Dealers angry, but Wynn's tip-sharing change might spread

[clevfan]

Aug. 23, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Dealers angry, but Wynn's tip-sharing change might spread


Steve Wynn is changing the Vegas Rules again, and dealers at Wynn Las Vegas are steaming.

They're so mad, in fact, that they're ringing reporters' phones and jamming gaming blogs with their complaints after being told they'll now have to share their tips with floor supervisors. Depending on your source, the shake-up will cost them from 10 to 20 percent at the bottom line.

That's enough to make anyone howl, but the dealers I've spoken with acknowledge that even with the reduction in pay, they'll still have one of the best jobs on the Strip. I was tempted to tell them to call their dealers union representative but decided that wouldn't go over too well because there is no such union. Fact is, while tips have increased over the years at some casinos, most dealers haven't had a substantial hourly wage increase in 20 years.

If this latest change in the Vegas Rules follows suit with previous changes, I expect the dealers' complaints to diminish to a whisper in less than a week. They might be justified in wondering aloud whether management is greedily squeezing the weakest members of the casino's "team," but that's the nature of the business and their important but almost powerless role in it.

In other words, don't expect any mass walkouts at Wynn Las Vegas.

"What are the Vegas Rules?" you ask. They're the unwritten laws of the casino racket. They're the way things have always, or almost always, been done on the casino floor.

But the rules are no longer etched in the green-felt tradition. They are easily revised by Gaming Inc., which searches endlessly for ways to improve its performance, increase its profits, improve its efficiency and decrease its overhead. And it isn't the first time Wynn has departed from accepted practice.

I remember the furor over the changes Wynn made in the showroom rules following the amazing success of illusionists Siegfried & Roy at The Mirage. He eliminated the old Vegas Rule about slipping the maitre d' and captain a few extra bucks to improve your seating. Working stiffs complained for a while, but their criticism was drowned out by record profits and unprecedented expansion on the Strip.

Word has circulated for weeks that Wynn was angered after learning that a particularly successful high roller had showered the dealers with $500,000 that formerly belonged to the house. The incident, as the green-felt rumor has it, led to the departure of a casino vice president and this week's rules change.

No one is commenting on any of that. The casino industry is a great place to go if you're seeking no comment.

What is truly worrisome is the fact the change might lead to similar actions at smaller casinos where dealers make a fraction of the tokes found at the Strip's megaresorts.

"Wynn Las Vegas is a great job (for a dealer), but it's not whether it's a great job or not," one 40-year veteran dealer and floor supervisor said Tuesday. "When the money goes down, and it does on occasion, no one is going to step up and make it up to the dealers. And there's very few dealing jobs in Las Vegas that are worth over $40,000 a year. I'm old, but these young kids coming in with families, they're not going to be able to make a living in this town."

Another casino veteran countered, "It's obviously a big move by him to save money at the dealers' expense. But he created the job. He created the atmosphere for the dealers to make more money by demanding customer service."

Floor supervisors have kept their jobs in part because the pay was steady. But at the Strip megaresorts, where it's common for dealers to make $500 a night in tips, the floor personnel look like poor relations. One veteran floor supervisor I spoke with on Tuesday has returned to shuffling up and standing behind the tables.

"I make more money," he said. "There are no perks, no incentives to being a floor supervisor. But as a dealer, you also have risks. If my job tomorrow goes down to $60 a day, they're not going to compensate me."

The Wynn Las Vegas dealers will survive this week's haircut.

If Wynn's latest change in the Vegas Rules is successful, watch for it to become an industry standard.

[clevfan]

Aug. 23, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Wynn alters rules on tips

Plan for sharing gratuities upsets casino's dealers


By HOWARD STUTZ

GAMING WIRE

A restructuring of how Wynn Las Vegas manages its casino soon will leave many dealers there a little lighter in the wallet.

Starting Sept. 1, table game supervisors will share in the tips earned by dealers, a move gaming industry insiders said is unheard of along the Strip.

"This amounts to money out of my pocket to pay other employees," said one dealer, a 14-year veteran who has worked at the $2.7 billion Wynn Las Vegas since it opened in April 2005.

"It will cause a lot of disgruntled dealers. You're taking frontline people and making them unhappy."

The change will cause him to lose at least $30,000 a year in tip earnings, he said.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. Chairman Steve Wynn and other executives told table game employees of the pending changes Monday night.

Wynn had been in China working on preparations for next month's opening of the $1 billion Wynn Macau. But he thought the issue was important enough to make a 15-hour flight to Las Vegas to tell his workers personally, Wynn Las Vegas President Andrew Pascal said Tuesday.

A widening disparity between the wages earned by dealers and casino floor supervisors caused the Strip casino to alter the structure of its table games division, Pascal said.

