Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Alright, so it's less than two months until I graduate from Duke and I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I cant stand the thought of being a corporate whore or a desk jockey for the rest of my life. I spend my days playing, thinking about, reading about, and talking about poker, so why not turn this into a job, for a while at least. From reading posts on this site and many other articles and forums about being a dealer there appear to be many appealing aspects to it, for me.

With that said, what do I do now? I have ordered the professional poker dealer's handbook because as far as I can tell seems to be the best resource out there. Beyond that, I am pretty clueless. I was hoping someone could help point me in the right direction as far as certifications that I might need, dealer school?, how/where to find a job and questions similar to these.


Any information on the topic would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

if you run to vegas before the 30th and find your way around the mgmmirage website, i think you can get a short interview and maybe an audition as a poker dealer at mgm... just say yes you have 6 months exp. . . - which you can say was from dealing home games @ your dorm, etc.
it would be $150-$200 a day tips, but you probably wouldn't get more than 3 days to start. Just an assumption

Im a recent college grad myself, looking in the same exact direction

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

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From reading posts on this site and many other articles and forums about being a dealer there appear to be many appealing aspects to it, for me.

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Yes, if you like complete dead-end jobs with low pay and all the abuse you can eat.
If you're going to flush your diploma down the toilet you'd be better off trying to get a job in valet parking in Vegas. The money's better, they are Teamsters and have benefits galore, and you'll stay in shape (or get into it) by running all day long.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

If you are a Duke graduate, you will be bored being a dealer. It is a lot of routine tasks most Duke graduates couldn't take.

If you want to be a professional player, play part time until you are doing well enough to play full time. If you are a Duke graduate, there is a good chance you can make it as a pro.

Dealing may work as an interim towards being a pro for some people, but not for most. It might have a good summer job if you could take it.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

I wouldn't say it's constant abuse but you don't just get all the respect in the world either.

A cousin of mine was a trainer with a mster degree at a resort in South Beach. She said once she had to fill in at the pool handing out towels. She said she made over 300 that day....more than her trainer job.

I'd say if you're in a position to do whatever you wanted go for it. I would also suggest two other things. 1) Don't allow yourself to get in a pickle where you're strapped financially. Nothing like being in a job you hate and can't leave. and 2) Think of something bigger than dealing poker. Whether it's playing poker or running a casino. Ask the floor what it takes to get their job. Then once you become a floor person ask that boss what it takes to have their job. Also learn other aspects of a casino. You never know, you might be running a casino one day. Just remember to rip up my markers if you do.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Dad???? Is that you???? I didnt know you posted on 2+2

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

As opposed to a dead-end job in the corporate world.

I love it when someone says you need to think of "bigger" things. Yes, you can deal but only if you imagine some day running the casino. Yes, you're only successful if you're managing big things and a lot of people. How odious.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Steve Wynn started somewhere I guess.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Yep, think about your future in terms of what a billionaire has accomplished. You're gonna be pretty disappointed and miserable that way. Unless you're into being ruthless and nasty with the ego of a Roman Caesar ala Wynn or Trump. By the way, at that level, your undergrad degree is moot.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

an important thing to consider is will you be able to use your degree after being a dealer? if you deal for two years, and then decide that you want to get a job using your degree it will be a great deal harder to get an entry level job. who do you think the company would hire: a recent college grad with no experience, or someone two years removed from college with no experience?

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

F'UCK DUKE!!

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

I agree with DemonDeac. You will get swept around as a dealer, just like the Terps swept the Dukies this season.

But seriously, no one cares that you went to Duke, and this thread had nothing to do with the fact that you are going to graduate from there. Flushing away a degree from Duke is no different than flushing away a degree from anywhere else.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Why not just call some of the Vegas casinos and ask them what they look for in a new dealer?

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I agree with DemonDeac. You will get swept around as a dealer, just like the Terps swept the Dukies this season.

But seriously, no one cares that you went to Duke, and this thread had nothing to do with the fact that you are going to graduate from there.

[/ QUOTE ]

well said
couldnt have said it better myself

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

I dont believe Wake Forest made it to the sweet 16 like Duke did. muahaha

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Alright, so it's less than two months until I graduate from Duke and I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I cant stand the thought of being a corporate whore or a desk jockey for the rest of my life. I spend my days playing, thinking about, reading about, and talking about poker, so why not turn this into a job, for a while at least. From reading posts on this site and many other articles and forums about being a dealer there appear to be many appealing aspects to it, for me.

