Who’s Johnny Chan?
He’s a professional poker player, born in Guangzhou (Canton), China in 1957 and now living in Las Vegas, Nevada. His name in Traditional Chinese is ???. Yeah, I’m international like that.
He’s got 10 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, two WSOP championship titles (1987 and 1988) and founder of online casino ChanPoker.
What’s the Johnny Chan Academy about?
The classes teach subjects such as how to shuffle correctly, how to handle cheques (chips) in the right way, dealing the game, and proper casino procedures. They give you intimate knowledge of whatever game you choose (poker, blackjack, baccarat, etc), tips on how to be a professional when hairy situations arise (like crazy players), and assistance and knowledge on how to find a casino job.
Poker dealer training
The poker classes teach you Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and 7 Card Stud, how to fan the deck, rake procedures, table fees and using the table bank. It also teaches you how to regulate player betting procedures, and how to handle yourself in the dealer’s seat, plus the ever-important security issues you need to be aware of as a casino dealer.
Blackjack dealer training
Blackjack dealer classes teach you about the opening shuffle and wash, shuffling procedures, performing the strip, the lace, the roll, cutting the deck, burning cards, setting up the Blackjack Shoe, player’s wager placement, card deliver, doubling down, splitting hands, player breaks, hitting the dealer’s hand, clearing the layout, proper cheque cutting techniques, fast adding, taking and paying cheques, proper card reader procedures, Ten Value procedures, Ace procedure, Blackjack procedure, insurance, coloring in, conversions, dealer relief procedures, pacing the game, rack maintenance, opening and closing a table, folls, credits, markers, “No Mid-Shoe Entry” games, tokes, minimum and maximum bets, Super Sevens, and multi-action Blackjack. Yeah, that’s a lot. And that was a huge run-on sentence.
Baccarat dealer training
Looks like they forgot to write anything for this section. D’oh! Probably goes into valuation of hands, variances, etc.
Making the money
Supposedly you can make $40 dollars an hour in hourly salary through the Academy. They have “immediate openings for poker dealers in New York, West Virginia, Las Vegas, California, and Indiana casinos”.
I wonder how it’d be like to be a casino dealer for a day. Make some money, get involved in some games. Might be fun.
UPDATE: The Johnny Chan Academy is no longer operational. For poker tips, techniques, and strategies from Johnny Chan go to Chan Poker and then click on Poker School.
Related posts:
- University Refuses to Offer Casino Gaming Classes
- ChanPoker Closes Down: The End for the Johnny Chan Casino
- What Did We Learn: Starter Edition
- Casino War: Make Money By Declaring War on the Dealer
- Poker Gets Talked About in Harvard Law School
- Blackjack Switch: The Blackjack Spinoff Casino Game
- Double Down Texas Hold’em: Poker vs Blackjack
- Devious Blackjack Dealers: Cheating Strategies You Need to Know
- Insurance and Even Money: Bad Bets at the Blackjack Table
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March 5th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I’m a huge fan of Mr. Chan’s and was trying to find a way to send him an e-mail…or even an address to send a letter.
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May 6th, 2008 at 8:34 am
This is the second time I am responding to your article about Johnny Chan’s School. Please remove this from your blog. The school no longer exists. I was the certified instructor last year when we embarked on the innovative on-line instruction for poker dealing. The project never quite came to fruition because of financial difficulties. I did have the opportunity to train a student that I never met (only on line) and I am happy to say that the class went even better than I expected. I proved that all of the mechanical skills required of a good dealer could be taught on-line. I am happy to say that the student I trained is now employed as a poker dealer. If you have any further questions about the Chan school, you may contact me via e-mail. I had the pleasure of spending time with Mr. Chan on a couple of occasions last year. He is a great personality for the game of poker and he was very giving of his time. You can visit his site at chanpoker.net.
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May 6th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Thanks for the update Nick - and interesting side story you gave too on the class you gave.
I’m personally really shocked the Chan Academy didn’t succeed - I thought it filled a nice niche market for online instruction. I’m sure there’s going to be something similar coming up in the near future as internet casino training gains even more in popularity.
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May 20th, 2008 at 8:24 am
I’m very disappointed that the info on your blog is still outdated. I have contacted you on a couple of occasions to give you the latest on Chan Academy (no longer exists); also Johnny Chan has a web site and it’s not the one you continue to post, it’s http://www.chanpoker.net. I was the only poker instructor during the brief existence of Chan Academy. I would also like to include the correct info on the reason behind The University of Buffalo’s decision not to offer Chan Academy through Gatlin. It had nothing to do with the quality of the instruction, but, they felt it would conflict with other classes the University offered and I believe that the negative stigma of gaming was not the message they wanted to send.
I believe that the University and faculty chose not to put themselves in a situation where they were condoning gaming. Nick Ciavarella
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May 20th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Nick, there’s a big UPDATE at the end of the article which has been up since May 6th.
