Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Plains Township is accepting applications for the 500 positions it expects to add.
Aimee Dilger/The Times Leader
PLAINS TWP. – School will be in session next month for the hundreds of dealers Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs plans to hire to staff the table games to be added to the casino later this year.
The casino Thursday said it will hire 500 people, and more than half of them will be in the table games department. More than a 1,000 now work at the casino/racetrack.
“We’re looking at probably 300 dealers,” said chief executive Bobby Soper.
The games that include blackjack, poker, craps, roulette and baccarat are expected to be in place by the summer to complement the casino’s slot machines, he said. The state legalized the games earlier this month as a way to generate much needed revenue and create jobs.
To be ready for the games, the casino will hold its first dealer school in mid-February. Overseeing the training will be Jeff Walker, newly appointed vice president of table games.
“He’s gone through the ranks of table games,” Soper said. Walker started as a dealer in Atlantic City and has instructed dealers and supervisors at Mohegan’s Connecticut casino.
Mohegan Sun will pay for the training. Interest has been strong for the full-time spots, and online applications have been “certainly in the hundreds if not in the thousands,” Soper said.
The application, available on mohegansunpocono.com, cautions there is no guarantee of a job for applicants.
But Soper said, “It’s very likely if you go to the school and you make it through, you’ll be hired.”
The dealers are paid an hourly rate, according to the application. However, table games supervisor is a salaried position and prior experience is necessary.
A hiring surge also is under way at Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County where 220 people are needed.