With that said, what do I do now? I have ordered the professional poker dealer's handbook because as far as I can tell seems to be the best resource out there. Beyond that, I am pretty clueless. I was hoping someone could help point me in the right direction as far as certifications that I might need, dealer school?, how/where to find a job and questions similar to these.


Any information on the topic would be greatly appreciated.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, what a waste of $150,000.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

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I dont believe Wake Forest made it to the sweet 16 like Duke did. muahaha

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that's cold

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Wow, what a waste of $150,000.

Ya, bc the only purpose of a University education is to prepare you to work at a job.....

Wait.....thats doesnt sound right does it??

I think some people have a complete misuderstanding of what a Universities function is...and I think it is showing on this board. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Wow, what a waste of $150,000.

Ya, bc the only purpose of a University education is to prepare you to work at a job.....

Wait.....thats doesnt sound right does it??

I think some people have a complete misuderstanding of what a Universities function is...and I think it is showing on this board. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]


you're right because being a poker dealer is the most spiritually fulfilling career... [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Sounds like a Duke graduate to me. "Boo hoo, I'm disatisfied with my quarter-million-dollar education and life that my parents got me, I'll wait until I finish and go to Vegas and enter a job that a high school dropout can get."

If you want to do that, why finish? Drop out now and go deal. Genius.

NT

P.S. Your team will lose soon, bitch.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Most of the idots posting on this thread have no idea how lucrative the poker BUSINESS can be. What many also dont understand or believe maybe, is a degree is often req'd to move up in the biz into upper managment. Some of the most successful of casinos in my opinion are/were run by people who started at the bottom.

There are numerous millionaires in the poker BUSINESS. MANY started out as dealers. And you can make a good living at it. Some #'s have been thrown around here in this forum. But I can say from experience that if you work 8 hrs a day...avg, 13 downs per shift, you will be surprised. The problem is that it is so easy to "EO" Early Out and bail after only a few hrs. But that certainly makes it an easy life too. And benefits can be decent. But learning the biz can be more meaningful should you decide to go UP in the biz.

Let me put it too you this way. There are certain jobs in poker, though few and far between, where you can make 15K in a month of work. Those that have them all started out as dealers.


Best wishes either way.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

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There are numerous millionaires in the poker BUSINESS. MANY started out as dealers.

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Name 2.

I am in upper level management of a multi-business company, whose owner employs over 500 people. As a poker player, there is no way in hell I'd hire someone who became a card dealer after graduating from Duke. It essentially announces to me "hello, I'm a royal F*ckup". You might as well drop out now, because that diploma will be useless.

Oh... for the record... I never graduated college. My parents couldn't afford it. Way to look a gift horse in the mouth. I wish I had the gift of an education, I'd be making a hell of a lot more than I am now (and I do pretty good). Why is it the privleged ones are always the last to know when they have it good????

PS: You would be lucky to have a father who gave you advice as good as GreyWolfNYC. You should listen to him....

PPS: Yes the business of poker is very lucerative, but if you start out as a dealer in todays market the chances of you advancing from that role is slim to none. Unless your ambition is to become a floor or a sweep.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Ok, .02 from someone who followed a similiar path.

Graduated Emory ( I know, not Quite Duke) and worked at Country Club as a waiter around my home after graduation. I spent more time golfing than working. My only regret looking shortly back (graduated in 2002) is that I didn't do it balls out and go to a resort in Arizona or Florida. Some random thoughts and advice based on your reported situation. Its in no way meant to sould like sage old wisdom, as Im only three years older than you.

-I think everyone's character could benefit from working some time in a direct service industry. Yes, people can be shitty, but I also had alot of time where it hardly felt like work from the great people I encountered. You learn mutual respect.

-No, you dont HAVE to be an investment banker.

-Only some people care that you graduated from Duke. Those are the people that will give you jobs and that you do buisness with. Anyone who want to give you [censored] over this is deluding themselves or just doesn't know any better.

-Live as so you can walk away. That means don't get any serious expenses (high car payment, credit cards, accidental pregnancy) that would prevent you from making an improvement in your situation if the situation waranted. This is harder than it sounds. In cash buisnesses, people tend to burn through money more quickly. Don't not be able to go to grad school or take a entry level position with a high ceiling because you have payments on your 3 series and your tips were spent on buying bottles in the VIP section with you co-workers to impress some JAP-ey U Miami coeds out on spring break. IMHO, this would be the riskiest part of the cross country move in term of getting yourself "stuck."

