Pa. Casinos Struggling To Find Dealers

PHILADELPHIA - Pennsylvania casinos have plenty of table games, but finding a good dealer to run those tables is a crapshoot.

Why is it so hard for casinos to fill those positions?

Wendy Hamilton, the general manager with SugarHouse, told Fox 29's Sean Tobin it's because so many casinos opened table games at the same time in the state of Pennsylvania. The pool of potential casino dealers got drained very fast.

Now, while casino dealers may be part of the landscape in, say, Atlantic City or Vegas, Hamilton said casino dealers in Pennsylvania are something new for the economy to digest.

People don't think about it as a potential job because people in this region just don't have casino experience.

Hamilton said they saw the signs a few months back and made adjustments in hiring.

"We knew a couple of months ago because many of our colleagues at the other casinos in Pennsylvania started to talk and say, ‘Hey, wow, we're struggling to , you know, get to these numbers for dealers,’ Hamilton said. “So we said to ourselves a few weeks ago, having heard this from these colleagues, we said, ‘Well, we have 40 table games in our operation. We'd better size our effort for about 80 table games.’"

Hamilton told me her operation at SugarHouse, because of that overestimate, is now in a better position.

But will they have enough dealers for all 40 tables? And are they on schedule for that week of Sept. 20 opening.

Hamilton said they will, and they are – and that there are a few non-dealing jobs that may still pop up in the next month.

Remember, casino dealers have to have a gaming license issued by the state. A small percentage may not qualify for that, for one reason or another. She said a job not there today may be there tomorrow.

“There's always a bit of turnover, so we're always hiring. Whether it's a dealer job, you know, a job in slots, a job in cashiering, a job in food and beverage – all of these jobs continue to be available forever,” Hamilton said.

As a side note, Hamilton said the toughest game to teach: craps. Hamilton said that dice game, is not something you can teach in six to eight weeks.

So, if you are considering a job as a dealer, the SugarHouse casino expects to start a second dealer school sometime after it opens the week of Sept. 20.

Click here to visit the SugarHouse website for more information.