The Foundation Poker Dealer Course.

Real training, not theory

Leeside Dealer Academy is a structured training course that takes complete beginners or inexperienced dealers and develops them into competent, professional-standard poker dealers.

This is not a theoretical course. It is real training in real gameplay environments: tournaments, cash games, and live poker settings. You are trained, assessed, and developed on performance, accuracy, speed, and table control.

Training takes place inside Macau Sporting Club, one of Ireland's premier cardrooms, in the heart of Cork city.

Who it's for

No experience required.

This is for anyone who wants to enter the poker industry as a dealer, build a flexible freelance skill, or open a pathway into live events and cardroom work.

Complete beginners. Never dealt a card in a professional setting? The course starts at zero and develops you into dealing full hands with confidence.

Poker fans. You know the game inside out as a player. Now learn to run it. That background gives you a real head start, and dealing shows you the game from a side most players never see.

Career changers. Looking for flexible, paid work that travels? Dealing is one of the few skills you can take anywhere there's a tournament, and there are more every year.

How training works

Every session is built around repetition. Students spend most of their time dealing rather than watching.

• One student deals while the rest of the group plays. Real table dynamics, real pressure, from session one.
• Continuous rotation. Everyone deals throughout every session. Each student deals dozens of hands per class, with no sitting idle.
• Real-time correction. Our founder catches and fixes mistakes in the moment, which is the fastest way to build clean muscle memory.
• Hundreds of hands, then the final table audition. At week 10 you sit a final table audition. Pass, and you graduate. If you're not there yet, you keep training at practice table sessions at no extra cost until you meet the standard.

The full skill list is on the curriculum page, and what comes after the audition is on the outcomes page.

What you receive

Every student receives a starter kit to support their training from day one:

• Professional cardroom playing cards
• Practice chip set for at-home drills
• Full access to the structured 10-week course

This lets you start building core dealer skills straight away: card handling, chip control, and table flow.

On completing the course, students who meet the standard receive:

• Official Leeside Dealer Academy certificate
• Recognition as a qualified academy dealer
• Official dealer uniform shirt, black and white, with the academy badge

The uniform is issued to certified dealers for live dealing work, carrying the academy standard onto the floor.

Pay week by week

No lump sum. A deposit holds your seat, then you pay as you train. Payment is separate from progression: certification is earned by meeting the standard, not bought.

• €150 deposit. Secures your place on the course.
• €70 a week. Paid on attendance, week by week across the 10 weeks. That's €70 for five hours of hands-on training at the table.

Total: €850 over 10 weeks. And if you don't pass your final table audition at week 10, you keep attending practice table sessions at no extra cost until your skills meet industry standards. Applying is free, with no commitment: apply for the September course and we'll arrange a short introductory call to make sure it's the right fit.