Dealers: 1, Steve Wynn: 0

Over the weekend the dealers at Wynn Las Vegas voted to unionize, by a fairly significant margin. (444-149)

Now this is just the first step in the organization process, as the Union still has a long way to go before it actually has a contract. Other Strip casinos have passed similar measures, but only one, the lowly Frontier, has actually had a Union contract put in place.

As we have written about previously, this issue stems from Wynn’s practice of including the floor supervisors (pit bosses) in the dealers tip pool, effectively taking money from the dealers, and giving it to their superiors.

Last week, Steve Wynn made a last ditch effort to plead his case to the dealers. Saying he made ‘a mistake’ when implementing the policy and urging a ‘no’ vote during a meeting with the dealers.

From that meeting:

"I did not realize the extent of the mistake I had made until yesterday," Wynn said, explaining his talk with a longtime employee who felt betrayed. "I was more focused on the right thing I did for the bosses, than the wrong thing I did to the dealers."

Fascinating audio of this impassioned speech can be found at TwoWayHardThree.com:
http://media.ratevegas.com/wynn_union_apology.mp3

It’s interesting to listen to Wynn, as he seems to apologize for the WAY he implemented the policy, if not for the policy itself. Now he was not allowed to make promises, due to the pending vote, but it wasn’t clear if he was insinuating that he’d revoke the tip-sharing policy if the union vote fell through or not.

Our extremely uneducated guess would be that this all falls apart during contract negotiations. These are dealers at arguable the nicest casino in the world, and apparently make quite a bit of money, even before the tip-sharing. Our guess is that the union might be able to get the tip-sharing reversed, but in the end, the dealers would be worse off than before the vote to unionize. Either way though, this will be good theater.

Steve Wynn + Labor Unrest = Huge Story. So we will follow this very closely, and are anxious to see what the atmosphere is like at Wynn Las Vegas during our stay there in July.


Wynn Dealers Vote to Unionize

Dealers of the World Unite!

Steve Wynn vs. His Own Dealers

Booked...

Whew! That was a close one, we could have actually gone 4 entire months before heading back to Vegas, but thanks to an offer from Wynn Las Vegas, we have booked our next trip.

Life is always better with a booked trip to Las Vegas to look forward to, so we'll be in Las Vegas July 1st - 4th. Summertime is usually a dead time of the year, and that coupled with it being a Sunday-Thursday makes it a pretty cheap trip.

I've stayed at the Wynn once, just a couple months after it's opening. Despite all that we have read about the glitches in service and other problems, we had a great time, and can't wait to go back. And given our sub-par experience at Bellagio in March, it will be interesting to compare the 2 nicest joints on the Strip.

We're looking forward to trying a few new things, a few old things, and updating you with all the goings-on in our favorite city.

P.S. I just added up all my previous trips, and this will be my 20th(!) time in Vegas.

Attention AMEX Cardholders

Just ran across this tip on the web:

If you are booking a room via the website with an American Express Card, enter the promotional code AMEX on the reservations page.

This provides AMEX users with a 15% discount right off the top for all classes of rooms at the Wynn.

Wynn Las Vegas Home Page

Dealers of the World Unite!

We’ve written about Steve Wynn quite a bit, but as Las Vegas’ most recognizable face, he keeps popping up in the news. This from an article in Saturday’s Las Vegas Sun:

The Transport Workers Union, which primarily represents workers in the airline and railroad industries, has petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for a secret-ballot election to represent Wynn Las Vegas dealers.

The move indicates the level of anger Wynn dealers have sustained eight months into management's decision to include frontline supervisors in the dealers' tip pool. Enough dealers - at least 30 percent - signed the petition, triggering the election process.

Although management says most dealers have made peace with the new tip-sharing program, some dealers say at least 60 percent of the casino's dealers support a union.

Again, this relates to the tip-sharing policy that we’ve discussed here.

This seems to be a bit of a last-ditch effort by some dealers, as their individual lawsuits have been dismissed, and it looks like a bill outlawing the tip-sharing arrangement is a no-go.

This would be a first at major Las Vegas casinos, while the waiters and housekeepers are represented by the Culinary Union at most places, dealers have remained unorganized. While it still remains to be seen if the dealers have the votes to Unionize, with a predictable variance in numbers between the dealers and Wynn representatives, this seems to be an unprecedented first step.

We’re not labor-relations experts, (We’re Gin experts) but this news has to send a shiver down the spine of all the casino operators in Las Vegas. If the union ultimately prevails at Wynn, how long before dealers at other properties organize?

As always, we will keep you updated.

It's not your ordinary union looking at Wynn dealers

Steve Wynn vs. His Own Dealers

Steve Wynn vs. His Own Dealers

Now this is a touchy subject…

On August 21^st, 2006 Steve Wynn announced to Dealers and other table games employees that he would change the tipping structure for dealers. Previously, Dealers were paid an hourly wage, and the bulk of their income came from customer tips, which were counted by a committee of dealers and distributed among other dealers on that shift. Casino supervisors, or pit bosses were paid a salary and therefore ineligible for tips.

