It’s the time of the year for resolutions, but I’m breaking from tradition and instead making a “wish list” for the slot floor. And, while most New Year’s resolutions seldom last beyond a month or two, I’m certain that not a single one of the ten wishes below will ever be granted. But I can always hope.
1. Prohibit Corporate Ownership of Casinos – I love capitalism (especially my 401k) and wouldn’t trade it for any other system, but it seems to have gotten out of hand. Having spent the last two decades working closely with Native American tribes, it’s hard not to notice some key differences in the way it’s currently conducted. While no tribe is immune from seeking greater profitability, of course, you quickly become aware that their decision-making process is frequently based on the future – and that that future is not the next closing bell on Wall Street or even the next fiscal quarter. Decisions are often based on what’s best for the next generation, or the generation after that. That may sound like a line from a PBS documentary or a coffee mug, but it’s true. For every time I’ve been frustrated by the failure of a tribe to take advantage of some short-term decision that would benefit the bottom line, I was also proud to work for an organization that had the courage to take the longer, better path forward.
The short-term focus of corporate ownership has given us tighter slots and exorbitant resort fees, taken away free parking, produced 6-5 blackjack, reduced benefits, wiped out or laid off hundreds of thousands of workers and thrown exorbitant pressures on the ones that remain, and produced multimillion-dollar salaries for CEOs. There must be a better way.
2. Reform the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) – Dickens once wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… it was the age of foolishness….it was the epoch of incredulity.” That pretty much sums up my view of this well-intentioned but much-abused law. When it was passed in 1993, there was a need for reform to offer time off with no penalties for childbirth, unexpected illnesses, family emergencies and other misfortunes. For those who’d exhausted their official sick time, this act was both a Godsend and a tool to throttle uncaring employers. Yet, there’s never been a law so abused by those lacking a basic work ethic. This is especially true with the subsection known as “Intermittent FMLA.” Some medical conditions such as severe migraines, are both difficult to diagnose and to predict. Therefore, Intermittent FMLA was designed to allow suffers to take time off without penalty whenever they were hit with an attack. It’s a serious medical issue and was a needed provision. But it’s also a giant loophole. There’s not a doctor that won’t write a note for this condition, even though it’s difficult to verify. There also not a single unethical employee who hasn’t taken advantage of it. They claim that their headaches occur only before and after three-day weekends, the Super Bowl, and every known holiday. Once their FMLA is exhausted, their headaches disappear. This is terribly unfair to those who have to work longer and harder to cover for the abusers’ absences. It must really be disheartening for those who truly suffer from migraines.
3. Eliminate Blue Laws – Growing up in Nevada, I was quite surprised to learn that other states had laws to cut off alcohol sales at certain times. In Reno, there was no last call. The end of most nights out came only when you and your friends were tired, and most of us then wandered off to order a chili-cheese omelet and homestyle potatoes (many restaurants were also on 24-hour schedules). Surprisingly, it turns out that Nevada casinos had fewer issues with drunks than other states did, despite our wild image. When I first started working in California, I couldn’t help but notice that there was a huge problem from 1:30 am to 2:00 am: constant fights at bars and nightclubs, young folks passed out all over the place, and a higher than expected number of DUI arrests. It wasn’t hard to see the reason. With a mandatory last call at 2 am, it was common to see patrons slamming down shots and chugging beers to beat the clock. Instead of the natural slowing of consumption as the evening progressed, in the Golden State, it was a contest to get it down as quickly as possible before the lights came on. I later learned that just about every state has similar laws; some go as late as 4 am, but only Nevada and Louisiana have no state-proscribed last call. Do these archaic laws really help the problem of alcohol abuse, or do they just make it worse?
4. Work executives on the weekend – This one won’t earn me many friends, but ah, well. Listen: executives should work weekends. At least some weekends. Whenever I participated in a new hire orientation at a casino, I cautioned potential team members that if they wanted holidays and weekends off, they were in the wrong business. With rare exceptions, casinos make their money on weekends. But many executives think their position and longevity entitles them to have those days off. That’s a big mistake. The best executives spend time watching and observing their operation on the weekend. Unless you do, you won’t really understand the needs of your customers, and more importantly, your team. You don’t need to be there every weekend, but once a month is a minimum. More is better.
