happy birthday, mirage!

Happy birthday to my favorite place on the Strip! From the Las Vegas Review Journal:

MIRAGE MIRACLE: The Mirage turns 20 today
Steve Wynn's tropical-themed resort-casino had its critics but kicked off building frenzy
By HOWARD STUTZ

Twenty years ago, The Mirage was the CityCenter of its time...But with the city still recovering from the economic doldrums of the early 1980s, many financial experts didn't think The Mirage would succeed.

Some wondered if The Mirage would really grow the market. Most expected it would just steal customers from neighboring hotel-casinos.

Sound familiar? Read more.

I know the building boom ushered in my the Mirage has its fair share of critics—too big, too garish, too corporate. But there's no denying the Strip recovered as a result of the larger-than-life mega resorts and helped rebuild the market. Thankfully, the idea of Vegas being a family-friendly vacation spot is no longer the brand identity.

Here's a very telling quote about how Steve Wynn built a game changer:

"The '80s were not an easy decade for Las Vegas. Casinos started going after a family friendly market; and Circus Circus (Enterprises) was the most profitable casino company on the Strip, because more people were betting $100 a trip rather than $100,000."
—David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas

wynn to dealers: i changed my mind.

Remember the flap about the toke (tip) sharing policy instituted at Wynn Las Vegas? Apparently all sides are digging in their heels on this one; including Steve Wynn.

From KVBC, Las Vegas' NBC affiliate:

Wynn says tip sharing policy to stay despite unionization vote

A newspaper says casino mogul Steve Wynn will not change a tip-sharing policy that took money from dealers and split it with their supervisors. Anger over the plan implemented in September caused dealers at the Wynn Las Vegas resort to unionize.

Dealers voted 3-to-1 to unionize in May. But Wynn told the Las Vegas Sun all their vote did was give them the right to quit. He says thousands of qualified dealers in Las Vegas, and hundreds of part-time nonunion dealers at the casino would gladly fill the positions of those who walked off the job.

The new tip system implemented in September gives most front-line supervisors called "service team leaders" 40 percent of a full dealer's share, with craps boxmen getting 20 percent of a dealer's share of the tip pool.

The shares given from the tip pool, plus additional salary boosts increased supervisors' salaries from about $60,000 to about $96,000. Dealers' total take-home pay dropped from slightly over $100,000 to about $90,000.

In my opinion, there's plenty of blame to go around on every side of this issue. For starters, the dealers who were un-supervisable as a result of earning more than management should've been fired. Period. You don't respect the chain of command, you go bye-bye now.

Secondly, Wynn was correct when he said he correctly identified the problem and was wrong in his solution. But now, it's turned into a pissing contest between Steve Wynn and the dealers. The dealers won the battle but will lose the war.

I think the dealers were correct in protesting Wynn's decision to skim off their tips. I still feel it's an incorrect solution to the problem. What should've happened is management should've gotten a raise while the bad apples in the dealer pool were canned.

As Wynn himself said, there are plenty of qualified dealers in Vegas (and Indianapolis, I should mention) to fill those spots. There wasn't much need to rake off their tokes other than to be punitive.

The situation is only getting worse. Everybody's digging in. The dealers who voted to unionize are hurting for a new strategy to fix things.

wynn to unionize?

It looks like the ongoing anger from the dealers at the Wynn is boiling over and has finally forced Steve Wynn to re-think his controversial decision. From the Las Vegas Review Journal:

CASINO INDUSTRY: Wynn to deal with dealers
Resort says it won't challenge union vote

By HOWARD STUTZ

One day after a vast majority of its casino dealing force cast ballots in favor of union representation, Wynn Las Vegas executives seemed resigned to negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with the New York-based labor organization that will speak for the workers.

The National Labor Relations Board has until next week to certify the results of the weekend election at Wynn Las Vegas, where dealers, in a vote of 444-149, asked to be represented by the Transport Workers Union of America...

Frank McCann Jr., who directed the organizing drive for the Transport Workers, said Sunday the property's roughly 700 dealers expect to see the casino eliminate the tip-pooling program that led to the labor unrest and subsequent union vote. In addition, McCann said, dealers want to have the right to divide their own tips and want job security initiatives...At the crux of the union vote is Wynn's decision to change how the casino splits tips among its dealers.

Wynn executives added certain managers and casino supervisors to the list of those who qualify to share in the casino's often-times lucrative tip pool on Sept. 1. Wynn dealers said that before the tip pooling program was started, they could earn $100,000 or more annually and the change was costing them as much as $20,000 a year.

Wynn Las Vegas management said it started the policy to correct a pay disparity that had dealers earning more than their supervisors. Critics argued Wynn Las Vegas should have raised managers' pay, not broadened the tip pool.

The tip-pooling program has not found its way into other Strip casinos. Read more.

In another article:

CASINO INDUSTRY: Dealers at Wynn resort ratify union
Vote for TWU representation approved by almost 3-1 margin

[THE MONEY QUOTE]
"I got it wrong, I hurt you and I apologize," Steve Wynn said. "Sometimes people with good intentions make mistakes."

You better believe he got it wrong. I fully understand the thinking behind the tip pooling measure. As one friend of mine who lives in the desert said: "the inmates were running the asylum." Dealers were making money hand over fist and wildly out-earning their supervisors. As a result, floor supervisors (pit bosses) were not able to manage the employees.

Wynn wanted to level the playing field. But his solution couldn't have been any more wrongheaded. He should've raised the compensation for floor supervisors and management and let them rein in the dealers rather than tax the dealers for making too much money.

It was a rather imperialistic move that could've and should've been handled differently. It's a dirty tactic to lift money out of the working classes' pocket—even when tht working class is getting paid rather handsomely—because the ownership class needs leverage against them. This never should've happened.

In fact, there were events all along the way that could've been changed to avoid the union vote, which is why Steve Wynn is making an impassioned and truly sincere 11th-hour plea.

Personally speaking, I don't think a union is in the best interest of the dealers at the Wynn and I think they need to seriously re-consider this measure. Yeah, I know. Steve Wynn should've fixed this before it got to that point, but still, two wrongs do not make a right.

You can hear Wynn's speech to his employees here, by way of Jon Ralston's blog, Vegas Pundit:

Steve Wynn's Speech

Wynn Las Vegas

Editor's note: For what it's worth, Wynn's stock has been dropping lately. Hmm...