Relax - Rookie croupier on a roll

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Rookie croupier on a roll

By Radha Basu, The Straits Times | Mon, Jan 18 2010

There is also the thrill of rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous.

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[Above: Mr Steven Tan, who is among Singapore's first batch of croupiers, honing his new craft at the croupier training centre in Pandan Gardens.]

FOR three years, Mr Steven Tan spent his work days cooped up in a little office, mired in monotony.

His work, repairing hearing aids, never varied. Neither did the faces he saw around him. 'It was dead boring,' says the Institute of Technical Education graduate, now 29.

The course of his career changed when he applied for a croupier's job after seeing an advertisement in The Straits Times. He had watched croupiers at work in Hong Kong movies - and thought the job off-beat.

'I get to face different kinds of situations and meet new people from all over the world every day,' he says, grinning. 'That is fun.'

The job is not as easy as it may look. He needs to memorise the rules of about 10 games, do quick mental calculations, and be deft at dealing cards and handling chips.

But he is upbeat about his future. There is a clear path, he says, for career growth. A croupier can become a pit manager, learn to handle money, and even supervise an entire shift.

His parents were initially apprehensive about his working in a casino.

'But explaining the career path - and the growth prospects - helped to change their minds.'

There is also the thrill of rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous.

During a training session in Manila last year, a high roller came to the mass gaming floor to try his hand at blackjack. He had a card for entry to a private gaming suite but preferred to game with the crowds. And he planned to bet 200,000 pesos (S$6,000) that evening.

Then just a trainee, Mr Tan, the middle child of hawker stall-owners, panicked at the thought of fumbling before such an important customer.

'I did not realise it, but I began sweating a lot.'

The man, who was dressed casually in a T-shirt and jeans, noticed his distress and walked up to him with a box of tissue. He asked Mr Tan not to be nervous, to deal the cards slowly and take control.

'That's a method I use even today,' he says. 'And when the big opening comes, I know I will cope fine.'

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