After boarding an inconspicuous freight elevator, excited crowds and licensed dealers greet you to a secret world where blackjack, roulette wheels and craps tables have been going strong in NoMad on East 28th Street for 10 years.<\/p>\n
However, instead of playing for money, the prohibition-themed Big Deal Speakeasy Casino operates legally by taking cash winnings out of the equation.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
The prohibition-themed Big Deal Speakeasy Casino operates legally on East 28th Street in Manhattan by taking cash winnings out of the equation
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Big Deal Casino Academy has been training licensed casino dealers since 2014<\/p>\n
The academy seeks to provide a training ground for dealers who hope to work in the proposed New York City casinos
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The State Gaming Commission is expected to ratify a decision by the end of the year on which proposed casinos have been approved<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I told any of my co-workers, any of my friends, yeah, I\u2019m going to a casino in New York, they were like, \u2018But gambling\u2019s illegal in New York,\u2019\u201d Julianna Caddell, an executive assistant for a hedge fund, said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m like, \u2018No, no, no, it\u2019s fake money. It\u2019s fake money!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Caddel discovered the speakeasy while searching for a fun venue for a corporate bonding event.
She\u2019s aware that full-scale casinos where people can bet real money could soon be licensed in the city, but considers this version the ideal alternative.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at like zero-proof alcohol, you get the same fun without the risk,\u201d Caddel said. \u201cI know gambling can be very devastating for a lot of people, as fun as it is. But here, I can have as much fun as I want, and I still go home with the same amount in my checking account. It\u2019s amazing!\u201d<\/p>\n
Owner Wendy Rubin says that while this speakeasy is mostly used for private events, she also runs Big Deal Casino Academy in the same space.<\/p>\n
Rubin launched the school in 2014 after the New York State Constitution was amended to authorize up to four casinos upstate and three downstate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are thrilled, so thrilled, to finally be relevant with the dealing school,\u201d Rubin said.<\/p>\n
The casino academy is the state\u2019s first and only licensed gaming school in which students can get certified to deal in any casino across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t even need a high school diploma,\u201d Rubin said, \u201cand you can be making $25-$50 an hour. So, that\u2019s insane. And so people come here, and they want to change their life and we help them. We\u2019ve got a 100% placement rate.\u201d<\/p>\n
That track record appeals to students like Christina Santaella of Pelham Bay and Cathy Figueroa of East New York, who work together in hospitality.<\/p>\n
Santaella resides close to the proposed site for a Bally\u2019s casino in the Bronx, while Figueroa lives about 15 minutes from Resorts World Casino in Jamaica, which is seeking approval to add live-dealer table games.<\/p>\n
If both materialize, the two friends hope to play their hand at a new career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a receptionist, and I would like to be able to progress in life,\u201d Santaella said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely look forward to that, as well as all the jobs that it will bring also to our community,\u201d Figueroa said.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, the decision now rests with the state Gaming Facility Location Board, which is a group of five experts who will make the final recommendations for licensure.<\/p>\n
The state Gaming Commission will then ratify their decision by the end of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After boarding an inconspicuous freight elevator, excited crowds and licensed dealers greet you to a secret world where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[109,25,4275,75,84,83,9,24,3053,12,63,87,10387,27,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-38931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-app-local-state-politics","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-local-politics","11":"tag-manhattan","12":"tag-manhattan-headlines","13":"tag-manhattan-news","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-new-yorks-big-bet","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-ron-lee","21":"tag-top-stories","22":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}