How To Be A Better Craps Dealer
But, when it comes to craps in particular, in this article we have some of the best tips to better your craps game the next time you decide to play it. Try to Learn the Rules Before Playing for Actual Money. This should be the golden rule to anyone that plays craps. And any casino game, in general. How to Play Craps. Craps is a game where many bettors get to stake their chips on a roll of the dice. The table layout makes the game seem a little confusing at first, but the rules are easy to pick up with experience.
Casinos are popping up everywhere and with them, the need for casino talent is increasing. Have you ever thought of being a stickman, or a boxman, or a base dealer? Maybe you want to be a pit boss? Where do you go to learn and get these jobs?
The answer, college. One of the more famous programs for learning the inner workings of a casino is a community college system in Arizona. Mojave Community College offers certificates in both Casino Pit Games Dealing and Casino Pit Games Management.
As the schools brochure says: 'The Casino Pit Games Dealer Certificate offers training in specialized areas to prepare a student for an audition for entry-level employment in the casino industry.'
Certificate Requirements:
CGM 121 Casino Dealer - Poker . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 credit hours
CGM 122 Casino Dealer-Blackjack . . . . . . . . . . . .3 credit hours
CGM 123 Casino Dealer-Dice (CRAPS) . . . . . . . . . .4 credit hours
CGM 124 Casino Dealer-Roulette . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 credit hours
BUS 105 Business English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 credit hours
Total minimum credit hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 credit hours
The class on craps is described as:
'Techniques of Casino Games CRAPS (Dice)
Fundamentals of dealing craps with an emphasis on accurate and quick mental multiplication, chip handling, knowledge of odds on a variety of bets, procedures and game speed. Special attention is given to the management aspects of craps'
'The Casino Pit Games Management Certificate provides additional management training to prepare a student for advancement in the casino industry.'
Certificate Requirements:
Casino Pit Games Dealing Certificate . . . . . . . . . .17
How To Be A Better Craps Dealer -
CGM 125 Casino Management: Floor person . . . . . .3
Electives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Choose any two from the following:
BUS 125 Introduction to Accounting . . . . . . . . . .3
BUS 142 Supervisory Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
BUS 144 Principles of Management . . . . . . . . . . .3
Total minimum credit hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
As you can see, it is comprehensive and can take between 2 and 3 semesters to achieve. This can cost about $3,000 to complete if you are a resident of Arizona, $7,000 if you are out of state
Another institution that offers a Casino Management Certification is the University of Massachusetts. It is offered through an online program and is part of the Hospitality Management department. It is not as comprehensive as Mojave, because the focus is less on how to play the games and more on how to run the floor. There are only 5 classes need to complete this program. This certification runs about $6,000 when it's all said and done.
Three Rivers Community College in Norwich Connecticut offers an Associates of Art degree in Casino Management, but it really focuses on hospitality courses and finance classes. There are no specific classes for casinos in the program.
By far the least expensive option is that of West Virginia State Community and Technical College. They are partnering with the local race tracks to train several hundred people to work in their newly opening casino sections in late '08/early '09. The cost is $490, and the employer will refund it after 90 days.
It is a good investment. A table worker can expect to make $30-$45,000/yr + tips depending on the area and management can make considerably more.
For more information you can visit the following:
How To Be A Craps Dealer
Mojave Community College
University of Massachusetts
Three Rivers Community College
Charleston Gazette Article
First of all, you should always tip the dealers at the craps table.
How To Be A Better Craps Dealer Online
Before we get into everything else, tipping the dealers is just the right thing to do. These men and women work hard, are not paid the highest wages, are on their feet all day, are serving multiple ‘customers’ (players) at the same time, and count on tips to make a decent wage.
I’ve always tipped the dealers at the craps table, and have always been very generous in tipping them, but… I learned that I was doing it all wrong, and I want to share what I learned with you.
Let me explain what I mean by that.
You leave tips for the service you’re provided. At the craps tables, you’re counting on the dealers to take care of your bets, make sure you’re paid out correctly, and ensure that you’re having fun at the table.
Like me, you’re probably used to tipping at the end of your stay, no different than when you eat at a restaurant, you leave your tip when you pay the check. Your tip is relevant to the size of your bill and the level of service you were provided.
I used to do the same thing. After coloring up, I would throw a generous number of chips on the table and say “Thanks! That’s for the crew”. The more I won, and the better the dealers took care of me, the more I would throw on the table. The dealers are always more than appreciative as many don’t leave a tip at all.
Then one day, I remember it like it was yesterday, I was in Atlantic City and walked up to a craps table. I won’t say which casino I was at because, even though this was a bad experience, overall the dealers at this casino have been great, AND I was taught a valuable lesson that day as well.
As usual, after buying in, I start my betting off slow as I’m assessing the table. (I’ll talk more about assessing the table in a later post.) I also use that time to assess the other players as well, and I notice one of the regulars at the other side of the table.
