How To Become A Poker Dealer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a poker dealer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Working as a poker dealer is about as far from your standard office job as you can get. Instead of sitting in a cubicle, you would spend your work days participating in exciting games if you are a poker dealer. You'd probably get your start working in a casino, but you could then go on to work in private games or even international tournaments.

Obviously, to be a poker dealer, you need to know a lot about the many varieties of poker. You would also need to have excellent mental math skills to calculate the pot's size and bets as the game goes on. It also helps if you have good people skills since you would make a lot of your money from tips.

There isn't exactly a college major training poker dealers. To become a poker dealer, all you really need is a high school diploma and excellent dealing skills, which you can develop at specialized training centers. Then you can get your dealing license. You should also be prepared to work strange hours since gamblers like to play deep into the night.

ScorePoker DealerUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $40,585

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.16%

Asian 13.22%

Black or African American 8.74%

Hispanic or Latino 13.73%

Unknown 4.31%

White 57.84%

Gender

female 33.25%

male 66.75%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.4

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a poker dealer

Explore poker dealer education requirements

Most common poker dealer degrees

Bachelor's

39.5 %

High School Diploma

25.2 %

Associate

22.8 %

Start to develop specific poker dealer skills

Skills	Percentages
Guest Service	13.84%
Customer Service	13.12%
Dexterity	12.83%
Math	12.80%
Basic Math	12.78%

Complete relevant poker dealer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New poker dealers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a poker dealer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real poker dealer resumes.

Research poker dealer duties and responsibilities

Manage and train personnel, manage firms' capital through complex derivative transactions
Relieve personnel for vacations and days off roulette, craps and blackjack
Conduct gambling games such as dice, roulette, cards, or keno, following all applicable rules and regulations.
Manage and train personnel, manage firms' capital through complex derivative transactions

Prepare your poker dealer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your poker dealer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a poker dealer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable poker dealer resume templates

Build a professional poker dealer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your poker dealer resume.