Starting next week, pit bosses and floor supervisors will be known as "casino service team leaders." Their responsibilities will cover the operations of specific table games, including game protection and customer service. The new plan will be phased in over several weeks.

Gaming Control Board sources said Tuesday they were unaware of any changes in policy at Wynn Las Vegas.

A source said the casino had applied to change some of its table game internal controls but did not advise gaming regulators about what modifications were being requested.

The most controversial part of the restructuring is a change in compensation.

Pascal said that Wynn Las Vegas dealers are the highest- paid dealers in the city, averaging about $100,000 per year in salary and tip earnings. But the employees supervising dealers average about $60,000 a year in salary, Pascal said.

"Because of our property, that disparity has gotten wider," Pascal said, citing Wynn's emphasis on high-end play as one reason its dealers' tokes are larger than most Strip properties. "There was no incentive in the division to advance and grow.

"Everybody wanted to become dealers," he added.

Dealers who split tips by shifts now will share those tokes with team leaders and supervisors, who also will receive a boost in base salary.

The result, Pascal said, will be dealers earning an average of $90,000 annually while supervisors will be paid $95,000.

"We're still going to have the highest-paid dealers on the Strip," Pascal said. "What it does is rebalances the structure of our table games division and gives a person an incentive to take on more responsibility."

But dealers said sharing tokes with supervisors is unfair.

Writing anonymously on the dealers Internet forum, CasinoDealers.net, several Wynn employees said they were disappointed that their paychecks could be reduced by an estimated 10 percent to 20 percent.

Some said they were upset by the short notice before the changes take effect; others said they will apply for different positions to avoid a pay cut.

"We will continue to go to work, smile, and do our jobs to the best of our ability. We have no choice," one Wynn dealer wrote.

"The image of 'Steve Wynn' convinced us we were safe, but the image was just a mirage. I think I will be applying for a 'team leader' position to minimize the financial damage that lies ahead."

Another dealer wrote that Wynn Las Vegas mismanaged its staff and is forcing line employees to share in the burden.

"They say that it is because they think it's only 'right' for supervisors to make more than dealers because this is how things are in other industries," the dealer wrote. "Well, dealers making more than supervisors is how it has always been in this industry and this didn't become the 'right' thing to do until Wynn failed miserably to make their employees happy."

MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said examples exist throughout the gaming industry of entry-level managers earning far less than the line workers they oversee. Bartenders and cocktail waitresses sometimes earn more than the assistant beverage manager.

"The management positions are on a completely different career path than the line employees," Feldman said.

Harrah's Entertainment spokesman David Strow said that historically at Harrah's-owned properties, including the upscale Caesars Palace, supervisors do not share in the tip pool with dealers.

Wynn Las Vegas will start incentive programs for dealers to earn annual cash bonuses to supplement their lost income, Pascal said.

Dealers on the Web site said most of the heat from the change will be felt by table game supervisors, who are receiving a large bump in pay.

"I don't agree with the way this was handled, but this was the cheapest way for management to make the floor happy without it costing the company money," wrote a Wynn dealer. "Steve Wynn emphasized that he expects near perfection from the floor staff for this big pay raise."

Wynn Las Vegas operates 140 table games, including baccarat. Pascal said about 820 table game positions at the casino will be affected in the restructuring.

The casino's poker room and slot machine area will not be affected by the changes.

Pascal said the property has operated for several months without a vice president of casino operations, the executive responsible for the table game division.

Several other middle management table game positions have been restructured too. A casino manager and two assistant casino managers will supervise each shift.

Former pit bosses and floor supervisors will assume new job duties. Pascal also hopes some dealers will want to move up to the team leader positions.

He said the concept allows dealers to have an incentive to increase their responsibility while increasing their wages.

[capt]

waaa waa waaa

[skyweasel]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: clevfan"We will continue to go to work, smile, and do our jobs to the best of our ability. We have no choice," one Wynn dealer wrote.</end quote></div>

Yeah, you have no choice but to keep making 90k a year dealing games. But maybe you could go down the street and work at El Cortez just to show 'em who's boss? Tough call.

It would be interesting to witness the dynamic between dealers and supervisors the first couple of weeks after the supervisors start raking 10-20% of the dealer's prior wages [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[hockeystl]

These same dealers (at Wynn) were on the record bitching about having to work 6 days a week after the property opened. I guess some of them would've rather had extras hired and then some of them get laid off.

The feeling of entitlement runs deep in these people..... but keep on tipping guys. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[Mr Memory]

Yep . . . go fight with the other Filipino girls at the El C to show management which of you can preferential-shuffle most profitably for the house . . .
that's rich . . .

[The Actuary]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Word has circulated for weeks that Wynn was angered after learning that a particularly successful high roller had showered the dealers with $500,000 that formerly belonged to the house. The incident, as the green-felt rumor has it, led to the departure of a casino vice president and this week's rules change. </end quote></div>






Does this mean what it sounds like?

