Gamblers
Take Care of Their Own
BY:
Johnny Hughes
New
Orleans, Biloxi, and Gulfport all had
fancy gambling joints before Hurricane
Katrina. They suffered varied levels of
damage and all were closed temporarily.
So what happens to all those casino workers
now?
New Orleans and the Mississippi Valley
are the birth places of the modern gaming
industry. There have been gambling houses
since the early 1800s. The French brought
poker (Poque) to New Orleans. The riverboat
gamblers refined it. Craps was invented
in New Orleans as was the forerunner of
the modern casino. In 1822, a New Orleans
casino ran 24/7 and had roulette, faro,
poker, other games, liquor, gourmet food,
and ladies of the evening. A century old
folk song says, "There is a house in New
Orleans. They call the Rising Sun. It's
been the ruin of many a poor boy. Lord,
I know I'm one."
River boat gamblers were lynched, left
on small islands, or thrown in the river.
Gamblers and gambling house workers were
not treated well by their mobbed up employers.
My favorite story telling cousin, W.C.
"Bill" Stapp spent forty-five years working
in Las Vegas casinos dealing blackjack
or craps or being a box man, the guy who
knows about cheating. His career started
with the mob and ended with the corporations.
He dealt craps at the Sands when it was
controlled by "the boys from Illinois"
and dealt to the world's richest man.
That was when Sinatra and the Rat Pack
frequented the joint. W.C. has seen the
times when the casinos would fire dealers
that some pit boss thought were unlucky
and do far worse to those who steal. Bill
didn't steal so he had nothing to fear
and could always get a job. He also worked
for the modern enlightened corporate casinos
whose human relations policies and benefits
are equal to or better than corporations
in other industries. He worked at several
places, mainly the Imperial Palace He
retired from MGM-Mirage.
The
major Las Vegas based casinos with properties
in the Gulf coast area are Harrah's, MGM
Mirage, and Boyd Gaming. Mississippi has
this insane law that requires casinos
to be built on water or floating barges.
This makes them especially vulnerable
to hurricanes and floods. All the casinos
will work together now to get this law
changed. Some of the rebuilding may be
contingent on a change in this law.
The
human resources response from Harrah's,
MGM Mirage, and Boyd matched or beat any
other corporation's post disaster plans.
First they were moving to get money into
employee hands in cash. No one will lose
a job. Harrah's will pay people for another
ninety days and the others have similar
programs. Wal Mart announced that displaced
workers could go to work at another Wal
Mart anywhere. The casinos have a similar
plan. They opened up their own hot lines
for employees. Harrah's Tunica is a disaster
shelter housing 400 displaced residents.
Harrahs started a payroll check off deduction
where their employees can contribute to
disaster relief. MGM Mirage changed its
health care plan to approve "out of network"
Doctors, Clinics, pharmacies, and hospitals.
In Las Vegas, residents from the gulf
coast were comped two nights at six Harrah's
properties. All the casinos are donating
money for disaster relief. Harrah's CEO
Gary Loveman is touring to stricken area
as is MGM Mirage CEO Bobby "the Owl" Baldwin,
World Series Champ and poker legend.
When
asked what would happen to the casinos,
Gary Loveman said, "We will build them
bigger and better." You can book that.
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