DANVILLE, Va. (WSET) — The first day of Caesars Virginia Dealer School began today.
The program is aimed at training people to become certified dealers, and officials hope to fill 400 more dealer positions by the time casinos fully open in late November or early December.
There are currently 170 dealers in the temporary casino.
The first day of the 12-week program focused on the basics, like how to stack chips neatly and what it takes to be a good dealer.
And it's all completely free.
“All we need is people to come!” said Kevin Schechter, general manager of table games at Caesars Virginia.
He said he prefers people who know nothing about casinos or table games because it's a “clean slate.”
Schecter's only requirement for becoming a certified dealer at Caesars is to undergo 12 weeks of mandatory training, four hours a day, five days a week.
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Schechter has been a dealer for 30 years and says he highly recommends the product.
“It's a great profession, a new profession, and if you become a good dealer you can work anywhere within the Caesars empire,” Schechter added.
Some of the games you can learn how to be a dealer through this program include blackjack, roulette, craps, and baccarat.
Prospective dealers like Kit Moore and Ozzie Klein agreed that it was very important to them that the program be free, since the casino would pay their dealer license fees.
“It costs over $500 to get a license in this state, so to be able to take this class and have the casino pay for it is a really unique opportunity,” Moore said.
“It would be really nice to not have to pay a cent, because right now it's really, really expensive to do anything,” Klein agreed.
Caesars Virginia officials said students undergo background checks and cannot be felons, but that's all that's required besides attendance.
You may be wondering why this 12-week program is free.
Toni Trammell, one of the table game shift managers in charge of training, said Caesars knows many Virginia residents may not know much about how casinos work.
That's why they're willing to train and educate people for free and make sure their staff is up to the standards.
“Caesars is willing to put in the time, energy and effort to develop talent who want to learn about the casino business in new markets,” Trammell said.
Trammell also said there will be a shuttle service from Greensboro to the training grounds on Nordan Street.