‘World’s Best Dealer’ Couldn’t Find Job in Las Vegas!
Posted on: October 10, 2025, 01:14h.
Last updated on: October 10, 2025, 01:29h.
- 51-year old Vegas native Elleonor Hoffman has been named the “World’s Best Dealer” after winning the inaugural Dealer Championship at the G2E
- Despite her skills, Hoffman hasn’t been able to land a job on the Strip
- Instead, Hoffman had to find work at a tribal casino in Sonoma, Calif.
How hard can it be finding a job dealing table games in Las Vegas?
Elleonor Hoffman was crowned “World’s Best Dealer” at the inaugural Dealer Championship at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas on Thursday. Yet despite her proven skills and decades of dealing experience, the Las Vegas native told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that she works for a California tribal casino because she couldn’t find full-time work in her hometown.
Hoffman, 51, is a dual-rate table games dealer at Graton Resort & Casino in Sonoma County, Calif. She joined the property 10 months ago, following 22 years of dealing aboard cruise ships.
Apparently, Strip casino managers were unimpressed.
While Hoffman wasn’t asked to speculate on why she was overlooked, her situation likely reflects industry challenges such as:
- A bias toward recent land-based experience, especially in high-volume, surveillance-heavy environments like the Strip
- An oversaturation of dealer talent in Las Vegas
- Possible age-related discrimination, as casinos often favor younger candidates for front-facing roles
Game On
At the G2E Dealer Championship, held at the Venetian, Hoffman competed against 33 other dealers from across the US. Over two days, the field was narrowed to 12 semifinalists, then to six finalists. Contestants were judged on technical skill, hospitality, and game control while dealing blackjack and roulette. The judges included table games executives from each of the participating properties.
Hoffman won $5,000, a trophy, and the Dealer Championship Cup, which will be engraved with her name and displayed at Graton until next year.
She also won some payback. She beat Madalina Ristea of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, who came in second and took home $3,000, and Marko Vekovic of Encore, who took third and $2,000.
Honestly, this is the first time that I’ve seen myself perform because I’m always at the back of the table,” Hoffman told the Review-Journal. “So, to [watch] myself on video, and judging myself, I was like, ‘Damn, I’m good at this.’”
The other three finalists were Milan Jesic of the Bellagio, Taras Ploshchanski of the Venetian, and Chaz Chim of Muckleshoot Casino in Washington.
Hoffman’s win strongly suggests that Las Vegas casinos miss out on exceptional talent by clinging to rigid and outdated hiring norms and industry biases instead of gauging pure dealing skill.
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