Crown Melbourne played host to the 2023 Australasian Croupier Championship this week, with Joanne Lee, representing The Star Gold Coast, named the region’s best overall dealer at a lavish presentation at Horizon on Wednesday evening.
Lee outlasted a field of 27 entrants to take down this year’s event, improving on her third-place finish in 2022. Participants included representatives of Crown Melbourne, Crown Sydney, Crown Perth, The Star Sydney, The Star Gold Coast, Treasury Brisbane, SkyCity Auckland, SkyCity Adelaide, SkyCity Queenstown, SkyCity Hamilton, The Ville in Townsville, Hobart’s Wrest Point, Mindil Beach Casino, Casino Canberra, Christchurch Casino and Grand Casino.
Hosted by Crown Melbourne after one of its own took overall honors in the 2022 event, the 2023 Australasian Croupier Championship began with two full days of heats on Monday and Tuesday before six finalists were named to return on Wednesday to compete for the title.
Each competitor took turns dealing American Roulette, Commission Baccarat and Blackjack where they were judged on chip work, dealing skills and guest service. Scores were then tallied and winners announced by event sponsor Angel on Wednesday evening.
Lee, who moved to Australia from South Korea in 2001 and began her dealing career at Crown Melbourne, said she was “proud of myself because I did my best” but explained the greater reward was having the opportunity to work alongside other quality dealers from across the region.
“It was amazing to meet the best dealers from all the casinos in Australia and New Zealand, and get to know each other,” she told Inside Asian Gaming.
“It’s a competition but we were not competing, we were helping each other, which was lovely. And the way Crown organized things was amazing. The training center they provided was basically a home for friendship.”
Asked how she felt about her win, Lee added, “I’m overwhelmed. I started at Crown Melbourne which is where my skills come from, then I moved to the Gold Coast where I’ve had more amazing trainers and managers to help me polish my dealing skills and techniques. But I’m very happy to win this award back where I started at Crown Melbourne.”
Bryan Jenkins, Managing Director of Angel Australasia, said his company viewed the Australasian Croupiers Championship as an important opportunity to recognize some of the most important people in the industry each year.
“Angel’s business is purely related to table gaming and table gaming products so this event to us strikes at the very core of where our market is,” he explained. “The performance of dealers, the feedback of dealers in relation to our product is very, very important, so there is a lot of value in this event for us.”
The winning casino at each Australasian Croupiers Championship has the honor of hosting the event the following year, meaning the 2024 Championship will be held at The Star Gold Coast.
The full results from the 2023 Australasian Croupier Championship are as follows:
- Overall winner – Joanne Lee (The Star Gold Coast)
- 2nd Place – Hazel Guilleron (Crown Melbourne)
- 3rd Place – Esita Takai (Sky City Auckland)
- Blackjack Winner – Joanne Lee (The Star Gold Coast)
- Roulette Winner – Hazel Guilleron (Crown Melbourne)
- Baccarat Winner – Hazel Guilleron (Crown Melbourne)
- Customer Service – Deigo Valero Arenas (The Star Gold Coast)
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