Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

Foxwoods is planning a major poker expansion early next year and, according to rumors, Mohegan Sun may reopen a poker room some time in the future.

Is anyone on the forum familiar with dealing opportunities at Foxwoods? (I’m asking on behalf of someone very close to me). It’s safe to assume this person will be a potentially excellent dealer. Some questions:

Does Foxwoods require a particular poker dealing school? If not, does anyone recommend a good poker dealing school in the Connecticut, Rhode Island area?

What games would an entry-level dealer deal (e.g. 1-4 stud, small no limit, 2-4 holdem). This person hopes to practice at home in addition to going to dealer school.

Are there reasonable prospects of getting a job? (Note that this person is a personable, well-groomed male in his mid forties whose former data processing career has been largely outsourced).

Anyone have other thoughts on the Foxwoods dealing job i.e., tips, working conditions, opportunities to advance etc.?

All help/thoughts appreciated.

Regards,

Rick

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

The only thing I can add to this is that dealers at Foxwoods pool tips which sucks for everyone involved except crappy dealers). When Mohegan's room was open back in the day, dealers kept their own tips, which is much better IMO.

Jeff

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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Does Foxwoods require a particular poker dealing school? If not, does anyone recommend a good poker dealing school in the Connecticut, Rhode Island area?

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My understanding, from asking Foxwoods dealers, is that Foxwoods does its own dealer training in-house. I've never heard of a private dealing school in New England, and this fairly thorough directory lists none.

(As Jeffage says, they pool tokes which means that an excellent dealer has huge incentive to go elsewhere.)

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What games would an entry-level dealer deal (e.g. 1-4 stud, small no limit, 2-4 holdem).

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Incredibly, I don't think Foxwoods does much to keep new dealers out of their biggest games. I've heard anecdotes of dealers dealing the 75 stud or the 150 mixed game in their first couple of weeks after graduating training!

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Are there reasonable prospects of getting a job?

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I would think so, for the reasons you cite. I've never applied there, in part because I have other careers i'm pursuing and in part because I like playing poker too much and don't want to drive to AC to play in a cardroom. Foxwoods dealers are not allowed to play there.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

I got the skinny for ya since I used to work at Mohegan.

Foxwoods has most of their poker dealers trained in house. Both casinos do this. Also, they have you dealing more than just poker. Could be craps one week, bj the next, and then poker for a month. The tokes are pooled among all table games dealers (not the entire casino like people think), just the dealers.

My opinion is that F'woods is one of the worst run poker rooms that I'd ever been into. It's not a bad place to start for a break in dealer. I've seen lots of them go onto bigger and better things out in Vegas and Cali.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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Could be craps one week, bj the next, and then poker for a month.

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Obviously I have to defer to your first-hand knowledge of what Mohegan and/or FW did at the time, but I haven't gotten the impression it's as bad as moving them week to week. I did talk to a dealer whose specialty was craps, but had been dealing poker for several months because of diminished craps demand. I haven't heard any horror stories about doing one-week stints in a particular game, but I'm not surprised they reserve this right.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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Do the waitresses at FW make more than the dealers? Also, it seems the cost of living is pretty cheap around FW does that make up for the reduced wages from the pooled tips?

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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Do the waitresses at FW make more than the dealers? Also, it seems the cost of living is pretty cheap around FW does that make up for the reduced wages from the pooled tips?

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HOT waitresses make more than typical middle aged males in just about any casino. Check out the movie Croupier where Clive Owens's character envys the cocktail waitresses [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

~ Rick

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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My opinion is that F'woods is one of the worst run poker rooms that I'd ever been into. It's not a bad place to start for a break in dealer. I've seen lots of them go onto bigger and better things out in Vegas and Cali.

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Sometimes the dealers aren't hurt directly by what players see except when an incompetent floor has to make a decision and the dealer unnecessarily looks bad as a result.

I suppose it depends on just how Foxwoods is poorly run though.

~ Rick

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

Rick,

Why do you want to be a dealer?

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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Rick,

Why do you want to be a dealer?

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Did you read the original post? This is for someone else. I'm from Rhode Island and have close friends and family still there.

~ Rick

Are Foxwoods Poker Dealers Not Allowed to Play?
 

This used to be the case if memory serves me. If this is still true, I'd think this may be one reason the room may seem like it isn't well run. Dealers who don't play at all in cardrooms tend to have a hard time following and controlling the action.

~ Rick

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

Cost of living in that area went up big time when Mohegan doubled the size of the joint and had to hire 5k more people. When I first moved there, you could get a 2br apt for 700/mo in a nice area. Now they are 1k+ for the same places and there arent' that many of them to be had. Housing costs and taxes went skyrocketing in the past 5 years out there. All because the casinos keep expanding and bringing more people into the area from NY, Boston, and Puerto Rico. I tried to own a house up there and my taxes went up 76% in one year. I had to sell. I couldn't afford to live there on 35k a year working full time as a supervisor/dealer.

