to share tokes or to not share tokes?

The latest in the ongoing saga of the Wynn Las Vegas tip-pooling situation. From Las Vegas Review Journal:

THE STRIP: Wynn tip debate continues
In testimony, dealers argue that policy breaks state labor laws
By ARNOLD M. KNIGHTLY

Dividing dealers' tips only among dealers was an industry standard until Wynn Las Vegas changed its policy to include table-game supervisors, a Wynn dealer testified Tuesday before the state labor commissioner.

The dealer, Josephine Tang, who was a dealer at the Luxor, the former Aladdin, and the Gold Coast before joining Wynn in April 2005, was unable to say definitively during testimony how much her pay has declined since the new policy widening the tip pool to include floor supervisors, called casino service team leads, was implemented nearly three years ago. Read more.

"...eight straight months of declining revenue on the las vegas strip..."

I shouldn't be so harsh on Boyd Gaming, though. It's not like they're alone in this economic mess. The Big Three in Vegas--Las Vegas Sands Corp., MGM Mirage and Wynn Resorts Ltd.--are getting clobbered in the markets.

From Bloomberg.com:

Las Vegas Sands, MGM, Wynn May Signal 'Ugly' 2009
By Beth Jinks

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Las Vegas Sands Corp., Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM Mirage, the three largest U.S. casino companies, may signal an "ugly" year ahead as gamblers curb casino trips and betting from Las Vegas to Macau.

Eight straight months of declining gambling revenue on the Las Vegas Strip and tightened visa limits by authorities in Macau, the only place in China where casinos are legal, eroded third-quarter profits, said Dennis Forst, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets in El Segundo, California.

Shares of Wynn, controlled by billionaire Steve Wynn, have dropped 67 percent this year. Sands shares plunged 23 percent on Oct. 24, bringing its year-to-date decline to 94 percent and forcing it to relinquish its ranking as the biggest U.S. casino company by market value to Wynn.

No. 2 MGM Mirage, majority owned by Kirk Kerkorian, has fallen 87 percent. Penn has shed 79 percent, while Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. has lost 72 percent. Read more.

I'm no economist, but Vegas will come back. It may take a year or two, but it'll come back. Gaming/travel/tourism are not recession-proof industries, you know. What I'm most curious of, though, is which hotel-casinos in Vegas will fold. The Big Three have deep enough pockets to survive. Harrah's is THE biggest casino company in the world, so they're probably safe. But it's going to be the little guys and outliers who lose. Are there any left in Vegas? Not many, but a few.

2009 promises to be nothing if not exhilarating.

news about wynn.

This is of personal interest to me and others I know...

Rumors about Wynn Las Vegas and Encore

I'll be keeping my eye on this site a bit more closely.

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.