The original 2011 report
Original reporting follows. Offers, event dates, product details and opinions are historical. Old outbound links are shown as text.
A number of unemployed people hoping to land jobs as blackjack dealers in Ohio casinos are now in training and getting ready for auditions. Over a 100 people practiced in a makeshift casino in Owens Community College, Northwest Ohio and got trained by Penn National Gaming to work in Hollywood Casino, which will launch in Toledo next year.
Penn National Gaming plans to recruit around 500 dealers for table games such as craps, poker, blackjack, and others. Director of Casino Games for Hollywood Casino Neal Perry said that the casino has already received 3,500 applications and expected to pay in the range of $16 – $22 per hour, including tips.
Hollywood Casino is one of the four casinos that obtained voters’ approval back in 2009. These casinos are expected to generate over 6000 jobs.
The candidates now in training had to undergo two screenings to gain admission to the 5-week course in card dealing, which started 3 weeks back. The audition is scheduled for December. The casino plans to hold 3 more similar courses.
Perry said that the casino will also hire dealers with experience from a wide range of casinos, including Penn National Casinos, and that even experienced dealer will have to undergo an audition.
Read a little deeper
Training, auditions and employment are different steps
Dealer-training reports show how casinos and colleges prepared people for table-game work. Keep the course, audition and employment offer distinct. Tuition figures, timetables and recruitment targets belong to the original story and do not describe a course or vacancy currently open for applications.
- Training
- Identify the games, course length and fees actually reported.
- Selection
- Look for auditions or other steps between training and hiring.
- Employment
- Distinguish an individual outcome from an employer’s recruitment plans.
Does completing a course always guarantee a casino job?
The report must say what was offered. Training, auditions and hiring are separate steps; do not turn a historical recruitment target into a general employment promise.
More from this era
Archive presentation refreshed 26 October 2026. The original report and publication date are retained; this is not a new offer, event listing or product review.