'Casino School' Gives Students Chance For Employment At MGM Springfield

SPRINGFIELD (CBS) – School is about to be in session - casino school that is.

MGM Springfield is working to teach prospective employees how to be dealers. The casino is looking to hire about 450 table game and poker dealers before it opens later this year.

And completing two classes at the school guarantees a shot at one of those jobs.

They're showing off the casino school in Springfield, a unique classroom filled not with desks, but with gaming tables.

"Blackjack, craps, roulette, 3-card poker, 4-card poker, all the different poker derivative games, novelty games, anything you see on the casino floor, we'll teach it here," says Robert Westerfield who heads the school for MGM Springfield.

The 10-week classes start at the end of this month and continue through June. You'll pay tuition, from $200 to $600 per class, and that does not guarantee a job.

"Once you go through the class, and we want you to take at least two classes and get a certificate, we will give you an audition, which is our form of an interview," Westerfield says.

Angel Rivera is one of the teachers. He's from Springfield and has worked in the business for nearly 30 years, mostly in Atlantic City.

"We're looking for motivated people, motivated energetic students, people who want to come here and learn," Rivera says.

Diane Garvey is one of those students.

"I'm looking forward to starting a new career. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to pass through the gaming classes and become a dealer," she said.

For people who do get jobs, their tuition will be reimbursed if they stay a year.

"I'm going to start with black jack and then I think I'm going to take up craps because that's an exciting game," Garvey says.

MGM plans to open the casino by the fall.

You can still sign up for classes. To do that go to the website of the Massachusetts Casino Career Training Institute.