Dealer's At Wynn Make 100k A Year?

[NoxKo 0]

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/200...ws/9211902.htmlWynn alters rules on tips Plan for sharing gratuities upsets casino's dealers By HOWARD STUTZGAMING WIRE Steve WynnThe 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.Advertisement "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 in 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.

[socalpoker_j 1]

Sign me up to be a dealer at the Wynn....

[ROGUE06 0]

Sign me up to be a dealer at the Wynn....

Yeah that is pretty damn amazing.

[dapokerbum 0]

I don't understand high level business professionals. Why would they take the pay away from the dealers. The managment team knew how much money they were going to be getting when they signed on for it. Just because someone makes more money than you doesn't make it right for them take it from you and give it to someone else.I believe the Wynn should have stepped it up and pay their employees what they think that are worth. Oh well it is a totally "Profitable Business Decision". Since all businesses only look at the bottom line instead of the individuals doing their jobs.And I would be PISSED if i was a dealer at the wynn. All of a sudden you get a pay decrease becasue you now have to pay your supervisor to do their job. My .02

[arerad 0]

Interesting topic, but no matter what you think Steve Wynn is a smart MF so he may have some method to his madness.

[grocery_mony 8]

thats insane. the dealers at the wynn are the best that i have encountered but 100k a year is a little excessive for the job that they do. they dont even have to shuffle because all the tables have auto shufflers. next trip i will not tip anymore than 1 dollar a pot.

[Balloon guy 158]

Come on, pit bosses have it tough;standing around all night bringing new decks to dealers every 60 minutes,memorizing and making decisions from the vast 20 rules that govern most card games,okaying high roller's marksstaying out of the way of the cameras so that if the dealers are cheating the security guys can catch them.They deserve a bigger raise if you ask me

[Royal_Tour 0]

WTF!!??dealers are making more than the majority of the regular grindersI think we need a new sayingSD/MMstart dealing... u get the rest

[dapokerbum 0]

WTF!!??dealers are making more than the majority of the regular grinders

They have to cause they give it back day in and day out to the regular grindersJust sayin. you ever notice that dealers are usually the players that think they know more than they do?

[FourFlusher 0]

They get less money, but, don't have to do the heavy lifting anymore.Screw 'em.That's why they took the job, so they wouldn't have to stand in one spot for hours on end, smiling and taking abuse and have their income fluctuate depending on tips.Now they want the best of both worlds, screw'em.

[AZWildcat 0]

WTF!!??dealers are making more than the majority of the regular grindersI think we need a new sayingSD/MMstart dealing... u get the rest

I guess being a valet parker is the last "good money for idiot work" position (besides cocktailing). Those guys in Vegas can make $100,000+ and all they do is run around and park cars.... BV/MM

[grocery_mony 8]

just brought back a memory from a couple years ago. for a period of time binions had a keep what your tipped policy where dealers kept there individual player tips. this one bj dealer got the plum job of dealing to a million dollar player and made 50k in one night. that policy didnt last long because all of the dealers who dealt the $2 minimum tables were lucky to get 50 in one shift.

[diamondhead 0]

Yeah, never woulda thought they made that much but you'd have to be alittle pissed to all of a sudden share the tips.

[Canuckickstan 2]

They have to cause they give it back day in and day out to the regular grindersJust sayin. you ever notice that dealers are usually the players that think they know more than they do?

Who was that clown on WPT that was a dealer. Danny Nguyen or something. Real Donkey !!

[FourFlusher 0]

Of course, nothing is always true, but, I've seen a lot of donk dealers playing.They start to think funny...one dealer told me he'll play any hand with a king or a four in it.

[Dratj 0]

Sign me up to be a dealer at the Wynn....

[PokerDealer2005 0]

TABLE GAMES dealers make that much, NOT POKER DEALERS.

[Tiltinagain 973]

TABLE GAMES dealers make that much, NOT POKER DEALERS.

Also, this "high level business professional" way of thinking is nothing new.I used to work on salary plus commission in a previous career. Before long, I was the highest paid employee in the building. Didn't take long for the general manager to find out. Soon after I was unemployed. Lot's of management types (of which I am one now ironically enough ) get on such an ego/power trip that the mere thought of one of their "underlings" making more than them sends them into fits that would make a 3 year old blush.

[JeremyG 0]

I don't doubt it... Caesars make $65-70k easy... Binions at $55k the guy I know...

[AcesUp46 0]

My understanding is that the craps/table games dealers get much more in tips than poker dealers. But on the flip side, they have to work on a smoking environment.

[Rman3911 0]

My understanding is that the craps/table games dealers get much more in tips than poker dealers. But on the flip side, they have to work on a smoking environment.

A golf course I worked at (TPC of Scottsdale) also did this to affect. I worked in outside service, basically the guy that loads your clubs onto a cart and cleans your clubs at the end, and we all worked off tips. Well basically, I had worked at a few other courses before this one, and the outside service supervisor was paid for by the company. When I got to TPC, the supervisor was given a salary, but also had a cut of our tips, and he NEVER touched one club, just did all the paperwork and scheduling. I'd never heard of any such thing in my life, at any other course in the valley. I can't believe these huge multimillion (if not billion in Wynn's case) can take money from the frontline workers to pay the wage of their supervisors. I just had to respond to this, as I've been in their shoes before. This is freaging absurb, no matter how much they make. The company should pony up the money to pay for THEIR supervisors, NOT take from their OWN EMPLOYEES wages to pay for their supervisors.