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Tuesday, 13 July 2010 13:59

Written by Bill Toland

If you missed the PG's front-page treatment, here it is:

Anthony Post has been making the 80-minute drive from his home in Lower Burrell to Wheeling, W.Va., several times a week to play three-card poker. Those days might be gone for good. On Thursday, Mr. Post cut the commute by an hour by anteing up at the Rivers Casino during the opening hours of table games play. It was a day that couldn't arrive soon enough for him. "I've been waiting a long time," he said as he smoked a cigar during a break in play after winning about $400.

... KDKA follows up the next day, Friday: "Valet parking at the Rivers Casino got a little jammed up mid-day Friday in a sign that Thursday's crowded grand opening of table games was not a fluke."

Meanwhile, in the eastern part of the state:

Gamblers looking to play craps, poker and other tables games in Pennsylvania now have more venues to choose from. The Mohegan Sun and Mount Airy casinos in northeastern Pennsylvania and the Hollywood Casino outside Harrisburg began offering table games Tuesday, joining three western Pennsylvania complexes that last week opened the state's first tables. Within minutes of the ribbon cutting in Harrisburg, several blackjack tables were filled. (AP) 

... You can't be two places at once. For every person throwing craps in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, that means they're not doing it in Las Vegas or Atlantic City:

"Nevada casinos won $847 million in May, a decline of 4.7 percent compared with the same month a year ago, state gambling regulators reported July 7." (AP)

The news is even worse for our Garden State neighbors: "June was Atlantic City's last chance to post a good financial performance from its 11 casinos while offering something its main competitor didn't: table games. But that chance went by the boards. June revenue for the nation's second-largest gambling market fell more than 11 percent from a year earlier, to $286.8 million." (Gaming Today)

... who's getting the table jobs? Maybe your neighbors -- and maybe not:

"In something of a surprise only 63 percent of newly hired table dealers at Sands Casino Bethlehem are from the local area, The Express-Times reported. Fewer locals than originally envisioned applied for the jobs and the casino hires reflect this, the report said. The report suggested people may have been 'intimidated by the requirements of the job' and The Express-Times noted that the casino is still seeking 50-60 dealers."

Anectdotal, of course, but I'll note that one of the dealers I interviewed last week from The Meadows in Washington County drives in from West Virginia every day. He was hired in part because of his experience working tables at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort. 

Odds and ends

Interesting labor ruling in Nevada this week, which will impact casinos there, and could eventually be challenged in court. Can dealers be forced to share tips with supervisors?

Steve Wynn's controversial policy of splitting casino dealers' tips with their immediate supervisors doesn't violate state law, according to a ruling issued today by Nevada Labor Commissioner Michael Tanchek. Dealers say the high-profile case, which marks the first major ruling of its kind on the subject of tip-pooling, may have wide-ranging implications for other tip-earners in Nevada by opening the door to efforts by employers to pool line workers' tips with supervisors.

For example, Harrah's Entertainment executives recently sent a notice to dealers at the company's Caesars Palace resort stating that the company reserves the right to be able to split dealer tips with supervisors. At the time, Harrah's executives said they had no immediate plans to follow Wynn's lead. Monday's 18-page decision, which comes after months of deliberation and weeks of public hearings last year, delivers a significant blow to dealers at Wynn Las Vegas who have been fighting the tip policy for the past four years. The ruling also applies to dealers at Encore, who are bound by the same tip policy.

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