Operator News
UK – Grosvenor dealers benefiting from Grosvenor Casinos Gaming Academy
By Phil - 19 July 2021
The Grosvenor Casinos Gaming Academy, a six-week programme that teaches non-gaming team members how to deal some of the most popular casino games including Blackjack, Poker and Roulette., is paying off with team member in Reading, Midlands, Cardiff and Manchester all benefitting from the course with plans for further Gaming Academies throughout the year.
As part of Grosvenor’s commitment to safer gambling, the Academy seeks to educate team members about the importance of ensuring that guests are playing responsibly at all times. Safer gambling is embedded in the entire programme, with team members taught to identify potential markers of harm and how to address player behaviour which may be of concern in terms of safer gambling.
Jonathon Swaine, Managing Director at Grosvenor Casinos said: “At Grosvenor Casinos we pride ourselves on offering our team members the chance to progress their careers with us. When we make a hire, we are committed to giving them the best possible chance to progress and have a career not just a job. The Gaming Academy is something we are really proud of; we have seen a really positive uptake in participation.
“At its heart is a commitment to safer gambling. The importance of ensuring our team members embrace responsible play has never been greater and The Gaming Academy allows us bake safer gambling into the Grosvenor culture even more effectively. The past 15 months have been very tough for us all and now our casinos have finally reopened, and we have our teams back doing what they do best, we are determined to give them the best career development opportunities we can.”
The extensive course includes training on all aspects of gaming at Grosvenor Casinos. Weeks one to two cover casino terminology, odds and pay-outs, the correct way to spin the roulette ball and tutoring on times tables up to thirty-five – to help the team members manage the fast-paced nature of bets placed by guests when they visit the casino.
Alongside these modules in the first two weeks team members also learn stretching and chipping, pushing and dragging stacks, clearing the layouts, along with French Bets and marking up colour.
As well as traditional training, team members receive tips and tricks on how to improve their dexterity when it comes to collecting and gathering bets and chips, to ensure they can deliver the best possible service in the quickest way possible.
With the foundations being laid the modules from weeks three to six deep dive into some of the more advanced techniques gaming team members will have to learn at the casino.
Practice for games such as Blackjack and Poker with guidance on how to deal, collect cards, announce bets and hands and manage games. Team members will also gain experience on float management, fills and credit and interaction with Inspectors, which are all part of the course designed to create well rounded and exemplary gaming teams.
The Gaming Academies have been running across the country with casinos in Reading, the Midlands Cardiff & Manchester recently completing the course with team members gaining a range of new skills. Grosvenor Casinos in Manchester are currently running a second Gaming Academy, with plans in place to run further courses later in the year.
In Cardiff, croupier Nuphit Chumnua, said: “The Gaming Academy was brilliant to be a part of and it gave me the skills I need to develop my career and to work in new roles at Grosvenor Casino Cardiff. I have always been passionate about my job and wanted to continue to develop, so I jumped at the chance to progress my role here. After the Gaming Academy finished, I felt inspired and ready to take on new challenges. My goal is to keep taking advantage of the opportunities here at Grosvenor Casinos and strive to get a more senior role in the business, now I have learned more skills that I can use across the board such as the safer gambling and dealer modules.”
Laura Wilson, a dealer at Grosvnor’s Reading south venue, added: “I thoroughly enjoyed the Gaming Academy and it helped equip me with a number of new skills that I hadn’t learnt before and skills that I can use when I work at Grosvenor Casino Reading South. During the course we learned how to deal in games such as Blackjack, how to spin the Roulette ball properly as well as aspects like how to calculate complex bets and safer gambling modules. The Gaming Academy also enstilled a lot of confidence in me personally and the fact I was able to complete the course was a big deal for me.
“Now the course has come to an end and I have all these news skills I feel like I’ll have a lot of opportuntities for career development and it’s opened new doors to other areas of the gaming industry. I could travel if I wanted to and work on cruise ships as well as progressing my career with Grosvenor Casinos too and moving up the ladder there.”