After the change, a percentage of the dealer’s tips would go to the supervisors, reducing dealer’s income. Additionally, tip counting duties would be handled by other casino employees, not dealers.

Unsurprisingly, this caused an uproar among Wynn employees, as well as other dealers in town, fearing this precedent might someday affect them. Depending on who you listen to, the Wynn dealers seemingly make between $20k a year, and $530k, it’s that confusing.

Here’s the crux of the issue:

Opponents of this plan say that you are basically stealing money from the dealer’s pockets, which is hard to argue with on the surface. Also, taking away the tip counting duties from the dealers seems like a potential problem area, opening the door for corruption or other shenanigans.

Folks on Wynn’s side point to the fact that Wynn dealers are the best paid on the strip, before and after the change. Paying front-line employees more than their supervisors was wrong, and this leveled the playing field, as there was no desire to advance and grow as an employee.

I think the main sticking point here is the different sides’ discrepancy on how much money actually changes hands. I’ve read anywhere from less than 10% to over 15%, from $10k a year, to over $30k. I’ve also seen contradicting numbers that Wynn Dealers made over $100k a year (with tips of course, dealers make close to minimum wage before tips) prior to the change, and supervisors $60k. After the redistribution, dealers make $90k and supervisors $95k. (These numbers are coming from Wynn)

A few different complaints and lawsuits have been filed by Wynn Dealers, and are either pending or have been thrown out. The legality of the change may be a bit blurry, but Wynn’s influence over the state legislature isn’t.

After the initial uproar, and the resulting lawsuits, not much has been said on this issue, at least nothing that made the news. And everything at Wynn Las Vegas seems to be business as usual, aside from the random protest outside. One reason I’ve read is that most dealers really don’t have much of a choice, it’s either give up seniority and start over somewhere else, or just deal with it.

In a recent interview with In Business Las Vegas Steve Wynn states:

"It is working exactly as we planned," Wynn said. "Tips are increasing, our dealers are still the highest paid - not just in the city, but in the world - and our most experienced dealers are volunteering to work as supervisors."

In fact, Wynn said dealers made just as much in tips in February as they did in February 2006, and he predicted that dealer income would drop by less than the 10 percent to 15 percent he had originally estimated last summer.

Now I’m not exactly sure where I fall on this issue, as I really don’t have a horse in the race, and I don’t own any Wynn Stock (I wish I would have bought 3 years ago though). Personally I hope the above quotes are true. We are generally Wynn fans in the casino design sense, (4 on the Wynn-o-Meter) and love the Wynn Las Vegas property. Granted I’d be mad as hell if someone docked my pay by 15%, but then again I don’t make the money that Wynn dealers supposedly make.

Either way though, it looks like this new policy is going to stick, and we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see this become the norm as opposed to the exception in the near future. We will keep you up to date on any developments.

(An additional thing, one of the leading advocates in the fight against this is David McKee at the Las Vegas Business Press, the same guy we wrote about earlier for running an April Fool’s joke as a legit story…makes it even harder to decide who to believe.)

Wynn Las Vegas Home Page

Wynn Dealers Home Page

Despite tip-sharing, Wynn dealers still best-paid

Too close to Wynn?

VegasRy Review: Tryst

On our last trip to Las Vegas, our friend Brandon’s younger brother turned 21 the last day we were there, and as such, wanted to celebrate it in style…with bottle service at Tryst Nightclub at the Wynn. Now, the pluses and minuses of nightclubs in Vegas is the topic of much debate, and will be covered later in more detail.

Reservations were made through the concierge at Bellagio, for bottle service on a Saturday night. We were provided with the cell number of the host, and instructed to call when we arrived. We got to Wynn around 10:30, and the line was already pretty significant. One simple phone call, and the host located us, removed us from the line, and escorted us directly to our table. Great service yes, but we had to pay for it. Being a Saturday night there was a 2 bottle minimum. We ordered our bottle of Rum and Vodka, and settled in for the night.

Another note, our party consisted of 4 guys and no ladies, and unsurprisingly, the line waiting to get in was 95% guys. I think bottle service is a must for groups of guys.

Tryst is a pretty slick club, large, but not huge, and decorated in a very cool, very red, way. The club and dance floor open out to a lake and waterfall in a private alcove, with the Wynn Mountain on one side and the casino building on the other. Private tables lined the lake, and this outdoor section provided relief from the sensory overload inside.

Our table was located near a stripper pole, where all ladies were free to show off their skills. It seemed that our table was in a happening spot, as the pole area became very crowded later. As the night went on, more and more ladies tried there hand at the pole, and it was quite obvious that this was not the first time on a stripper pole for many of them.

A short commentary on the pole: Proximity to the pole can be a very good, or very bad thing depending on the wannabe stripper performing at any given time. The following video captures the good, the bad, and the ugly…although not necessarily in that order.

Our waitress was very nice, and very implanted, but I think after she brought the bottles, we saw her 3 more times. Now not to seem snobbish, but for $1,200 (yeah, I know), we shouldn’t have to pour and mix our own drinks.

