A Las Vegas local working at a California tribal casino took home the grand prize at the inaugural G2E Dealer Championship at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

Elleonor Hoffman, a dual-rate tables game dealer at Graton Resort & Casino in Sonoma County, won the first-place prize of $5,000. She also received an individual trophy and the dealer championship cup, which will be engraved with her name and displayed at Graton until next year.

Hoffman, 51, spent 22 years dealing on a cruise ship before joining the team at Graton nearly 10 months ago because she could not find a full-time job in Las Vegas.

On Thursday, an emotional Hoffman expressed gratitude to her supervisor for nominating her to compete and to her co-workers, several of whom were in attendance to cheer her on.

“A lot of p

See Full Page