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Careers All In Cards At School

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By PAUL CATALA, Tribune correspondent

Published: December 13, 2007

PINELLAS PARK - Walter "Mac" Davis spent more than 15 years playing professional poker tournaments in Las Vegas and Biloxi, Miss.

After so much time in front of the cards, though, the Holiday man decided to find out what it takes to work behind the table.

In November, three years after becoming a certified dealer, Davis, 37, and his wife, Heather, opened their own school in Pinellas Park, Elite Dealer Academy.

Inside an unassuming business park location on 62nd Avenue, four new, wood-framed poker tables and a new blackjack table stand ready to teach students how to make the big deals. The school teaches Omaha, Texas hold 'em, five-card draw and other popular forms of poker, along with baccarat and blackjack.

Because of Davis' penchant for a few of the less-popular card games, he's expanded his classes to include Hi/Low, draw lowball, Badugi, 13-card and Razz poker. Teaching those games, which are part of the World Series of Poker, distinguishes Elite Dealer Academy from other schools in the Tampa Bay area, Davis said.

"We wanted to start a dealer school with more hours, more poker games," he said. "Any game that's available in the World Series of Poker, we teach here."

The school has three students, but at least 20 others have expressed an interest in enrolling, said 27-year-old Heather Davis, Elite's business administrator.

So far, the instruction in the less-popular poker games has been a big draw.

"The whole thing started with people coming to our house to learn to deal, and we started the poker challenge," she said.

The couple started inviting friends over for poker games in October 2006. That led to the Elite Poker Challenge, a card tournament held in bars in Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

Those home card games, where they used to show friends how to deal cards, also gave the Davises the idea for the card-dealing school. Other than the two of them, they have one other employee, Donna Boyd, a blackjack and baccarat instructor who deals cards at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

The card tournament is the couple's main business, though they said they would like to open a second card-dealing school someday.

The most challenging aspect for students is developing the "muscle memory" that allows them to use arm and hand muscles people don't often use, Mac Davis said. After watching demonstrations, holding and spreading cards, shuffling, introducing the deck and cutting cards, most students are ready to start working within four to six weeks.

"That's the big thing. People want to do something the way they've always done it, dealing cards," he said. "People have a hard time doing it properly and protecting the integrity of the hand."

Learning those skills may be less of a challenge for Robin Olsen of Ruskin, who developed a knack for holding multiple plates, juggling food orders and handling utensils of all kinds as a line server.

After working in the Hard Rock kitchen, Olsen wanted to get out front and decided to try her hand at dealing cards. She enrolled at Elite Dealer Academy two weeks ago and hopes to become a full-time dealer at the Hard Rock.

"I hang out with the dealers during breaks, and what they did sounded intriguing and fun," she said. "I love to play cards, and I found out how much money you can make. So, here I am."

The four-week poker class costs $800, while the six-week baccarat class costs $1,000.

Classes are available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to midnight, Monday to Thursday, and from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. For information, call (727) 491-3897, or go to www.elitechallenge.net.

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