Competent Poker Dealers Can Make North of $40,000/Year

Q: How Much Do Poker Dealers Make?

A: Many poker players, sometime over the course of their careers, have had the following thought - maybe I should become a poker dealer!

After all, you get to participate in the card games while not having to worry about losing your bankroll. Some poker dealers seem to be having a blast at the tables, which leads many to believe that it might be fun to become a poker dealer.

The question is - how much do poker dealers make? The answer - it depends on how good you are, and how well you interact with the players at the table.

The majority of poker dealers out there make a very low hourly wage, with the rest of their money coming via tips.

If you are a competent dealer that keeps the games moving, you will likely end up making around $20/hour, including your tips. This obviously depends greatly on which casino you are dealing at (are there many tourists there?), which types of players are sitting at your table (is it full of regs who might not tip as much?) and what time of year it is (if you are dealing in Las Vegas during the World Series of Poker, you will likely make more than another time of the year).

From the research that I've done, $20/hour seems like a fairly accurate estimate as to what a competent poker dealer can make.

Assuming that you work full-time hours (and possibly some overtime), this would put you north of $40,000/year.

Now, there are obviously exceptions to this.

If you are a REALLY good dealer that has a great rapport with the players at the table, and if there are the right kinds of players at the table, you might find yourself making hundreds of dollars per night in tips.

On the other hand, if you are dealing very slowly and get confused often, and don't interact well with the players at the table, you might find yourself making less than $10/hour.

If you put in the time to hone your craft and have a good personality, there is no reason why you couldn't make $40,000+ per year.

With that being said, dealing poker can be a pretty terrible job if you get the wrong types of people at your table. The drunken players, the bitter old regulars who blame you for their bad luck, the players who belittle you or get into arguments against the rules - these people are all part of the job, and there can be some pretty miserable nights.

With that being said, the better you are at dealing games of poker, the more fun you will likely have, as the players at the table will appreciate how fast the games are moving and how competent you are.


Back to Answers