The competition is open to dealers employed at land-based or online legal and regulated casino operators in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Contestants must be nominated for the contest through their employer – the employer must submit the nomination.
Dealers that are not currently employed as dealers at a legal and regulated casino entity or without the support of their employer are not eligible.
Dealers employed on a part-time, on-call or dual-rate employee are eligible for the event.
Every nomination must also include a judge from the same property to accompany the dealer.
Both the competitor and judge must be available to participate in all of the competition days: September 29 - October 1, 2026.
Each casino operator may nominate one participant per property, with a maximum number of participants considered per enterprise.
Casino operators with 1-3 properties can nominate 1 dealer for the championship.
Casino operators with 4-7 properties can nominate 2 dealers for the championship.
Casino operators with 8-19 properties can nominate 4 dealers for the championship.
Casino operators with 20+ properties can nominate 7 dealers for the championship.