Craps schools' big payoff: Jobs for their grads

What does a $5 yo straight up pay? What does $3.75 horn high 12 mean? And what exactly is a boxman or a stickman?

This colorful commentary is only part of what the combination loudspeaker mathematicians known as craps dealers must learn to get a job running a game of dice in a Las Vegas casino, but once they know their stuff, the chances of landing a job are almost guaranteed.

"There is almost always 100 percent placement with craps dealers," said Joel Lauer, the owner of the PCI Dealers' School on South Valley View Boulevard. "The demand for craps dealers is always great. There are probably 10 blackjack dealers for every craps dealer."

Craps dealers are in high demand because not many people have the confidence to tackle learning the complicated game, said Howie Doherty, an 18-year casino veteran, who will become a manager at the Bellagio hotel-casino when it opens Oct. 15.

"It is a hard game to learn because not only does a dealer have to deal with a large number of players, but they have to be able to calculate the payouts quickly in their heads," said Doherty, who also teaches at PCI.

"That normally wouldn't be too hard, but in craps every player can bet different amounts on different bets. A craps dealer has to handle a lot of action."

Dice shooters can place bets for various amounts -- in the field, on the pass line, come line, don't pass don't come line, on individual numbers and on proposition bets such as hard ways and the horn -- just to name a few of the bets that must be accounted for by craps dealers.

Intimidation weeds out a lot of potential craps dealers because the size of the game and the number of bets, said Nick Kallos, owner of the Casino Gaming School on Karen Avenue.

"It's a little tougher game to learn then blackjack," Kallos said. "I don't try to sell students on any one game, but if they have the hand-eye coordination and math skills, I tell them to give craps a try. Craps is the quickest way to get a job in the field because the casinos are always chasing craps dealers."

It was not always that way, said Wayne Starker, casino manager of downtown's El Cortez hotel-casino.

"Years ago the big casinos on the Strip wouldn't look at a dealer unless they had put in two years downtown," Starker said. "Now, I have dealers putting in six to eight months downtown and landing really nice jobs."

Downtown casinos are often the starting point for craps dealers just out of school, Lauer said.

"Most craps dealers start off at the El Cortez or the Golden Gate downtown," Lauer said. "It's rare for someone just out of school to have a chance at a $33,000-a-year job at a big casino, but it does happen."

Las Vegas' dealers schools often serve as a feeder system to the smaller properties, which in turn feed dealers to the large properties.

"The way it has gone the last four or five years is that a new casino will open, and it will cause a chain reaction with the dealers around town," Starker said. "Not many dealers move directly from the El Cortez or Golden Gate to a Bellagio, but they may move into Sam's Town or Sunset Station when those dealers get a job at Bellagio."

In June the Strip and downtown Las Vegas had 48 locations with a total of 245 craps tables that brought in an estimated $21.5 million.

Those numbers will increase with the openings of the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Venetian and Paris.

People should not be fooled into thinking that the demand for blackjack dealers is higher than for craps dealers, Kallos said.

"It may look like there is less need for craps dealers because a casino may have 40 blackjack tables and only 10 craps tables, but you have to remember that a craps table operates with a five-man crew, while the other table games need just one dealer," Kallos said.

Four members of a five-man crew are working a table at one time, while the fifth is on break. Among the four, first there is a boxman who sits behind the center of the table in the pit. He is ultimately responsible for the game and whether a roll is good or considered no roll.

The stickman is stationed across from the boxman, and as the name indicates, he uses a stick to retrieve rolled dice for shooters. The stickman also is responsible for proposition bets, and he serves as the play-by-play man of the team, calling out rolls with colorful comments.

The other two active members of the team are the first and second basemen who sit on either side of the boxman and pay off the nonproposition bets.

If it sounds complicated here, then imagine how rookie dealers feel when they try to learn the game.

"There are so many aspects that you have to learn," said Mike Costello, a student at PCI. "You have to have dexterity and be able to think fast."

Costello and his classmates routinely huddle around the craps table at PCI, taking notes on ratios that resemble calculus homework and copying down lingo such as "eyes of the asp" and "boxcars."

"This is my first group of students, and I like them because they are like babies that I can teach and keep away from bad habits," Doherty said. "In casinos the bad habits are already established and are hard to break."

To illustrate his point, Doherty reminds a future stickman to always call out the roll before retrieving the dice.

Most craps courses last about 10 weeks, but many schools allow students to learn at a pace that is comfortable for them.

Costello has been at PCI for eight weeks and had a job interview at the Gold Coast hotel-casino on Monday.

"The demand for craps dealers is always there," Lauer said. "It's going to get even stronger when the new casinos like the Bellagio open."

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