5. Surveillance Sharing – The best casinos have a policy of surveillance that works closely with Casino Operations to ensure the highest standards of asset protection. Unfortunately, many surveillance departments treat their area like an inner sanctum that no one dare enter. I agree that some small areas of a surveillance operation should be off limits to everyone so that select cameras remain anonymous, even from the most-senior executives. But to deny access to your most experienced subject-matter experts is a serious mistake. Do you really think a junior surveillance technician would be better at spotting gaming fraud than someone who’s worked the floor for 10 to 20 years? Some casinos do allow observations, but only on tape or digital playback (not in real time). That’s better than no access, but certainly not a best practice. And what’s so wrong with giving the Ops management some direct access to certain cameras in areas like the break room or the slot change booths? Seldom will the Surveillance report team members who are just wasting time or goofing off, since the prime mission is game protection and public safety. But such video is extremely valuable to operators to increase profitability, not just to protect it.
6. Hotel Check-Ins – There’s nothing quite like a first impression, but for many of our most valuable guests, that impression is made while they’re standing in line, waiting to check in. There has been some progress made recently with internet and kiosk options, but more needs to be done, especially since the lines occur about the same time every day – when demand is the highest. Those periods deserve an all hands on deck mentality. Waiting in line longer than 5 to 10 minutes is simply unacceptable in today’s instant response culture.
7. Tax Reporting Limits – The current $1,200 slot tax reporting threshold was set in the 1970s. In 1970 gasoline was thirty-six cents a gallon, the median home price was $23,600, and you could get a Harvard education for a little under $5,000. In other words, the $1,200 jackpot threshold limit for taxes is ridiculous. The AGA says that they believe “it is time to update the current slot jackpot reporting threshold to a higher level, such as $5,000, to address four decades of inflationary effects. Research commissioned by AGA suggested raising the slot threshold to $5,000 would result in as much as $500 million in annual savings to the gaming industry. Additionally, a higher reporting threshold will help lower administrative costs and provide customers an improved experience when they visit our facilities.” The only downside, and an important part of my wish, is to figure out a way to keep tip levels the same when a majority of the tip opportunities of the $1,200 lock ups are gone.
8. Speaking of tipping… – Tipping can be a major obstacle to efficiency. Nearly all slot team members would always vote for a “go for your own” policy, even if the math says that half the workers would earn less, and half would earn more as compared to pooling. They (and you) would then also experience massive problems with jackpot chasing, slow response times for non-jackpot service, arguments about zone assignments and constant complaints about unfair scheduling. In the past, I wished we could eliminate tips completely and just pay our folks more, but it turns out that that may not work as I once envisioned. Michael Lynn at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Management has studied the issue extensively, and an abstract from one of his recent works says, “A quasi-experiment with different tipping systems by the restaurant chain Joe’s Crab Shack indicates that online ratings of the dining experience were reliably higher under tipping than under a no-tipping, service-inclusive pricing system. These findings provide an important counterargument to those calling for the abolition of restaurant tipping. Consumers are happier with restaurant experiences under tipping, so there is a cost to eliminating or outlawing it.” It seems natural that these principles would also apply to the slot floor. So, my wish today is that everyone either keeps or changes to a pooled system for slots across all shifts, and that at the same time we do everything we can to help our workers provide the best service through automated dispatching, handsome and functional uniforms, improved machine maintenance, loose slots, and better staffing levels.
9. State Gaming Taxes – There is currently a debate underway in Oklahoma, led by their governor, seeking to raise the tax rate on slot machines. The state’s tribes currently contribute over $150 million annually to state coffers and millions more to local charities. But Gov. Stitt wants more, and he may risk it all in the pursuit. Oklahoma could easily convert back to Class Two games and pay the state virtually nothing, while retaining a similar bottom line. And this greed seems to be spreading everywhere on slot taxes. Maryland charges 67%; Pennsylvania is at 54%; Illinois is up to 50%; both Connecticut and Boston are at 25%; and California features mixed rates from 15% to 20%. This compares to Nevada at 7.75% and Oklahoma’s current 6%. Guess which jurisdictions have the best slot paybacks and the highest customer satisfaction?
10. More Trash Receptacles – Once we eliminated coin wrappers from the floor, I thought I’d never again complain about trash. But that was a long time ago, and there’s still trash on the floor. All of us should be willing to pick it up. Please, operators, please provide more trash cans. If they are plentiful, most customers will police themselves, but if the receptacles are few and far between, guests will litter more. And you’ll find your team is hesitant to pick up something that requires them to walk out of their zone to find a can. This is the easiest item on my list to accomplish, so why not grant an old retiree one New Year’s wish? Just one?
While it’s easy to be pessimistic about the implementation of these wishes, I take solace in Monty Python’s immortal lyrics: “Always look on the bright side of life.” So Happy New Year to all my friends, and everyone out there who’s ever worn out a pair of shoes walking the slot floor.
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