2008 Woodie Awards
Gaming college's students place bets on future
Betty Lin-Fisher ; Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
Issue date: 3/23/05 Section: News
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A Macedonia couple has taken a gamble by opening a school to train dealers in such games as poker, blackjack, craps and roulette in a state that doesn't allow casino gambling.
But Vince Conforte and Cherie Dimmerling said the demand for professionally trained dealers is so high that they already have casinos knocking on their door for graduates, even though the Ohio Gaming College only opened March 4.
The school, which is the first in Ohio, is in a two-room suite in a Macedonia office building off state Route 82.
"We didn't want to look like a casino in the middle of a neighborhood," said Jo Ann Squillante, the school's main instructor. "School is a professional place."
Conforte said his graduates will be able to work at any casino out of the state, but they'll also be ready if casino gambling is legalized in Ohio.
Conforte said there also is a great demand for dealers for the hundreds of charity and corporate events such as Texas Hold'em tournaments and Las Vegas nights.
However, although charities are allowed to use cash during games, their dealers must volunteer their time. But corporations or sponsored events that hold Vegas nights are allowed to pay dealers because their events do not involve any money.
But the jobs are mostly part time, said John Ferry, president of Gameco Inc., a Parma company that provides casino parties for corporations.
Ferry said his employees are not looking to be professional dealers and get their training from his company.
"My people are not qualified to walk out of here and walk into a casino to deal craps," he said.
At the Ohio Gaming School, no money or things of value are used. But the room looks like a casino, with Vegas-quality equipment including a 12-foot-craps table, roulette, blackjack and poker tables as well as a few slot machines.
Greg Corradino has paid $799 for 75 instruction hours to learn how to be a poker dealer. Even though Corradino, 60, has played poker for 45 years, he said he still learned something at his first lesson on Tuesday.
"I just found out tonight that I was supposed to have a silent shuffle,'' he said, as he practiced shuffling without the cards making any noise. "I thought I was doing it right.''