[Gonso]

I disagree with the skipping school part, it's only a month of classes and a few hundred bucks, call Professional Dealer's School in Pleasantville. It's the slow time of year for dealer schools, and the classes are tiny so you have a lot more instructor and table time.

Yeah, you will learn the basics, but you'll want some practice doing side pots and making change, taking rake and so on. If you don't have any games at all I'd seriously recommend taking at least one class at a school, where people with experience can help you.

Pitching cards and shuffling you can work on in your own time, but add handling cheques to that list.

Besides that, you get to meet a few people that can get you hired. At PDS there are floors from Borgata and Caesars teaching classes, and though you won't start there, you can get in as a tourney dealer with a little experience. Plus, you can get recruited from school and so on.