I do know of some dealers that were quite pissed about dealing baccarat every day, then being jammed into poker for 2 days, then back to Bj, then back to poker again. They do reserve the right to do it. I am sure it doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

Croupier rules.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

For some reason I sense a post along the lines of something like "Dealers are players who can't play well enogh to make money playing" or "Dealers failed at life, so they deal cards".

You're not of these nits are you?

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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Croupier rules.

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Enough said [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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For some reason I sense a post along the lines of something like "Dealers are players who can't play well enogh to make money playing" or "Dealers failed at life, so they deal cards".

You're not of these nits are you?

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No. It was a stab at humor (which obviously failed).

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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I couldn't afford to live there on 35k a year working full time as a supervisor/dealer.

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Are you saying that a typical male dealer might only make 35K? This seems very low by California standards (although entry floor won't make much more).

That area never had much housing, since Foxwoods is in fact in the woods and you can't expect places near the water to be cheap. But these prices are still cheaper than California.

Anyone know what happened to Norwich to the North of Foxwoods? That area used to be a dump (saw it about ten years ago), wonder if it still is. Also, with the decline of Navy research in Groton and the closing of the main sub base I'd think prices may be OK near there. But this person has a house in my hometown, about an hour's commute.

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I do know of some dealers that were quite pissed about dealing baccarat every day, then being jammed into poker for 2 days, then back to Bj, then back to poker again. They do reserve the right to do it. I am sure it doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

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This is unfortunate. Poker dealing is so different from other dealing that I'd think the poker room is big enough (120 tables by Spring 2006) to allow and want them to specialize.

~ Rick

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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Anyone know what happened to Norwich to the North of Foxwoods? That area used to be a dump (saw it about ten years ago), wonder if it still is. Also, with the decline of Navy research in Groton and the closing of the main sub base I'd think prices may be OK near there. But this person has a house in my hometown, about an hour's commute.
~ Rick

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Norwich is pretty run down. I used go through there a lot on Route 2, then I realized that it's only a couple of miles farther to go around and miss Norwich, and Rte 2 is under construction.

I thought they'd gotten the Groton sub base closure reversed, or at least provisionally had removed it from the base closure list. Am I misremembering? Certainly the casinos and the sub base are the two biggest employers down that way.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

I made 36k my last full year there as a dealer.

As for Norwich, they are doing lots of reconstruction to the downtown areas and putting up all new buildings, parking structures, and so on. The marina is nice now too.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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I thought they'd gotten the Groton sub base closure reversed, or at least provisionally had removed it from the base closure list.

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That's good news. I used to do some work at the base, including teaching a class at sub school for Fire Control Technicians. The subs are really amazing machines.

~ Rick

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

I would never consider dealing in a room where they pool tips.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

Why do you think Foxwoods is run poorly? It's run way better than the Mohegan Sun's room was. I've played at a dozen other card rooms including Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
In my opinion, the best ones there are not run much better if at all than Foxwoods.
I was at Borgata last weekend and there were 60 people on the waiting list for 20-40 and we sat with three empty seats for over 1/2 an hour.
I have found the floor people at Bellagio to be short with customers at times.
Wynn was terrifice, but the action wasn't great.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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I would never consider dealing in a room where they pool tips.

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The problem is that Foxwoods is the only game in the area (except for serious private games I'm not familiar with). This person wants to stay in the area, at least for the next few years.

I wonder is there any chance this policy will be changed. I can't see the advantages from Foxwood's perspective, especially where tips are relatively constant i.e., I imagine a blackjack dealer could become semi-rich if he (more likely a pretty she) deals a whale a hot hand - this doesn't happen much in poker.

~ Rick

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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Why do you think Foxwoods is run poorly? It's run way better than the Mohegan Sun's room was.

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The Exxon Valdez was also rather better-piloted than the Titanic.

That said, I don't think that Foxwoods management actually sets out to do a poor job; I just think they're caught off guard by the explosion in demand and like most large orgs. don't do a very good job of communication.

It's not that they're awful; it's that they would be so much better if there were competition down the street like in AC or LV.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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I wonder is there any chance this policy will be changed. I can't see the advantages from Foxwood's perspective, especially where tips are relatively constant i.e., I imagine a blackjack dealer could become semi-rich if he (more likely a pretty she) deals a whale a hot hand - this doesn't happen much in poker.


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They have a legit reason for pooling the tips, or so I've read here on 2+2 anyway. Something with do with taxes. My memory is pretty foggy on it.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

I also got the impression that part of Mohegan's problem was in the way the floors were scheduling the dealers, and that tip-pooling was seen as a way to diminish the potential for corruption. But as I said, I'm sure others know much more than me about Mohegan's skeletons in the closet.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

"(I’m asking on behalf of someone very close to me)"

Rick, I'm still your friend even if you're broke. We've all been there.

-Michael

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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Does Foxwoods require any level of skill whatsoever?


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Um, no...not that I've found.

Re: Foxwoods Dealing Jobs
 

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Rick, I'm still your friend even if you're broke. We've all been there.
-Michael

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Does that mean I can borrow money someday? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

~ Rick