Q. Really? Why?
A. At first they were skeptical. They thought the extra ten dealers
would dilute the toke pool, but the incremental business that it brought in
more than compensated for that. Plus the staff, dealers in particular,
formed relationships with customers trying to qualify month after month and
it became a real social situation on the regular games.

Q. Really? Why?
A. At first they were skeptical. They thought the extra ten dealers
would dilute the toke pool, but the incremental business that it brought in
more than compensated for that. Plus the staff, dealers in particular,
formed relationships with customers trying to qualify month after month and
it became a real social situation on the regular games.
This was the most difficult staff I'd ever had to penetrate. Most
had been there a long time and they were already very customer-oriented.
After a while it became a competition among the dealers to see who would
get to deal the tourney and it became a status symbol (laughs). As a matter
of fact, I just brought the woman who dealt the first final table over to
Caesars Palace.

Q. Is it true that Caesars is the best dealing job in Vegas?
A. Yes.

Q. Did you start making money right off the bat?
A. Not at first. We started in March and we were even, on a
pro-rated basis, by November.

Q. You mean fixed tourney expenses versus outlay?
A. Right

Q. What about increased drop during the events?
A. We measured that, obviously to measure the success. It was very
shaky the first few months. A couple of people, for whatever reason, tried
to harm the tournament; they encouraged people not to play and told the
public that Hilton wasn't committed to paying the million-dollar prize. It
was tough to convince people that we were going to go through with it.

Q. Who were those people?
A. I don't want use names, but one guy in particular tried to do
everything he could to torpedo us, especially after we adjusted the prize
structure to give players rooms on Saturday nights. He was one of the
three people I would not let play.