-Employers seem to allow for a certain amount of time that you "take off" outside the corporate world without raising an eye-brow. The magic number seems to be aroung 1-1.5 years. Don't let this creep up on you without takeing somes sort of action.

-Anyone who tells you that that you are wasting you education and only values it at what it directly garners as a wage doesn't truly grasp its values.

-There is nothing to say that this couldn't lead to opportunity for advancement. I started doing some marketing and P.R. for the course and its banquet facility. It certainly served its purpose for the time and could have been a strong opportunity had the company been larger.

-There is no better time to take a chance in life than now.

Keep posting on you progress. It's looking more and more like I'll be attending UNLV for their jD/MBA program this fall. It be good to have someone to touch base with.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

To add to that notion,

I too have a degree, though not from a Duke...from a large state school. I also have two years of graduate work under my belt, with one year of graduate finance to boot.

I have worked in about four jobs since leaving graduate school last June: waiter, counter help at a bagel shop, telemarketer, music store sales associate. All of these jobs saw my resume with the degree on it, and all of them started me in the same place.

We do not live in a world where a college degree means as much as it used to. More and more emphasis is being placed on skilled labor and stable work history(i.e. working in the same job for several years). Finding a job that pays better than $7/hr is a difficult proposition, even for college graduates, it would seem.

This has been my experience. On a side note, I am also looking towards the desert as a possibility for employment. By my thinking, an average poker dealer deals between 25-30 hands an hour. Even the low-limit tables tend to tip $1 a pot. The math seems easy enough. Am I wrong thinking about it this way?

-Coffee

P.S. What's that noise I hear? Oh, it's the sound of the Maryland and Wake Forest basketball teams shouting as they watch the NCAA tournament on TV. Let's go Duke!

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

[ QUOTE ]

We do not live in a world where a college degree means as much as it used to. More and more emphasis is being placed on skilled labor and stable work history(i.e. working in the same job for several years). Finding a job that pays better than $7/hr is a difficult proposition, even for college graduates, it would seem.


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*cough*bullshit*cough*

The fact that my resume has an ivy league name on it (along with a good interview) allowed me to get a *very* well payig internship over the summer for a giant company. My roommate, who has had *no* work experience, also has a job over the summer for one of the largest companies in the US.
College does matter.

Just because someone chooses to flip burgers or be a telemarketer after getting a degree only shows that they were either in a useless major, did poorly in school, or have no motivation.

BUT, this does not mean that if you want to be a dealer then you can't be. If you really want to be a dealer, go for it! Enjoy being a mobile single in Vegas while you still can. I'm simply saying that the person who said college does not matter is wrong: it does matter. It is something you should value and appreciate. If you don't want to do anything but deal, then be a dealer.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

I wouldn't worry too much about what a lot of people are saying in this thread. They clearly don't know what it's like to be in your situation. The way I see it, you've set yourself up for a very successful, although not necessarily interesting career. That's a great security to have, and allows you a lot of freedom now to do what you want to do, while still having something very nice to move into when your priorities change and you feel like settling down. If dealing cards is something that interests you then go deal cards. If you get tired of that, move on to something else you enjoy doing, or put that degree from Duke to use and get a comfortable job doing whatever it is you know how to do. To say that you're throwing away your education because you're not ready to use it immediately is incorrect. You'll always have the knowledge and the degree that you acquired from Duke. What you won't always have is a time in your life when you're young and there's nothing holding you down, and your options are wide open. If there's anything you risk throwing away here, it's that opportunity to enjoy life on your own terms before starting up a career.

According to a lot of people who have responded here, I probably threw my life away a few years ago when I dropped out of college to do something that always had interested me. I had plenty of potential and I could have been doing some decent paying 9-5 job right now if I had stayed in but I couldn't imagine grinding out my whole life like that. Some might say my situation is different because I took a job that's much different from dealing, but I don't think so because my reasoning for it was the same. I was young and not ready to settle down, I saw a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something that I might enjoy, so I took it. Do what you want with your life while you can.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Do what you want with your life while you can.

Truer words have not been spoken on 2+2 .......

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Confucius say:

"Find a job you enjoy, and you'll never work a day in your life."

