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Colleges go for a spin 08/1/2008
Despite the scaling down of casino plans, an academy is being launched to train the next generation of croupiers. Tony Tysome reports

The gambler to be found regularly propping up the roulette table at 4am probably couldn't care less about the quality of the croupier's conversation. But times are changing. It seems nimble fingers, zippy mental arithmetic and the knack of looking good in evening dress are no longer the only skills needed for service in the green baize world of the casino.

In future anyone wanting to spin the wheel or deal the cards has got to be an entertainer. "There has been a sea-change in the kind of people we are looking for," says Kevin Graham, technical training manager for Grosvenor Casinos.

Entertaining will therefore be very much on the agenda at the new National Gaming Academy, a venture just set up by three colleges. Its mission: to supply a rapidly evolving casino industry with a new breed of multi-tasking croupiers.


The new academy - a partnership between Blackpool and the Fylde, Greenwich Community, and North Warwickshire and Hinckley Colleges - will offer what is effectively a national curriculum for croupiers and other casino staff.

The initiative has the backing of casino bosses who are keen to move on from their disappointment over the scaling down of the government's supercasino plans. They hope the new academy will help them push the industry in new directions that will mean upgrading the skills of its workforce.

It is the answer to the industry's prayers, according to Geoff Pine, Greenwich College principal. "They are looking for a rigorous quality-controlled country-wide training structure with qualifications that support the industry and with an emphasis on entertainment and social responsibility."

Over the next few years, British casinos plan to take more of their income from bars, restaurants, shows and the latest generation of gaming machines, and less from gambling at the traditional tables.

Students on the course will learn as much about the importance of customer service and keeping the punters entertained as they will about roulette terminology and spotting card-counting "cheats" at the blackjack table.

Colleen McLoughlin, the academy's coordinator and a lecturer in casino operations management at Blackpool, says the new qualification will help an expected 300 students a year understand why a winning smile is as important as all the necessary technical abilities.

Banks of roulette machines are threatening to displace the traditional tables in today's casinos. But McLoughlin says that learning to deal the game remains a core discipline. "Roulette is like the maths and English of our curriculum, because all the skills you gain in learning to deal the game are transferable to all the other games.

The trainees based in Blackpool have been able to hone their skills in a mock casino. Scot Hunter, 19, is one who has been grappling with the complex mental calculations involved in paying off multiple winning bets at the roulette table. "It's surprising, the work involved," he says. "It really is much harder than it looks."

Students at the academy will be introduced to the internal workings of increasingly sophisticated computer-networked slot and gaming machines, which bring in a growing proportion of casino income. Trainee croupier Katherine Litwinski, 21, wonders whether this will eventually put dealers out of a job. But there's no need to worry, insists Maxine McKenzie, a customer services lecturer assessing students' performance. "Customers come to see the dealer," she says. "It's that human interaction that makes their experience memorable. The really skilful croupiers can make you feel like you've had a great night even if you've lost all of your money. A machine can never do that."
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