Nevada Workforce and yes some casinos do train!!

This guy nailed it. I didn't quote his whole post for thread posterity, but everything he said is completely true. I know so because I lived through every word quoted above, and then some, in order to get started in this business. These days I'm closer to what he does for a living than what a break in dealer does for theirs, but I will never forget the sheer determination it took to get here. A lucky break or two helped as well. I having the unsettling feeling things have only gotten more challenging for those attempting to break in these days.

My advice: Treat this job as a craft, and become an expert in your field. When I need a 1-2 NL slinger, I can find 15 dealers in under an hour. When I need a Poker Dealer to deal big stakes mix games, high profile tournaments, provide fantastic customer service, AND have a nice looking up pitch, I have to dig a little deeper.

Strive to be the second guy, not the first.

I might have an interview soon, I've just been practicing my pitch. What's necessary to verbalize as a dealer? Anything else I should practice before interview?

Chip handling and side pots.

It doesnt sound like it applies in most places, but where I play you have to have worked in the casino in another job for 6 months before you can apply for a dealer job. Sometimes they make exceptions, but not usually. So many of our new dealers come from being brushes for 6 months. Then they audition to deal. I know some didnt go to a school. They just talked to dealers and practiced at home. Others were experienced dealers, but still had to brush first.

But this may be a unique deal with the Tampa Hard Rock. It doesnt sound like many places have a rule like that. It also doesnt seem to make sense if you want to hire the best candidates available.

I know of a room that does that. It's a way for them to fill the crappy jobs nobody wants. It's not a good policy

We had one guy who was a super friendly, outgoing brush who was very popular with the players. He became a dealer, and after a couple of months, he was looking sort of down, so I asked him how the change to dealer was going. He said it was hard on him, because as a brush, everybody was friendly and nice to him, but when he started dealing, many of those same people turned on him the first time he dealt them a bad beat. So he was saying how it bothered him how many people hated him now.

But he's still here a couple of years later and doing fine. . I think he just had to grow a thicker skin.

I would suggest having someone video your pitch and upload it here so people can critique it. There are a ton of experienced dealers/floors/managers ITT that can tell you what can be improved.

+1 to chip handling and side pots, they happen atleast once every other orbit usually. And if you get it wrong in the audition it can be an auto-fail, depending on the casino.

I've always been told to verbalize everything except for redundant action. (ex. verbalize the first "call" but not subsequent calls).

Repeat All verbal actions.

As for silent actions ...

I only announce bets and raises. I don;t announce a check or a call unless there is some reason why the action may appear ambigious.

In a 1 2 NL game I won't announce a single $5 chip as a call unless I have completely clueless people in the game. But if there is a raise to $6 and then a player tosses 2 $5 chips out I will announce the call because it causes confusion if I don't.

I don't announce a check unless the players motion is so slight that I want to make sure they are on notice that I thought they checked. I don't want to hear later about even though they check all day by wiggling their ears .... this time ear wiggling isn't a check.... And if I am going to hear it I want to hear it before there is more action.