So do you want to be a casino dealer or bartender in Las Vegas?
I traveled to Las Vegas several times a year from Dallas, before moving to Las Vegas almost a year ago. The number one question people ask me when thinking about moving to Las Vegas is how easy it is to become a distributor or bartender. Well, in today’s economy, either option could be difficult, let’s look at both options.
Las Vegas casino dealer
Of the two options, this is probably the most chosen. There are literally thousands of dealers working in Las Vegas. There are shifts that cover all hours of every day of the year. The pay range of distributors can vary greatly from twenty thousand to over one hundred thousand dollars a year. Most dealers will start on a casino break that is off the strip at some of the lesser known casinos, and most new dealers also start out as part-time or full-time covering different shifts.
The best way to get a Casino Dealer job in Las Vegas is to go to a reputable Casino Dealer School, which has a good reputation for job placement and getting their students to audition for jobs in Casinos. Be sure to visit several schools and even talk to current and former students before committing to a school.
Las Vegas Waiter
Waitress jobs in Las Vegas can be very good and very hard to come by. The best bartenders in Las Vegas can earn over a hundred thousand dollars a year. These jobs are also hard to come by. Most bartenders at major casinos on and off the strip are unionized, which means you must belong to the union and usually start out as a bartender or bartender trainee. Some casinos circumvent the union by calling their bartenders entertainers, so if you have styling skills or look like a runway model, you may have a better chance of landing a job.
At a recent non-union casino that opened here, they were looking for waitresses and were required to interview in bikinis. So if you’re a good looking woman you have a better chance of getting hired as a waitress than most, hey it’s Vegas!
It can be just as daunting to get a job at a local bar, almost all local bars have video poker machines and require game cards just like casinos. Even at local bars, you’ll see them advertised for female-only waitresses, or require two years of experience as a Las Vegas game waitress. Beware of local bartending schools, there are quite a few and I come across graduates of these schools working all sorts of jobs, just not as bartenders.
In short, you can get a bartender job in Las Vegas, but you’ll have to be persistent because it won’t happen overnight. Casino trading jobs are easier to get, but they won’t pay much when you start out, but they can build into a good long-term career with experience. Always check out any of the Dealer and Bartending schools in Las Vegas before you commit, do your homework.