That he fired some folks for taking tips that eventually would've found their way into the casino's bottomline?

BTW I find the repeated references to WYNN and his policy as being the man that built the current LAsVegas pretty nauseating.

[clevfan]

August 23, 2006

Jeff Simpson breaks down the reorganization of the pay scale among employees on the casino floor at Wynn Las Vegas, which Steve Wynn called 'upside down'

LAS VEGAS SUN

If you want to see the wave of the future for pit bosses and tipped casino dealers at Las Vegas' most luxurious properties, check out Steve Wynn's plans to shake up his casino floor.

Wynn Las Vegas dealers - the highest paid in the city at a shade more than $100,000 per year, mostly from tips - will soon lose some of their tip income. Resort executives plan to reorganize the casino floor on Sept. 1, and to begin giving first-level supervisors a cut from the tip pool.

Dealers are expected to see their pay drop by about $10,000 per year, while some frontline supervisors would see theirs jump by more than 50 percent.

The high-rolling gambling action at the Wynn generates some big tips, money that now gets divided by casino dealers.

The problem is finding qualified floormen and pit supervisors. It's tough for the casino to get dealers, the most knowledgeable candidates, to accept a 40 percent pay cut to take a salaried position as a $60,000-per-year floorman or pit supervisor.

Wynn said the disparity in pay isn't fair.

"This is upside down," Wynn said. "It's inverted. It's just outrageous."

Wynn Las Vegas has 578 dealers. Of those, more than 100 have run shifts or been supervisors at other casinos.

"The current system makes the (200 supervisors and 38 craps boxmen) feel cheated," Wynn said.

The pay disparity has contributed to a reduction in the quality of the front-line managers, the folks who resolve game disputes, rate gamblers' play (how much is he betting and how long did he play?) and dispense comps such as free meals.

Wynn's solution? Reorganize the casino chain of command, and group dealers together with newly named frontline managers, who will now be "casino service team leaders." (Or, in the case of craps boxmen, they'll be renamed "craps team leaders.")

The casino is eliminating some of its top-level hierarchy. In the current chain of command dealers and clerks are supervised by floormen, pit supervisors and boxmen. They are supervised by pit managers, who themselves are directed by casino managers and assistant casino managers. At the top is the vice president of casino operations.

The VP of casino operations slot is being eliminated and each shift is being organized as a standalone entity. Each shift will have a casino manager at the helm with two specialists to assist him. The casino manager will supervise the service team leaders, who will manage one to four table games and their dealers along with a shared pit administrator who will handle regulatory and game inventory paperwork.

Wynn believes that by empowering talented people to run small groups of games that customer service will improve, leading to even stronger results from an already successful casino. Key will be finding people who understand the games and have good leadership ability, customer-service skills and judgment.

And that's where giving the frontline executives a salary increase and a share of the tip pool comes in.

Wynn said that most casino service team leaders will get 40 percent of a tip-pool share (dealers get a full share), but the combined tip and salary would boost their pay to about $96,000.

Craps team leaders would get 20 percent of a share of tip proceeds and would see their total pay increase from $52,000 to $67,500.

Wynn Las Vegas President Andrew Pascal doesn't expect any current employees to lose their jobs as a result of the reorganization. In fact, he expects to hire at least a few casino supervisors from competitors.

First, Wynn Las Vegas will collect expressions of interest internally. Some current dealers may want to be team leaders - and some managers may return to dealing, Pascal said.

Some of the dealers' lost tip income will be replaced by a bonus system that will reward customer service, adherence to procedures and attendance, Wynn said, noting that initial feedback from the affected dealers has been good.

"My dealers are the highest paid dealers in the world," he said. "They still will be. But I want them to think of becoming a team leader as a career move."

Nevada law allows casinos to divide tips among workers in the service chain, said employment lawyer Gregg Kamer, who worked on the plan with Pascal. The team leaders clearly are in the service chain, he said.

Wynn told workers about the changes in Monday evening meetings after flying back from Macau, where he's preparing Wynn Macau for its Sept. 5 opening.

If the Wynn Las Vegas changes work as planned, table game customer service will improve. That's a surefire recipe for increased tipping, and an improved Wynn Resorts bottom line. Wynn will more fully utilize his employees' talents, and he'll develop and attract top-flight managers as he builds a succession of new resorts on the property that surrounds the hotel.

"This gives me the chance to get the best people in the gaming industry," Wynn said.

I don't know if giving frontline casino supervisors a small cut of the tip pool would work at midlevel and low-budget casinos, but I suspect it wouldn't, as the tip pools are already much smaller than those at Wynn.

But at high-end properties where dealers make substantially more than the folks who supervise them, the change makes sense. When talented table game supervisors start leaving for better-paying jobs that include a share of the tip pool, I predict other high-end casinos will follow Wynn's lead.