Now these clubs are pretty much all the same in my opinion, but Tryst was a step above. The current hot spot on the strip, (until next week when the next one comes along) and I have not seen a collection of that many good-looking people in one place. If you can only hit one club on your next trip, or if money is no object, Tryst is your place.

Tryst Home Page (At Wynn Las Vegas)

Score:
4 Cheques (Out of 5)

Vegas Link: CheapoVegas.com

CheapoVegas is an irreverent site dedicated to providing info about the many properties in Las Vegas from a decidedly low-roller point of view. It supplies info in a very interesting and unique way.

The data is set up by hotel and casino, and offers the usual info like room size and price, but does it in a more conversational and opinionated way. Along with vital info on the property, CheapoVegas also includes thoughts on the overall feel of the casino, and even lets you know what you get bottles of in the bathroom.

This is a great site to refer to if you want a more experience-oriented view on a hotel, vs. the usual nuts and bolts descriptions found elsewhere. It is a fun site to read through, especially if you’ve been to some of the places reviewed. However, higher-end properties such as Bellagio and Venetian are treated with disdain, hence the name Cheapo.

One last note, the folks at CheapoVegas seem to hate Steve Wynn and his properties, rating a definitive 1 on the Wynn-o-Meter.

CheapoVegas.com

VegasRy Profile: Steve Wynn

We are big fans of Steve Wynn here at VegasRy. Actually, we are big fans of his creations as we have never met the man. The Mirage, Bellagio and Wynn Las Vegas rank among our top 5 fav casinos. However, I don’t think there is a more polarizing figure in Las Vegas business and politics than Wynn, love him or hate him, there seems to be no middle ground.

On the one hand, he seems to be the embodiment to the ‘corporatization’ of Las Vegas. His Mirage ushered in the era when gambling took a backseat to restaurants, shows and other forms of entertainment. Properties seemed less like casinos with hotels attached, and more like resorts that happened to be casinos.

Conversely, these properties are spectacular. Each one progressively set a new standard in design and luxury. Bellagio obliterated all expectations when it was built, and Wynn Las Vegas, despite impossibly high expectations, is a gorgeous property as well. Wynn’s attention to detail and requirement of nothing but top-notch service also

Personally, Wynn is very controversial as well. He is the de-facto ‘king’ of Las Vegas, seemingly having his way with the legislature and other facets of government. It was this cavalier attitude that might have led to his downfall at Mirage Resorts. While he built the corporation into a Wall Street darling, many of his later decisions and their financial ramifications made the board and stockholders a little nervous. In 2000, with the stock price in decline, Kirk Kerkorian’s MGM completed a semi-hostile buyout of Mirage Resorts, and left Wynn on the outside looking at the company he built.

Wynn has never been media shy, with well publicized feuds with Donald Trump (the 2 are now friends), Sheldon Adelson (2nd richest man in America, Chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp, and Wynn’s neighbor at the Venetian), and his defamation lawsuit regarding the John L. Smith unflattering biography (deserves it’s own post). With the opening of Wynn Las Vegas, Wynn was back in the spotlight, even appearing atop his own casino in an advertisement during the Super Bowl. There is also a very high-profile dealer lawsuit stemming from his controversial decision to cut the pit bosses and managers in on the dealer tip pool.



We’d like to introduce something that we call the Wynn-o-meter. His is a scale from 1 to 5 documenting a person or publications slant towards Wynn the person and company. (1 being Sheldon Adelson, and 5 being Elaine, Steve’s wife) This is in an effort to fully disclose the person’s or entity’s slant towards Steve Wynn. For example, the book Super Casino (reviewed here) is about a 2 on the Wynn-o-meter, as there are no outright digs at Wynn, but there is a certain bitterness reflected in his lack of cooperation in writing the book.

Personal and political feelings aside, the man can build a casino, and we here at VegasRy are anxiously looking forward to the opening of Encore, the new sister resort of Wynn Las Vegas. Some of the our best times have been had at properties that he created, and we hope that he will build many more in the years to come.

FYI, VegasRy is a Solid 4 on the Wynn-o-Meter

Wynn Las Vegas Home Page

A Class Of Its Own

Ever since I started vacationing in Vegas, I noticed that there is a strong correlation between a classy casino and the height of its ceilings. Pay attention next time and you're sure to agree. This is especially true of Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, Venetian, and Wynn. Of these though, Wynn's casino is far and away the classiest. Granted, it was built more recently than the others.

Not only are the ceilings very high, but their architectural intricacies are simply amazing. It's truly a piece of art that would make Michaelangelo proud. 'Attention to detail' is the understatement of the year when referring to Wynn's style.



Steve Wynn has set the benchmark for a classy upscale casino extremely high. It excites me to see how this will affect the future of casinos in Vegas. Unfortunately, this won't come without a cost, but Vegas casinos of this class never pitched themselves as bargains. Next time you're in town, stroll through the Wynn. Your neck might get a little sore as you're admiring the ceiling detail, but nothing's free in Vegas.

Want to know how to build a Multi-Billion Dollar Casino?

Geez Steve, I know you ruined the Picasso, but come on...