Talent Management The Inaugural German Dealer Championship

Thomas Schenk, vice-chairman Deutscher Spielbankenverband e. V. and Tobias Hellberg chat with Peter White ahead of the 2023 European Dealer Championship Finals

Dealers from Germany are joining those from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland next month. All will descend upon Brussels’ Viage Casino to match skills in the prestigious and hard-won European Dealer Championships.

A total of 22 croupiers from 11 state-licensed casino companies took part in the first German Dealer Championship at Casino Schenefeld from March 20th to 22nd, 2023. On two days of exciting competition, the dealers vied against each other in different, competitive disciplines of the classic casino games roulette and blackjack.

Could we commence this interview with an insight into your role at Baden-Württembergische Spielbanken GmbH & Co. KG?

Our company operates three casinos, Casino BadenBaden, Casino Konstanz and Spielbank Stuttgart in the state of Baden-Württemberg. I am head of HR and legal. With talent management as part of my tasks, I have been planning to introduce an event to celebrate the best talents in the industry. This is very important for the future of casinos in Europe and also for the public to understand what kind of skills are needed to become a casino dealer, which also raises the profile of dealing, making it more interesting for future employees.

Could you provide readers a brief history of the state-owned casino group and an insight into the potential growth opportunities for the brick-andmortar casinos in Germany?

Our company is owned by the state of BadenWürttemberg, which was founded in 1995 and opened its first casino, Spielbank Stuttgart, in 1996. In 2003, the company also acquired the licences to operate Casino Baden-Baden and Casino Konstanz, and grew to become one of the leading companies on the German casino market. Following the pandemic, landbased casinos in Germany have rebounded strongly and are very well positioned for the future. The main focus for growth opportunities at the moment is slot machines.

In addition to your role with Casino Baden you are also an ECA board member and where you are the Association’s Treasurer. Can you provide readers details on your role along with any new initiatives being planned?

As member of the board and treasurer, there is no lack of important tasks to develop the European casino industry and keep all projects financially in check. We focus on events such as the European Dealer Championship 2023 in Brussels and the ECA Industry Forum 2023 in Montreux as staples for the casino industry, but also strengthen discussions with regulators concerning anti-money-laundering and responsible-gaming strategies. One topic we are looking forward to this year is our initiative to send two casino professionals, who have worked intensively on diversity projects within the industry, to the renowned Executive Development Program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

When did the German Dealer Championship 2023 take place, how many croupiers entered the finals and was their representation from all the casinos in the group?

The event started on March 20, 2023 and finished on March 22 of that year. As it was the first event in Germany, we were very happy to welcome 22 candidates from 11 casino operators in the country. It was a highly competitive event with many highlights and it was very well received by the participants. In the end, there were four finalists competing for the championship.

Champion: Tobias Hellberg, Casino Schenefeld, Spielbank SH GmbH

2nd: Jun Kimura, Casino Duisburg, Merkur Spielbanken NRW GmbH

3rd: Josef Hlubucek, Spielbank Leuna, Merkur Spielbanken Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH & Co. KG

4th: Irini Tatidou, Spielbank Stuttgart, BadenWürttembergische Spielbanken GmbH & Co. KG

Side-events:

Best Chipper & Best Card Handler – Sylvestra Kowalczyk (Merkur Spielbanken Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH & Co. KG)

Best Pushing Stacks – Mario Matta (Spielbank Berlin GmbH & Co. KG)

Best Cutting – Oleksander Perets (Spielbank Hamburg Jahr + Achterfeld GmbH & Co. KG)

Best Mathematician – Temin Joguncic (BadenWürttembergische Spielbanken GmbH & Co. KG)

Lucky Loser – Anita Jovanova (Spielbanken Niedersachsen GmbH)

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How much competition is there between casinos for the title of German Dealer Champion?

