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When it was suggested she enroll in classes to become a casino dealer, Patti Booream didn't know how to play a single card game.

"It was completely a foreign world to me," she said.

But Booream decided to give it a shot. She'd spent the last year looking for full-time work in the technology or health care fields to no avail.

"The prospects were not good," the 59-year-old Lehigh Township resident recalled.

Booream took a gamble and enrolled in Northampton Community College's new casino training classes, in hopes of landing a job at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem.

Today, she's just one of the almost 1,500 people who have completed the 10-week program since it began five years ago.

"When the Sands came to the Lehigh Valley and offered these jobs, it wasn't something I considered," Booream, who now is a floor supervisor. "But it ended up making a very big difference in my life."

The NCC program boasts a job placement rate of upwards of 85 percent at the Sands and other casinos.

And those casinos are always hiring.

"I will tell you since March of 2010, I've not stopped hiring dealers," said Mickey Trageser, vice president of human resources for Sands Bethlehem.

An early partnership

When Pennsylvania legalized table games, the Sands opted to partner with NCC to meet its training needs rather than develop its own in-house program.

"We were actually able to place people that haven't had jobs in quite a long time," said Deb Driscole, NCC's assistant director of hospitality and tourism program and manager of the casino training school.

Sands has hired more than 750 NCC grads to work as dealers in Bethlehem, Trageser said. Dealers start out earning a minimum of $38,000 to $40,000 a year, including wages and tips, known as toke in the industry, she said.

The casino currently employs almost 800 dealers and about 145 poker dealers.

"I think it is important the general public knows the jobs are there," said David Schweiger, director of NCC's hospitality and tourism program.

RELATED: Sands casino eyeing multimillion dollar electronic gaming expansion

And some former students, like Booream and Tyler Baltz, 26, of Bethlehem, now also teach in the NCC training program.

Baltz recalls it was scary to shell out all of the money for the courses without the guarantee of a job.

"I think people in the area don't know how good of a job it is. If anyone is struggling to find a job or even semi-interested, don't be nervous, don't be shy," Baltz said. "Take the class."

When he enrolled in the blackjack and roulette class in 2010, Baltz was 22, working two restaurant jobs and at a bar.

"I was just trying to get by really," Baltz said. "This was my saving grace. I really wanted something full time to become something and have a career. It really came at a perfect time."

The Sands gives employees many avenues to move up within the casino, said Baltz, who is now a dual-rate pit supervisor.

His supervisors supported his drive to advance, allowing him to go from dealer to a dual-rate supervisor -- splitting his time as dealer while learning the ropes of floor supervising -- to a floor supervisor and now a dual-rate pit manager.

Baltz says he's not an aberration. It's a supportive environment to work in.

"I'm loving every day," Baltz said. "I don't even feel like I have a job. It's been a great life experience."

Casino training

Currently, NCC's table games dealer training consists of a six-week blackjack class and then students move on to a four-week baccarat. Classes are five hours a day, four days a week.

Students graduate with certificates for the two games and must get licensed by the state.

The program attracts students of all ages ranging from 18 to 72, Driscole said. About 75 percent of students are out of work while the rest are looking for a career change, she said.

"We are the only game in town really as far as being recognized by the Pa. Gaming Control Board," Driscole said.

Casino dealing has been deemed a high priority occupation by the state. That makes certain students, like Booream, eligible for tuition funding through Pennsylvania's Career Link.

MORE: Career Link eligibility requirements

Early in the casino training program, NCC sends a list of its students to the Sands. The casino then contacts them to help them start the licensing process, since it can take up to six weeks, Trageser said.

NCC now also offers advanced classes for dealers to get certified in poker, roulette, craps, Pai Gow poker and Pai Gow tiles. The Sands pays for employees to return to the Sands to get certified in other games. 

"They are really good at building their team members," Driscole said.

Most casinos do all of their dealer training in house. Yet, when table games were legalized in Pennsylvania the Sands sought to model an Atlantic Cape Community College program, Trageser said.

"We just don't have the space to create a training center or the additional personnel to do that," she said. "It really works to our advantage for the students to get the full breadth of the training at NCC."

NCC, the Sands and Atlantic Cape worked to develop Northampton's program, which was then approved by the state gaming board. Ahead of the July 2010 table games launch, the Sands hired seasoned-industry managers that March to work as NCC instructors.

The Sands is examining whether it needs to change the two games certifications it requires new dealers to have based on its customer demographics, Trageser said.

"We really need craps dealers," she said adding its a complex game. "It takes a longer time to train. We've also added Asian games and we need people (for them)."

Both Baltz and Booream have greatly expanded the games they're trained to deal.

Although, neither has forgotten the excitement they felt the first time the hit the casino floor.

"That was something else, I tell you," Booream said. "It is a completely new world. There's a lot to be responsible for."

Dealers aren't just doling out cards. They're responsible for making sure customers are having fun, bets are being properly placed and the rules are being followed. NCC recommends those interested in the training program be comfortable with simple math and fractions.

"I'm very mathematically minded and it keeps my mind very active," Booream said. "It's challenging and at the same time it's very exciting."

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.