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Hey Four Eight! I am 28 years old and have been dealing cards in Colorado for three years. When I started dealing my goal was to make 500 dollars in tips a week. Since that time I have steadily improved how I deal along with my expectations of what my goal is a night. I deal four days a week and shoot for $300 dollars a night in tips with a paycheck goal of $2400 take home every two weeks. I meet this goal more often then not and have not received a two week check of under $1600 in the last year. (Vacation being the exception). I hope this helps and feel free to private message me if you have any more questions [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

I had no idea the rest of the world hated Dookies as much as us Carolina students did. What a great thread.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

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If you are a Duke graduate, there is a good chance you can make it as a pro.

[/ QUOTE ]

I found this statement hilarious on so many levels.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

I really hope this is a troll. Trust me on this one; you do not want to become a dealer after getting an education from Duke. The problem with dealing is that it has almost zero upside potential and you gain very little in terms of transferable job skills. Go hack around in other jobs for at least 10 years. If you become truely broke or stuck on a dead end career track you can always go deal cards.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Did Duke teach you to set such high goals for yourself?

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Oh... for the record... I never graduated college. My parents couldn't afford it. Way to look a gift horse in the mouth. I wish I had the gift of an education,

[/ QUOTE ]

There are a lot of people, like myself, who went to college on their own dime
If you wanted it, you could have done it

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If you are a Duke graduate, there is a good chance you can make it as a pro.



[/ QUOTE ]

I found this statement hilarious on so many levels.

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Why, I assume that what you hope being a dealer is a stepping stone too, unless you want to go into casino management.

On another site, some guy posted, who dropped out of college to be a dealer, hoping to be a pro. He got promoted to floorman and then became a cop. Being a floorman (floorperson) is probably good experience for being a cop.

You don't have to be a genious to be a professional poker player. If you are a Duke grad and have the interest, you may have the aptitude, if that's what you want to do. Professional poker players can make a lot more than dealers, and some make more than typical Duke graduates.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I really hope this is a troll. Trust me on this one; you do not want to become a dealer after getting an education from Duke. The problem with dealing is that it has almost zero upside potential and you gain very little in terms of transferable job skills. Go hack around in other jobs for at least 10 years. If you become truely broke or stuck on a dead end career track you can always go deal cards.

[/ QUOTE ]

"LOL"

Life advice from Boris. I know this guy personally. What a joke.

Boris is just jealous because he didnt have the cojones to step into the ring and become a poker dealer. Be a poker dealer instead of being stuck in the dead-end life that is Boris. This is the kind of guy who gets drunk, passes out on trains, and walks the streets to stumble home. Nice degenerate life, Boris. Good job putting your Master's degree to work. So much more productive than being a dealer. Occassionally, he'll scrounge up a few bucks to hit the cardroom, then you'll see a post or two from him in the Mid-High section.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Life advice from Boris. I know this guy personally. What a joke.

Boris is just jealous because he didnt have the cojones to step into the ring and become a poker dealer. Be a poker dealer instead of being stuck in the dead-end life that is Boris. This is the kind of guy who gets drunk, passes out on trains, and walks the streets to stumble home. Nice degenerate life, Boris. Good job putting your Master's degree to work. So much more productive than being a dealer. Occassionally, he'll scrounge up a few bucks to hit the cardroom, then you'll see a post or two from him in the Mid-High section.

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Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Oh... for the record... I never graduated college. My parents couldn't afford it. Way to look a gift horse in the mouth. I wish I had the gift of an education,

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There are a lot of people, like myself, who went to college on their own dime
If you wanted it, you could have done it

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Its too late at this stage of my life (unless I become independantly wealthy, then I will return to school later in my life). I'm not a young guy anymore (not old either, I'm 36), I not only support myself and my mother at times, I am also in debt up to my ears paying back loans on my former business. My family didn't know where to turn to get a loan when I was young. Sad, but true.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

I'm too lazy to look it up, but I think i read that his first job in a casino was owning the casino.

Re: Duke grad going to deal in vegas?
 

Where do I apply for that entry level type job?

I think the saddest part of this whole conversation is that people are saying - " dont take 2 yrs off and deal or else the "corporate world" wont want you...."

Any job that wouldnt hire me bc I took of a couple yrs after University to find myself or whatever isnt the type of job/organization that I would feel like I want to be involved in.

I think taking a couple yrs to find yourself actually shows a ton of maturity as you didnt jump headlong into a career before seriously considering all your options.