He’s an older gentleman, great shooter, and I bet big when he has the dice. He does the same when the dice are in my hands too. I nod to him and he nods back. We always acknowledge each other, but have never actually spoken. He usually plays left of stick and I’m always right of stick based on our throwing styles.
Anyway, the dice come to me and I start my usual roll and betting.
I having a great roll, when all of a sudden, the stick decides he’s going to be a hero for the casino. I set the dice, pick them up, and he starts waving his stick up and down across the table.
I put the dice down and look him in the eye and he lowers the stick across the table. I pick the dice back up and just as I’m throwing the dice, he raises the stick in my way again.
I looked at him and said ‘You’re kidding me, right!’ He didn’t respond, but kept waving his stick every time I got ready to throw.
All I kept thinking was, I probably tip you guys more than most others, and the more I win, the more I tip, so why on earth would you be trying to get in my way?
When I finally sevened out, I colored up, still made my money, but left a smaller than usual tip on the table and started to walk away, still angry from what just happened.
As I was walking away, the older gentleman I had mentioned earlier, stopped me and said, ‘Buy me a cup of coffee, I want to teach you something’. Thinking that was odd, I still said ‘Sure, why not’. So he colored up, and we walked over to the coffee shop.
I bought him a coffee (black, straight up) and we sat at a table out of the way. As we sat, he said, ‘Listen, I’ve watched you play, you shoot great and you have a betting method that works, but you tip all wrong’.
I was flattered but taken back by his comment on my tipping. I said, ‘What do you mean, I’m probably more generous than most, and even more so when I win big’.
He said ‘Yes, but I want to teach you how to leave even more for the dealers without spending more money, and how to use tipping to work to your favor as well’.
He then proceeded to teach me the ‘right way’ to tip.
I want to thank him for the valuable lesson he taught me and want to share that lesson with each of you.
1) Tip early and often, not just at the end of your play.
- By tipping early, you let the dealers know you have them in mind. It keys the dealers in to your play and they’ll take much better care of you throughout your time at the table.
- This works especially well when you’re playing a different casinos where the dealers don’t know you or when a newer crew is on the table.
2) When you first get to the table and are assessing the trend, throw down a chip or two and say ‘Any point, for the table’.
- The dealers will of course be appreciative, you’re letting them know you have them in mind, but even more importantly… where will those chips go? The dealers have been seeing the trend on the table and they’ll place the chips on the numbers that have been coming out. This makes assessing the table and figuring out the current hot numbers a lot easier.
- Go ahead and follow that up with a place bet on the same number. This works more often than you would think.
- You also get some lower risk action going as you’re assessing the table for yourself.
3) Make the dealers a partner in your rolls. Throw down a chip or two for the dealers on your point, or hardways for them.
- Again, they’re more than appreciative, and they win if you win.
- They become your biggest supporters while you’re rolling and will help to make sure distractions are kept to a minimum.
- You’ll be surprised at the added level of help and advice you’ll get from the dealers. Not only things like double checking that you’re getting paid out correctly, but also letting you know if heat is on the way.
- Believe it or not, you’ll even have times when the dealers are cheering you making points. Why? Because they’re winning along with you.
The above sounds so simple, but you don’t know what you don’t know. That was me before being given this lesson in tipping.
Now the dealers make more in tips because hitting a hardway gets them nine dollars instead of one, I spend about as much in tipping the dealers as I would have anyway, but now I have the crew on my side when I’m at the table.
Here are just a few examples of the benefits I’ve received since changing to this style of tipping.
- I’ve gotten credited for additional comps while I’m playing.
- No dealer, or stick, has tried to slow or interfere with my rolling the dice since.
- I’ve had ‘Come Bets ‘missed’ (left on the table) when a craps rolls.
- The same with ‘Don’t Come’ bets when an 7 or 11 rolls.
- There was a random roller throwing multiple 6s and 8s, I threw down $72 and said $36 6 & 8 as the shooter was throwing the dice. He rolled a seven, but the dealer said ‘I’m sorry sir, I couldn’t hear you, that was a ‘no bet”. Of course he heard me, so I picked up my $72 and place a $5 hard 6 and 8 for the dealers. (He just smiled at me because he knew that I knew.)
- On more crowded tables, the dealers will remind the players next to you to give the shooter room to shoot.
- I even had a time when I place a different than usual bet for myself and the boxman stopped the entire table just as a guy was about to roll the dice because he thought the dealer mis-placed my bet.
I could go on and on about the benefits I’ve received from changing my style of tipping, but the bottom line is.
- The dealers make more in tips
- I spend the same in tips as I always did
- And, I’ve received benefits worth tens of times more than the tips I leaving.
Try it this way and I’m confident you’ll never go back to tipping just at the end of your play.
In a future post, I’ll get into all the different ways you can tip the dealers while your rolling.
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If you have any questions, suggestions or recommendations, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.
In the meantime…
GOOD LUCK AT THE CASINOS!!!