Winning dealer Peter Sweet
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Peter Sweet of the Grosvenor Gloucester Casino has made his management proud – taking home the title of International Casino Dealer 2004. The three days of the ICE exhibition saw 18 of Europe’s top dealers come head to head in a battle of skill and style at the TCS John Huxley International Dealer Championship, with Peter being crowned Champion and heading to Vegas in October.
Dealers in this unique competition came from each of Gala, Stanley, Grosvenor, Westcliffe, the Ritz, Casinos Austria and Holland Casinos stayed in London for the three days to take part in the Championship. Each casino or group also provided a judge.
The tournament was supported by sponsors ShuffleMaster Gaming, Novomatic Group of Companies, Paltronics and Fournier.
A briefing took place on the evening of Monday 26 January, with dealers and judges meeting Tournament Director (Greg Young) and Tournament Co-ordinator (Kristy Maguire) – both experts following the Australian leg which took place at AGE last August.
Tuesday 27th saw the 18 dealers visit the dedicated Championship area on TCS John Huxley stand 3000, to deal 15 minutes of each of roulette and black jack, to the ‘players’ who were of course the judges. Dealers enjoyed use of the Chipper Champ Plus™ chip sorting machine on the roulette table, alongside the famous John Huxley wheel, and the ShuffleMaster King card shuffler as a part of the exercise – all on tables from John Huxley which demonstrated the latest in modern, quality table design and build.
By Wednesday morning there were 8 remaining, who went through the day once again in order to find out who the four semi-finalists would be, to take the stage on the last and final day of the show. But this was no Pop Idol tournament – all dealers remained in their accommodation in London, to come back and support the finalists, and receive their own certificate of participation on the last day!
Thursday saw 4 tense but keen dealers return – and the semi-finals and final brought record attendance to the stand, with colleagues and friends alike filling the stadium.
A climactic set of finals saw the following winners blushing with pride, and with trophies to display in their casinos:
1st Place (wins a trip to Vegas and spending money):
Peter Sweet – Grosvenor Gloucester Casino.
2nd Place (cash prize):
Garin Williamson – Stanley Crockfords Casino
3rd Place (cash prize):
Ruud Wernke – Holland Casinos
4th Place (cash prize)
Paul Burge – Westcliffe Casino.
Congratulations to all – photographs are attached.
Further announcements regarding the International Dealer Championship events throughout 2004 will follow – to culminate in the World Finals in January 2005!
Casino or casino groups wishing to start their own dealer competitions can contact kate.mclennan@tcsjohnhuxley.com for championship rules and guidelines – and discuss entries for next year!
Ends
For further information on please contact:
kate.mclennan@tcsjohnhuxley.com
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