Genti (G) Gjashtsa loves poker: He’s a player, a dealer and co-owner of a school teaching other poker dealers.

Genti came to the United States alone at age 24. He had won a Green Card lottery in his native Triana, Albania. He had friends in Detroit, Michigan so that’s where he settled.

Genti knew no English and said his first years were hard. He worked as a dishwasher, then as a roofer, a cook and an employee of a company mixing paint for cars. He met a girl he liked, Janice Lynn Smith; they married in 1998. “My wife Janice helped me a lot. She taught me how to speak English; I never attended a school for English. She has been a big part of my life.”

On Christmas Eve, 2004, the couple moved to Las Vegas. Janice had a good job working from home and Genti was on Worker’s Compensation having suffered a work-related back injury. His only relaxation was a couple hours a day of live poker.

Eventually Genti decided to learn how to deal poker. He attended a local poker school. Eventually he also taught others to deal poker, all the while continuing his own poker education. In 2019 Genti was hired as a poker dealer at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. He is today a full-time Venetian poker dealer working most evenings. He also deals in some of Venetian’s private games.

Eventually some of Genti’s s poker students asked Genti why he didn’t have his own poker school. He and a friend, Donald Lutz, registered a name for such a school, Alba (after Albania) Dealing School in 2023. The school officially opened in June of this year having used the last two years to complete funding and paperwork requirements. Genti is the official teacher at the school while Donald occasionally visits and helps out.

So what’s the big deal about a school that trains poker dealers? The Alba Dealing School costs $1195. Depending on how eager the student is, that fee includes either a month of training or more likely two months or more of training. Genti currently has five students, most of them are referrals from past students. He says now is a slow time for students; the busiest time is after the first of the year.

And what do students learn?

They learn to deal more than 30 different poker games. The students don’t necessarily get jobs that actually require dealing all these games, but they know them. Some of these games taught at the school are: Texas Hold‘em, Omaha High-Lo 8 or Better, Big O, 7 Card High/Low Split 8 or Better, Double Board PLO Bomb Pot, Drawmaha, Pineapple, Crazy Pineapple, Razzdugi, 2-7 (Deuce-To-Seven) Single/Triple Draw, 5 card Draw, Badugi, Archie, and Chinese Poker.

“When I think the student is ready to audition, I will help arrange the audition, but the student alone must pass. Most times, at the audition, the candidate deals four hands and observers react to the action. I have had almost 100 percent acceptance of my students but acceptance doesn’t mean full-time employment. It may take years before full-time work is offered. However the student is still sitting in an air conditioned environment and can make $60,000 a year or more as an on call or part-time dealer. Some folks, like teachers, come to the school so that they can be a dealer during their summer vacations. Some want to deal for a while in Las Vegas and then move to another part of the country and deal there. There are also dealers who constantly travel the country.“

The rewards for the man who trains dealers? Knowing dealers around town and having them visit the school and help out. “I really appreciate their visits,” says Genti. He also gets referrals from them. Genti can produce rather detailed thank-you notes from former students.

Poker is a game Genti loves–and he’d rather be training others to be competent confident dealers than anything else in the world.

“Our school is open from 11 a.m. to 7 .p.m. Monday through Friday,” Genti explains. “I’m here at the school and students can come every day or two or three times a week. They get opportunities to learn and to practice. They also learn to have a very thick skin when dealing with some players. And you have to learn how to deal with mistakes…we all make them. I will explain a situation to them 10 times if necessary – whatever it takes. And yes, students deal live poker games at the school for other students, dealers or friends.”