It might look glamorous, but it’s actually quite challenging to learn how to be a croupier.

By John Yip

Dressed in their prim white-sleeved shirts and smart black vests, 26-year-old Punitha d/o Supramaniam and 25-year-old Marco Wee Ann Yong look as though they’ve just stepped off the set of the James Bond movie, Casino Royale.

Which wouldn’t be far off the mark actually. Punitha and Marco are both students from the International Club Games Training Centre (ICGTC), located in Bukit Timah’s Turf City. Punitha had just completed her Certificate in Casino Management (Floor Operations) (CCMF) in October this year, while Marco is currently in the fourth month of the same five-month course.

A privately held entity incorporated in November 2005, ICGTC is the first private casino skills training centre in the region, and quite possibly, in the whole world. The 13,500 sq ft training centre features a fully euipped “laboratory” that accurately simulates the operation floor of an actual casino and it offers a variety of courses to prepare students for a fruitful career in the international gaming industry.

But everything starts from a beginning, and in Punitha’s and Marco’s case, they will first most likely start as croupiers, and this is part of what they learn in CCMF.

A new experience

“Before I came to this training centre, I’ve never gone into a casino,” Marco shyly admits. Marco graduated with a NTC-2 certificate in Building Service from ITE Bedok in 2002, and he was working in a part-time sales job when his younger sister told him about ICGTC.

“I came to the training centre with my parents and sister to look around, and I liked what I saw, so I decided to give it a try,” says Marco. He may never have seen a casino before, but like most young Singaporeans, he is aware of the Integrated Resorts that will be opening in Singapore very soon, and is therefore keen to
prepare himself for this new industry.

Punitha shares Marco’s aspirations. Like Marco, Punitha is also an ITE graduate, holding an NTC-2 certificate in Precision Engineering (Machining) from ITE Ang Mo Kio. Unlike Marco however, Punitha currently works night shifts as a quality control technician. As such, juggling her daytime lessons at ICGTC with her job proved very challenging.

“Luckily, I could take make-up classes whenever I was absent due to my work, so I never had to worry about falling behind,” she says. More importantly, her trainers provided a lot of support. “They are very patient and not authoritarian at all! Even though they are all very experienced casino professionals, they treat us as adults and would teach us till we understand the lesson.”

Learning to chip

And there are certainly many things to learn. At the start of the course, students have to learn about the history of each major casino game — roulette, blackjack and baccarat. They then go on to learn basic hand-skills, calculation methods and security measures for conducting these games.

Every casino professional must possess these fundamental vocational skills to work in the gaming industry, including the senior floor managers. In fact, floor managers were once croupiers themselves, and all of them remain capable of conducting a game personally, if need be.

And, while these skills are easy to learn, they can prove quite challenging to master. For example, Punitha and Marco had to learn how to set up 11 stacks of 20 chips perfectly. They then have to “cut” the stack of 20 chips into smaller stacks of four or five chips, to make it easier to count and distribute winnings to players.

The “chipping” process has to be practised over-and-over until it becomes second nature. More importantly, it has to be done quickly and accurately — you cannot claim to give the wrong pay out because your hands slipped!

“We’re still learning, so mistakes will happen of course,” says Marco. “But practise makes perfect!”

We’re dealers, not gamblers

Besides chipping, there are other specific skills to learn. For example, Punitha had to learn how to spin a roulette ball at least 20 times around the wheel. “That is the passing mark for all students, but I found it quite challenging, maybe because I’m small-sized,” laughs Punitha.

Roulette poses other challenges. For example, there will many players gathered around a large table, and croupiers have to keep track of each player’s bet. The croupier will also have to calculate the winnings and losses — all inside his head! And, to add to the stress, there is obviously no room for error in these mental calculations.

Small wonder then that Punitha prefers conducting a baccarat game. There are fewer players, no more than seven per table. Moreover, she gets to sit during the game. Marco, on the other hand, enjoys the excitement of roulette. “It is exciting to be surrounded by so many players,” he says with a smile.

However, both Punitha and Marco are very careful to point out that they are not here to learn how to gamble! “We are only the dealers,” says Marco. “We do not take part in the game. We are not gamblers.”

Indeed, a croupier is the gaming industry’s equivalent of a restaurant’s waiter. They are there to serve customers, and they are possibly the hardest working people in the hospitality sector. A typical croupier easily performs over 1,000 transactions during an eight-hour shift. He turns out at least 70 games per hour, and brings in at least $10,000 in revenue for the casino by the end of his shift.

It is therefore not surprising to learn that croupiers are among the best paid people in the hospitality sector — most people can expect to earn from $2,000 to $2,500 in starting pay if they are successfully employed by a casino.

Honesty and integrity

But bear in mind, not everyone will be suited for this profession. A croupier has to be physically fit, because he could be on his feet throughout his shift. He would have to be mentally alert at all times, not only because he needs to perform transactions accurately, but also because he has to watch out for cheating players.

At the same time, he must have the discipline to stick to ironclad rules. More so than any other career, his integrity cannot be called to question — the slightest doubt about his honesty will spell the end of his job.

These are the traits of a successful gaming professional. By combining these qualities with professional training, candidates stand a far greater chance of joining the casino industry.

“I got what I expected by coming to ICGTC,” smiles Punitha. “I now stand a better chance of getting hired, not just in the Integrated Resorts, but also in international casinos around the region.”