How Much Do Casino Dealers Make in Australia?

So, you’re an Aussie who enjoys spending
time having a flutter with friends over a game of baccarat or poker. Or you play
for real money in online casinos. If so, it’s time to consider a
career as a casino dealer. Imagine working in a glamorous environment, whilst
rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous. But before diving head first into a new
career, we suggest you do some research. This will help to find out exactly
what the job offers. In many cases, reality and fantasy are not the same. With
that in mind, let’s have a look at Australian casino dealer salaries. Websites like Glassdoor and Payscale
provide a running up-to-date salary database for all jobs in Australia. They
show the average casino dealer pay in Australia is between A$24 - A$29 per
hour. The total compensation package is around A$69,000 with extra bonuses and
overtime. Yet it can go as high as A$81,000 per year for a seasoned casino
dealer with at least eight years of experience. Keep in mind that casinos based
in larger Australian cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth, will
pay more. Taking a look at actual housing sales data
along with property taxes, we can see this difference is thanks to the huge
cost of living difference between major cities and small towns in the
Australian outback. Dealer
Level Entry
Level Dealer Average
Dealer Senior
Dealer Per
Year A$42,246 A$48,455 A$81,000 Per
Hour A$22.29
A$24.85 A$38.94 Most Australian casinos will pay for four
weeks of dealer training. This will encompass all aspects of casino gaming,
including both the rules and casino etiquette. Following this is a six-month
probationary period where both you and the casino have a chance to see if
you’re a good fit. Once completed, you’ll see your starter
paycheck begin to rise. With around three years of experience under your belt,
expect to see an average annual salary of around A$42,300. In truth, this is
nothing to get too excited about. Let’s put things in perspective. An unskilled
shop assistant working at Woolworths gets A$23 per hour. Working in the same
position at the Old Ferndale Bakery will net you A$28 per hour. Australians enjoy a progressive tax system
with both basic and marginal requirements. As your salary grows, you will pay
progressively more on top of your basic tax rate. The salaries mentioned here
are gross, meaning that the Australian taxman wants his cut. The effective income tax rates for typical
dealers earning A$45,000 is around 13.3%, with an added marginal rate of 34.5%.
This translates into a tax bill of A$5,992. Therefore your take-home
salary is A$3,251 a month, with your net pay being A$39,008 annually. As you’re
going to be a contracted employee on the “pay-as-you-go system,” there’s
nothing you can claim back in expenses to reduce this sum. Australia is presently experiencing a
dramatic rise in both rental rates and property prices. An average middle-class
salary of A$65,000 is already priced out of the market for a mortgage on a
typical family home in most cities. With a 20% deposit and A$37,000 from the
bank, you’re looking at apartments valued at around A$471,200. In Sydney, the average asking price for a
house or apartment is now a staggering A$1.02 million. Rents are also extremely
expensive, with landlords asking for A$650 in Canberra, A$630 in Sydney, and
A$530 in Brisbane. With the average cost of living in 2023 for a single Aussie
being A$1,518, all these basic expenses mean that you’re going to have
relatively little extra cash to save. As you can see, annual salaries for casino
dealers in Australia are nothing special. In spite of how glamorous the job
might look in a James Bond movie. The hard truth is that you’re working in the
service industry. This category includes waiters, shop assistants, petrol pump
attendants, and bartenders. But it’s important to consider that the
job has no formal educational barriers to entry. If you’re an Australian
native, are over 21 years of age, have a high school diploma, and don’t have a
criminal record, you have a good chance of securing casino employment.
Furthermore, you need to be willing to put up with standing on your feet all
day, along with rotating shift work. In the USA, we can see that a poker dealer
or roulette croupier in Atlantic City and Las Vegas receives a much larger
wage. On average, a US dealer will enjoy an annual salary of around $77,000 US.
This translates to a whopping A$110,000. Furthermore, the US dealer can see up to
over half a million dollars at the end of a good year. The main difference is
that, though US salaries are low, they are able to build them by being able to
accept tips. You’ll find casino etiquette in any US-based gambling
establishment makes tipping almost mandatory. Unfortunately, this is something
that’s illegal throughout the Antipodes. Though all Australian casino’s
hospitality staff can accept tips, anyone with a Gold License (croupiers,
dealers, gaming hosts) cannot. For those of you who enjoy live dealer
games over the Internet, you might be wondering about the salary estimates of
these employees. Even though they all speak perfect English, virtually every
live dealer is based in Central or Eastern Europe. For example, the majority of Evolution’s
live dealer games are produced in a massive studio in Yerevan, Armenia. To put
things in perspective, the average service job in Yarevan pays around A$4,000
per year! Being a casino dealer requires no special
qualifications, with training being only a couple of months. So don’t expect a
spectacular salary. After all, it’s a service job, but without the benefits
from generous tipping.What Does an Australian Casino
Dealer Make?
Being an Aussie Casino Dealer
Will Not Make You Rich
You Can’t Escape the Taxman
Housing and Cost of Living
It’s Nothing More Than a Regular
Service Job
US Dealers Earn Much More
Live Dealer Earnings
Takeaway