If you have wondered how people end up being croupiers at the many land-based casinos in the UK, the answer is because they train for it and then join a casino as a professional. And there is news for you if you want to take a shot at it and train to be a croupier. One of the biggest casinos in the UK, in fact the third largest – Victoria Gate – has announced that it is looking for croupiers that it would train and put on the job.
Victoria Gate has vacancies to fill, quite a few of them, given that it is spread across a massive 50,000 square feet and is considered one of the leading entertainment hotspots in the UK. The casino can host 1400 visitors and has different games on offer through their gaming tables. In fact, over 1000 applicants have already posted their applications for the job. There will be over 205 jobs available, including those of retail, security, food experts for the kitchen, service staff, and casino operations staff like the croupiers and dealers.
Already, the casino has picked the first 35 out of the 1000 applicants received and they are at the Casino School. The School is effectively a rigorous training program that lasts for 6 weeks and helps the trainees get up to speed for the job at hand. Candidates go through a number of vital subjects during the course of the program, such as roulette games, poker, and blackjack. Other important subjects are not directly game-related but equally important: laws of gambling in the UK, industry standards relating to safety and health, a course in math to help figure out the odds in a game, and another on social responsibility.
The 6-week program is being carried out by professionals who are staff members of the Blackpool and the Flyde College in Lancashire’s Blackpool area. They will train and observe the candidates and then on successful completion of the program will award them with a diploma in Gambling Operations. The diploma is a NVQ Level 2 document.
The VIP opening of the casino is scheduled for the first months of 2017. The 35 candidates – or future employees – who have been selected are all from the Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET) category that you find in the UK.
The importance of the training program is not too hard to fathom. Any casino, especially a land-based one, will need staff of the highest levels of integrity, efficiency, awareness, and alertness; only then can its service to customers be impeccable. Many a casino has fallen flat because of poor service; that is what makes or breaks the brand.
Professionally trained staff is the hallmark of every big and successful land-based casino. The training program itself is rigorous and is designed to get the candidate acclimatized completely to the demands of the job. It is after all a high-stress job and the training gives the focus to ensure the job is well-done.