That entire line is in bold red letters to make sure readers don’t get confused…
Thanks for the comment though!
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August 5th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Mike,
The information that I sent you back in May was correct, however, I believe that the poker dealing school that I started is being offered on-line through Gatlin. http://www.gatlineducation.com/search.php. I am no longer the instructor, but the contents of the course remain as originally written. The great feature of the class was the one on one training via live web-cam. I welcome comments from anyone that has viewed the content of the course.
Mike, I hope I’m not contradicting my earlier e-mails to you, but at that time my info was correct. Keep up the good work, I really enjoy your site.
Nick Ciavarella
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Mike Smack Reply:
August 5th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Great find on this Nick. I looked at the drop-down box and I saw classes for Casino Baccarat Dealer, Casino Blackjack Dealer, and Casino Poker Dealer.
I then typed in my Zip Code and I found my local college is offering a partnership with Gatlin. Here were the costs in my local area:
Casino Baccarat Dealer $1195 75 Hours
Casino Blackjack Dealer $1395 100 Hours
Casino Poker Dealer $1395 100 Hours
Here’s the description on Casino Poker Dealer:
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August 21st, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I was sorry to hear the news that Johnny Chan’s web site http://www.chanpoker.net is closing. Please be advised this site had absolutely nothing to do with any dealing school that Johnny is affiliated with. Mike, I am assuming your info is correct, because I have not heard this from anyone else.
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Mike Smack Reply:
August 21st, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Hi Nick, thanks for the comment. Here’s the link to ChanPoker closing down.
Although both the Chan Academy and Chan Poker have closed, dealer training is still available through Gatlin Education.
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September 10th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
So very glad I found this truly great site
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September 11th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Hello Mike,
I thought I’d give you a little update on poker in Western NY. I have not been training any new poker dealers since February of this year. The job market here has little demand for poker dealers at this time. Last week, I was happy to hear that the Seneca Niagara Casino was looking for a few part-time dealers, so I offered a refresher class for several of my former students. The students applied for the positions and auditioned. I spoke with John Wood,(the card room manager, and former student of mine)and he told me that the students did very good on the auditions, and they would be notified in a few days from now. I’ll let you know how they make out.
I would like to begin teaching again, but the majority of my recent students had to relocate to find work.
Mike, you might want to look into the ongoing battle in Buffalo between the Seneca Nation of Indians and lawmakers, judges, and citizens against casinos. Right now it looks like the anti-casino activists are winning. The Senecas have actually stopped construction of their Buffalo Creek Casino. The way things get done in this area, it might be years before we know if the casino will ever open.
Nick Ciavarella
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Mike Smack Reply:
September 12th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Hi Nick, thanks for the update. Glad to hear the refresher class went well and you’re getting back into teaching again.
I took a look at some of the latest news about the Seneca Nation of Indians’ Buffalo Creek Casino vs Citizens Against Casino Gambling in Erie County.
I read that one of the biggest arguments is around the hospitality industry, with one casino critic saying, “the presence of the casino, with its proposed hotel and numerous food and beverage outlets, would surely drive many local hospitality establishments out of business. The casino can literally give away hotel rooms, food and beverage, retail sales and entertainment to those who ‘qualify’ for free services due to their gambling losses. The system is called “Player Points” and is based on a small percentage of gambling losses being redirected back to the player as ‘points’ to be spent on non-gambling services within the casino.”
Here’s some positive news about the casino being built - they ran a poll finding out the local community’s view on the casino being built. The findings were:
A Zogby International poll, conducted between Aug. 19 and 22, found that eight out of 10 likely voters in four Western New York counties including Erie and Niagara Counties, equate the Seneca Nation’s gaming and entertainment operations to new, steady jobs and economic development. Furthermore, two-thirds of those polled believe Seneca-run businesses do improve the region’s quality of life. Approximately 70 percent of those polled, said New York state should honor all Indian treaties, which is at the core of their lobbying efforts being made to Paterson to convince the governor to reject the sales tax collection bill. All previous New York governors have rejected the bill. Among the poll’s other findings were that three out of 10 believe state government mistreats Indian tribes, nearly 78 percent agree that Indian businesses including gaming and retail add economic development and job growth opportunities, and that virtually all those visit one of the Seneca’s casino operations in Niagara Falls, Salamanca and Buffalo rate them “highly” and 60 percent said they are already planning a return visit.
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September 13th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Hey Mike,
Thanks for the update on the stats regarding the Seneca Casinos. I guess we’ll just have to sit back and see what develops. I do have some good news on the dealers that auditioned last week. Three of my students have called to inform me that they are hired as part time poker dealers and they are to report for processing this Monday. I’ll keep you posted.
Nick Ciavarella
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