It was a very interesting and dynamic competition. There were many different skill sets demonstrated by the competitors. The industry is very professional and the competitors reflect this professionalism. However, it is also an event to meet, network, share experiences and best practices with colleagues from all over Germany. It is a unique event that combines these two very different goals.

What were your particular standout high points over the course of the three days?

In my role as vice president of DSbV – Deutscher Spielbankenverband e.V., one of the two German casino associations, and with DSbV sponsoring the prize money for the event – my professional highlight was the high service quality displayed by our colleagues at the event. We can confidently compete at the EDC 2023 in Brussels. A personal highlight for me, however, was the high attendance and the fun that my colleagues had participating, judging and spectating.

Did you manage to find yourself being caught up in the excitement of the occasion.

Definitely! Competition aside, our industry provides entertainment for our visitors all year round. At a championship event, this entertainment factor is next level. With an audience consisting of mainly industry professionals, the entertainment must keep up with the demand, which the candidates handled perfectly.

This clearly has been a major success, what advice would you like to give to this year’s unlucky contestants as well as to those dealers that are considering entering next year’s German Dealer Championships?

I spoke to many contestants and representatives at the event and the success of the event has a lot to do with the organisation provided by the team of Spielbank SH GmbH, under the guidance of CEO Rainer Schepull. The experience was only possible with Casino Schenefeld stepping up and hosting this remarkable event in a very professional manner. For contestants that have not yet participated, I can only recommend that they try it out. There were also some casino operators that were not represented at the event and I encourage them to provide their employees with time to prepare and train for next year's event. It is a win-win, really.

What was it like for you and your team to organize this inaugural German Dealer Championships? Rainer Schepull: It was a great honour to host the first-ever German Dealer Championship in our

Casino Schenefeld. At Casino Schleswig-Holstein Group, hosting gaming events is part of our business. Especially our Casino Schenefeld has a proven track record in carrying out large-sized events. We were aware that the premiere of the German Dealer Championship will be setting standards for upcoming championships in Germany. Therefore, seeing the great success of our event makes me very proud of our team of Casino Schenefeld.

As a member of the ECA and having attended the Finals over recent years would you say that the standard of dealers has risen over the last decade at European Casinos and that the European Dealer Championships has been a contributing factor?

Every year, new attendance records are broken. This also means that every year more dealers are training and trying to fulfil the competition standards set by the ECA. The standard has definitely risen and the event’s most important factor is entertainment. Every candidate knows this and prepares accordingly. With more ECA members hosting national championships in the future, the quality will rise even higher, and will serve to improve the training of new staff in the casinos. The casino visitors are the ones that will benefit most from this development.

Do you think all the publicity in Germany from this year’s tournament and its popularity will assist with recruitment?

With Germany being in a difficult post-pandemic job market, showing potential employees the skill level and the excitement in the casino industry will help raise the profile of the industry as an employer of great talent. However, there’s still work to be done to raise the popularity of the event so that it gains such reach and prominence.

Do you anticipate that the German Dealer Championship will grow further in the years to come judging by the amount of publicity this year’s Contest has gained?

We are confident, that the event will grow in the following years. Right now, we are working on the 2024 event and will also make it an event to remember. After a few successful events, we are certain to attract more casino operators and sponsors to host forthcoming championships.

TOBIAS HELLBERG

How did you feel when your name was announced as German Dealer Champion 2023?

The initial feeling was completely surreal. To be honest, at the beginning of the competition I was not really thinking about the fact that I could possibly become the German Dealer Champion, because I was pretty happy and simply excited to be a part of it. Just before the final started, I realized that I am very close to winning this event.

It definitely took some days until I felt relieved, proud and happy. All in all I am deeply grateful for participating in this unique event.

What are your strategy and goals apart from winning the European Dealer Championship Finals 2023?

I love what I’m doing and I think the casino business is exactly the place where I want to be. In the future I see myself in a leading position from where I am able to leave my footprint in this exciting industry.