European Dealer Championship Sees UK Dealers Shine
The UK has a new star, with Mathew Taylor-Harrison winning the European Dealer Champion 2025 title after fierce competition in Austria.
Croupiers were put through their paces at the European Dealer Championship.
Key Facts:
- Dealers from 18 European countries contested the European Dealer Championship in Austria.
- Prizes were awarded for five specialised Dealer Skill Challenges.
- European Casino Association judges gave the European Dealer Champion title to a UK dealer.
In late June, Europe’s elite casino dealers gathered at Casino Bregenz, Austria, to compete for the European Dealer Champion 2025 title. It was the 17th time the highly anticipated event, organised by the European Casino Association, had been staged.
Showcasing the exceptional talents of casino dealers from 18 European countries, over four days, contenders competed for the outright championship title. A panel of international judges judged the competition. All were former top-drawer dealers.
Each contestant’s performance was meticulously evaluated to ensure a fair and transparent competition. Judges scored dealers on their ability in hospitality, technical skills, and game control. Judges could not judge contestants of their own country.
Five Talented Dealers Win Awards
During the four-day festival, dealers also had the opportunity to showcase their skills in five specialised Dealer Skill Challenges designed to test dealers’ decision-making abilities, mathematical prowess, chip management, and card handling.
Described as “critical components of superior casino dealing” and devised to “highlight the diverse talents essential for excellence in the profession”, the Dealer Skill Challenges (and winners) were:
- Best Cutting Chips: Drop-cutting chips from two stacks of different colours onto a new one – starting with one-on-one, then two-on-two until five-on-five – proved a straightforward task for Asko-Rober Meola, who deals for the Olympic Entertainment Group in Estonia.
- Best Mathematician: When asked to calculate the payout of the winning colour on two winning numbers and write down the answer, the dealer with the correct number in the fastest time was Germany’s Temin Joguncic (from Baden-Württembergische Spielbanken).
- Best Chipper: Successfully sorting 300 colour chips of three different colours by stacks of 20 and replacing them around the wheel track in the quickest time was Miran Penzes from Cyprus (working in City of Dreams Mediterranean Casino).
- Best Card-Handler: In a race against the stopwatch, dealing the initial deal at live Blackjack five times – two cards on seven boxes and one card for the dealer – while ensuring all cards were placed under the insurance line with all card numbers visible, Spain’s Daniel Sánchez Rodríguez (Casino Gran Madrid) fared best.
- Best Pushing Stacks: When tasked with pushing from two to eight stacks around the layout using one hand (and with each group of stacks needing to touch each other when the move was complete), dealer Carlos Álvarez-Chas from Cas Casino Gran Madrid stopped the clock in the fastest time.
The UK Has a New European Champion
The main event had a knockout complexion, with a final being a shootout between eight dealers: Ramona Cardenas (Denmark), Billy Clarke (UK), Jim Hesseling (Netherlands), Mathew Taylor-Harrison (UK), Christoph Boo (Switzerland), Patrikios Kostoglou (Cyprus), Oskar Flodin, (Finland), Temin Joguncic (Germany).
All sought to add their name to the illustrious Roll of Honour and collect what organisers described as “a substantial cash prize”.
European Dealer Championship Winners
- 2024: Noemi Serra – Casino de Monte-Carlo, Monaco
- 2023: Alessandro Mesina – Les Ambassadeurs Casino, UK
- 2022: Christoph Boo – Casino Zurich, Switzerland
- 2019: Tamas Adam – Swiss Casinos Päffikon, Switzerland
- 2018: Matti Kankainen- Veikkaus Casino Helsinki, Finland
- 2017: Antra Gaike – Olympic Voodoo Casino, Latvia
After intense competition, Mathew Taylor-Harrison from the UK’s Hippodrome Casino emerged victorious, claiming the prestigious title of European Dealer Champion 2025. The runner-up was Switzerland’s Christoph Boo. Billy Clarke, from Les Ambassadeurs, Mayfair, London, clinched third.
It is noteworthy that Billy Clark collected £2,000 when winning the UK Dealer’s Championships at the London Casino & Gaming show in January. Mathew Taylor-Harrison, the new European Champion, finished runner-up at this event.
*2026’s European Dealer Championship will be hosted by Casino Baden-Baden, Germany, between June 8-10.
