Wynn alters rules on tips - Plan for sharing gratuities up..

Poker dealers do the real work and then kick back a percentage of their
tokes to the floor man. And what do most floor men really do?

#1 Lean on the podium
#2 Talk about non-poker related topics to any one who will listen
#3 Watch sports on the TV monitors.
#4 Avoid making eye contact with any dealer trying to get his attention.
#5 If, by some miracle, he cannot avoid a dealer's waves and shouts, waddle
his fat arse over to the table and immediately make the wrong decision.

Yes, I know, your cousin is a floor man and does a fantastic job. Great!
Take a snap shot and mail it to the other 99% of the over paid, over fed
incompetent bozos who are giving him a bad name.

Of course, this is just one man's opinion.

Irish Mike


"Welshman" <43073588.DeleteThis@recpoker.com> wrote in message
news:1156523102$859161@recpoker.com...
>
>
> On Aug 25 2006 8:02 AM, Barnacle Bill wrote:
>
>> http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Aug-23-Wed-2006/news/9211902.html
>> 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
>>
>> The Wynn Las Vegas chief told table game workers
>> personally, official says
>>
>> 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 i
>> n 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.
>>
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>
>
> In some places before the poker boom the dealers had to give the floorman
> a % of
> their tips or a flat rate per hour just to get to deal.
> In this case it seems unfair that the dealers would earn more than their
> immediate supervisors and is the usual wah wah poor me from the dealers.
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________________________
> * New Release: RecPoker.com v2.2 - http://www.recpoker.com

"Irish Mike" <mjostar RemoveThis @ameritech.net> wrote in message
news:z3PHg.43$ZI.22@newssvr31.news.prodigy.net...
> Poker dealers do the real work and then kick back a percentage of their
> tokes to the floor man. And what do most floor men really do?
>
> #1 Lean on the podium
> #2 Talk about non-poker related topics to any one who will listen
> #3 Watch sports on the TV monitors.
> #4 Avoid making eye contact with any dealer trying to get his attention.
> #5 If, by some miracle, he cannot avoid a dealer's waves and shouts,
> waddle his fat arse over to the table and immediately make the wrong
> decision.
>
> Yes, I know, your cousin is a floor man and does a fantastic job. Great!
> Take a snap shot and mail it to the other 99% of the over paid, over fed
> incompetent bozos who are giving him a bad name.
>
> Of course, this is just one man's opinion.
>
> Irish Mike



Eh....most floor people seem competent and hardworking to me.

I would think that keeping the front-line people in the pit happy with
incentive to treat the gamblers well would be a major concern of
management....but, then again, it takes a certain amount of chutzpah to
second-guess Steve Wynn on how to run a casino.