Gaming Guru

Park Place Entertainment Watch - April 2003

One of the biggest coup d' `etat may have been in recruitment.  Bobby Yee has had a very successful career, but he has really honed his skills in the last couple of years, while managing Casino Windsor, competing against Detroit's casinos while terrorism, SARS and a bad economy kept the players on the southern side of the border.  The move to cashless is another move that will contribute to profitability, as current estimates put the labor reduction at 30-40 percent.  Park Place also lined up on the side of the post-Enron good guys and reduced the severance agreements of top executives.

Firm Offering Health Program.  Park Place Entertainment Corp. and Sierra Health and Life Insurance Co. Inc. have signed a contract to offer a new health program for casino employees called "LifeStrides."  …"This marks the first effort by a gaming company to offer a free wellness/health education program to improve the health of its employees," Park Place said.  Las Vegas Sun, 4-25-03

Park Place Entertainment Corp. is wrapping up its roll-out of ticket-in, ticket-out slot technology, with two of the company's Las Vegas casino resorts soon to be the first major Strip properties to fully adopt the new system.  …By the end of the year, Park Place expects to have completely converted Caesars Palace, with nearly 1,900 slots, and the Flamingo, with more than 1,700 slots, to the new cashless system.  Rod Smith, Gaming Wire, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 4-18-03

Park Place Entertainment Corp. today named Bobby Yee as president of the company's adjacent Bally's and Paris Las Vegas resorts on the Strip.  Las Vegas Sun, 4-10-03

In the aftermath of last year's corporate scandals, Park Place Entertainment Corp. illustrates the oft-made claim that executive pay and golden parachutes are getting plucked. When Wally Barr succeeded Tom Gallagher as chief executive officer Nov. 19, he landed a three-year contract with a million dollar a year base salary plus bonuses, but a parachute equal only to the base. Gallagher, by comparison, was paid $2.3 million a year and got $7 million just to leave the company.  Las Vegas Review-Journal, 4-27-03

Size does not hurt when you hire entertainment or expand your slot club, but it might not be enough in the confusing world of Internet gaming.

Park Place Entertainment Corp. unveils its $95 million Coliseum theater Tuesday at Caesars Palace with a music and dance extravaganza led by pop diva Celine Dion.  …Unlike past generations of attractions in Las Vegas, this venue is no loss leader. Park Place expects to reap a 20 percent return on additional business the show will draw to the company's retail, dining and gambling venues.  Liz Benston, Las Vegas Sun, 3-21-03

Park Place Entertainment Corp. expects to introduce a second phase of its slot player loyalty club card, Connection Card, …"Connection Comps" can be spent in any of Park Place's five Las Vegas resorts.  Las Vegas Sun, 4-24-03

Park Place Entertainment Corp.'s Internet commerce division has been redeployed and the head of the division has left the company, a move that comes a few weeks after the company announced that it would hold off on developing an online gambling site for non-U.S. bettors.  Liz Benston and Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun, 4-1-03

The latest and most efficient technology, the best management available, unique entertainers with an international audience and good employment benefit programs, may not guarantee success, but it puts Park Place and the other giants one leg up on the competition.