University, and San Diego State University. 23

There are other schools which offer correspondence or online training. For example, the University of Massachusetts offers online training for casino workers. There are also trade schools such as the Casino Dealers College, where for as little as $500 you can learn the basics of dealing cards in as little as 10 weeks, or as long as six months. At Casino Dealers College, students who have completed their course work are given an audition in which they deal cards in real-life situations. The University of Nevada has probably the best educational opportunities, and offers a Gaming Management Course, which can be completed in less than a year, although the cost is high. Casinos do offer tuition reimbursement in their benefits packages, so workers can defray most – if not all – of their continuing education expenses. The University of Nevada offers a series of five-day management courses, which cost about $2,500 each. Course offerings include: Management of Slot Operations; Security and Risk Management for the Gaming Industry; Promotional Strategies for the Gaming Industry; Financial Accounting, Analysis and Auditing; Surveillance Operations and Management; Advanced Surveillance Operations and Management; Advanced Management of Slot Operations; and Management of Table Games Operations. Training for back-of-the house professions, such as repairing and maintaining gaming video machines requires vocational training, either in a high school vocational education program, or in a community college. Typical programs take one or two years to complete. The National Automatic Merchandising Association has a correspondence course in technician training for vending machine repairs. Students not only learn the techniques of machine repairs, but also learn about safety, electronics, customer relations and reading electrical schematics. Even after graduation and landing a job, employees who service video gaming machines are expected to continue regular training, usually at employer or manufacturer sponsored seminars and workshops. Security jobs are also important casino careers. Most states require licensing for security officers. They must be able to pass criminal background checks and drug screening, which may be ongoing and random. Certified security personnel are trained in 24

surveillance and basic investigative techniques, managing emergency situations, public relations, report writing, crisis deterrence, first aid and self-protection. Even after certification and employment, most employees will receive additional training within their first months of employment. They are trained in giving testimony in court, particularly those officers who work in Las Vegas, where casino cheats are treated as harshly as the law allows. Gaming security and surveillance officers need some training post-high school, but generally do not need a bachelor’s degree. Certification or associate degree programs offer ample training for those who wish to work in casino security. The experience gained working as a police officer or other law enforcement officer is also extremely desirable, and it’s not uncommon for off-duty police officers seeking to supplement their incomes to land part-time work in casinos. Gaming regulators come from a wide range of professional training backgrounds. All of the professional skills needed to work in state gaming regulatory operations can be found at any community college or state university. State operations require training in one or more of the following: business administration, accounting, law enforcement, taxation and licensing, law, electrical engineering and computer science. In most state operations, work that has been performed in the auditing department counts as credits towards attaining CPA certification at most educational institutions. When it comes to careers within the casino, most of your training will be on-the-job. You should be willing to start out at the bottom and work your way up. Most casinos prefer to promote from within, so be patient, and don’t expect to be hired to start as a manager, even if you have a college degree. It’s not uncommon for a casino’s general manager to have started as a blackjack dealer. Typical progression is dealer to floor worker, to floor manager or pit boss. From pit boss, the next step is shift boss, then casino boss. Typically, this is a 10-year process, for those who make it to the top ranks.

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EARNINGS A RECENT STUDY INDICATES THAT TRACKING DEALER INCOME IS DIFFICULT,

when it was found that Las Vegas dealers make less than $40,000 per year. Because tips – also known as “tokes” – are such a huge portion of dealer income, and are not always fully reported, the estimates vary as widely as the actual incomes. So, in reality, dealers earn somewhere between $50,000 and $75,000 per year, depending on which casino they work in, how much they work, and the reporting requirements for tips. Most studies agree that typical dealer base salaries are $20 to $40 an hour, depending on where you’re working. Craps dealers make the most, followed by poker and blackjack dealers. Dealers in busy casinos may receive $100 to $200 per day in tips. Many casinos require dealers to pool their tips. Then the tips are divided, sometimes by shift, and are paid to dealers as part of their hourly compensation. Other casinos allow dealers to keep their own tips. Dealers in very busy and upscale casinos can earn as much as $300 to $600 per day in tips. Casino managers make approximately $75,000 to $100,000 per year. Standard benefits, including health, dental, vision and life insurance, are common. Retirement and pensions are also typical. Meal discounts and free meals are often part of the benefits packages. Paid vacations for full-time workers are also standard. Some casinos also offer education assistance reimbursement programs for full-time workers.

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OPPORTUNITIES CASINO CAREERS ARE GREAT NOT ONLY FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO DO THIS

type of work until they retire, but also for people who are trying to make a career change. It’s a good temporary career for students and parents with young children. The work can be done by people with nearly every career history – from waiter to secretary to car salesman to writer, to former military personnel and recent college graduates. During good economic times and bad, casino careers tend to offer plenty of opportunity. During a strong economy, consumers have ample disposable income, which creates growth in the industry. During an economic downturn, for better or worse, people visit casinos to escape everyday life, and dream about hitting it big. A surge in the number of Native American casinos, particularly in California, will provide rapid job growth. Other states, including Illinois, Iowa, Montana, and New York – have also recently approved new casino plans or expansions of existing casinos.

GETTING STARTED IT’S COMMON TO START AT A “BREAK-IN” CASINO. THEY ARE SMALLER, AND

often offer no hotel or restaurant. These types of casinos usually attract “low rollers.” You may need to be patient during this time, since it’s definitely not going to be glamorous, and you won’t make the big money you may have expected. Competition for jobs on the well-known hotels on the Strip is high, but opportunities for starter jobs are plentiful in Las Vegas. You’ll work, when you start, the shifts with less traffic (weekdays and mornings.) But you’ll learn the basics of the trade, and have the opportunity to sharpen your skills while you’re being paid. And if you are dedicated, you can quickly advance to better employment. The good news, if you want to work as a card dealer, is that if you are old enough – 18 or 21, depending on what state you’d like to work in – you can get started on your career right away. Check with a number of casino human resources departments to 27

inquire about in-house training, and ask if they prefer that you are trained in their schools, or if you should attend a dealer school before applying. Before interviewing for a job dealing cards, or any of the other customer service professions in casinos, consider the answers to common interview questions. What managers are looking for is a quality that can’t necessarily be taught at dealer school – personality. Be prepared to answer questions about why you want to work at that particular casino. Be ready to answer questions about how you would handle certain scenarios involving difficult customers, or a customer who has just lost too much money and is now angry or depressed. If you’re not sure how you would answer these types of questions, pre-training at an independent dealer school is probably right for you. If working behind the scenes is more your speed, perhaps you will consider a job in servicing the gaming video machines. Typical courses – whether in a high school vocational program, or in college – are electricity, refrigeration and machine repair.

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ASSOCIATIONS, WEBSITES AND PERIODICALS O American Gaming Association

www.americangaming.org O www.casinocitytimes.com O http://gaming.unlv.edu O www.casinoman.net O www.michigangaming.com O www.gaminglawmasters.com O www.casinodealercollege.com O www.gamingfloor.com O Gaming Standards Association

www.gamingstandards.com O North American Gaming Regulators Association

www.nagra.org O Nevada Resorts Association

www.nevadaresorts.org O National Indian Gaming Association

www.indiangaming.org

COPYRIGHT INSTITUTE FOR CAREER RESEARCH 2010 CAREERS INTERNET DATABASE www.careers-internet.org

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