With permission from his boss, Mr. Hebel, 62, took me under his wing, walking and talking me through an average day, explaining the ins and outs of casino dealing as they once were explained to him.

The bottom line is this: being a dealer is a lot more challenging than it may appear.

For starters, dealers must do a lot of math, mostly addition, all in their heads. With all of the hands in games like blackjack and baccarat, some dealers estimate that they perform thousands of addition problems an hour — and that’s only the card games. Throw in payouts for a game like craps, where some bets pay 6 to 5, and dealers are making nearly as many calculations as Deep Blue in a match against Garry Kasparov.

Second, as the job title suggests, being a dealer requires much manual dexterity. Most casinos expect dealers to serve up an average of 100 hands an hour for blackjack. When you consider that many tables seat seven players at a time, even dealers who fall short of this mark are working pretty quickly. Not surprisingly, some dealers suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive strain injuries.

Dealers must also double as umpires and line judges, constantly administering the rules of each game. And, finally, while they’re adding numbers, dishing cards and enforcing rules, dealers need to entertain players and keep them engaged. Mr. Hebel says that while he and his colleagues aren’t required to be the next Andy Samberg, they are expected to interact with players and make the experience one to remember.

“People like personable dealers,” he said. “If you’re likable, they’ll come back.”

With all of these demands in a workday, scheduling regular shifts can become tricky. Most pit bosses believe that even the best dealers can’t be perfectly sharp for more than an hour at a time. Their solution is to give each dealer a 20-minute break after every 60 minutes of work.