for: Croupier (film)

image:Croupier de Hold'em Poker.jpg

A croupier or dealer is a casino employee who takes and pays out bets or otherwise assists at a gaming table. In American usage, dealer may imply a card game, but this is not always the case. For example it is common to refer to a craps dealer 1.

Tipping

In general, the croupier works only for their salary and does not have a personal interest in the outcome of the game. However, particularly in American casinos, a successful player customarily shares the wealth by providing the croupier with a tip. The croupier traditionally recognizes a generous tip by saying 'merci pour les employés' or 'Thanks on behalf of the employees', as most tips are paid into a general fund, pooled, and divided amongst all the staff. In any casino, croupiers are required to remain professional at all times. Fraternising with customers is frowned upon, and most casinos prevent their gaming staff from being seen with their uniforms on outside the casino.

Training

Training methods to become a casino croupier are different from country to country. In North America, blackjack is almost always the game that dealers learn first, as it is simple and popular, and when the dealer makes errors, they tend not to cost the casino much money. In Europe, croupiers tend to learn roulette first. Complex, busy games such as craps, with complicated payout systems, etc. are usually reserved for the most competent dealers. 2

Choice in dealing

In most casinos, most dealers do not have a choice in which games they will deal - the casinos will issue them their games based on demand. Staff turnover rates are high in the casino industry, so within 12 months a dealer will find themselves learning a second, sometimes a third game.

Licensing

During the initial training processes, croupiers are also required to apply for a gaming license. This license includes police background checks and credit rating checks, to ensure that they are reliable enough to commence employment.

Once the license has been issued, croupiers are then able to take to the gaming floor, provided they have passed their table test in the game that they are learning. The art form of dealing any casino game is "technique first, speed later". Beginner dealers, or "lumpies" as they are known (because their shuffling and chip manipulation is staggered and 'lumpy' compared to experienced dealers), are likely to go slow and focus on getting everything right. The speed will evolve naturally, and after about three months in the same game, their speed is up to casino standards, they will deal on a lot more tables.