Park Place cuts 42 craps jobs

By Liz Benston

Friday, Sept. 12, 2003 | 11:03 a.m.

Park Place Entertainment Corp. has eliminated craps supervisor jobs at its Paris and Bally's resorts following similar moves by other major Strip resorts.

Of the 42 eliminated positions, 15 managers accepted promotions to floor supervisor. Of the remaining 27 managers, 25 were laid off, one person retired and another accepted another job outside the company.

The craps tables at the resorts were "overstaffed," Park Place spokesman Robert Stewart said.

"We're always trying to take a look at the most efficient way to serve our customers," Stewart said. "This is a relatively small example of that process at work."

Craps supervisors are typically called box supervisors, or "boxmen." They watch dealers during craps games and also perform certain other tasks, such as replenishing chips.

Park Place has eliminated box supervisor jobs at other company resorts. The company eliminated 17 box positions at the Flamingo last November. Of the 17, nine were promoted to floor supervisor and eight -- who were also invited to interview for floor supervisor -- accepted severance packages instead, Stewart said. The Las Vegas Hilton eliminated 13 positions in March. Of those, 10 were laid off, two transferred to dealer positions and one was promoted to floor supervisor.

The company has no immediate plans to remove any of the 29 box supervisors still employed at the company's flagship, Caesars Palace, Stewart said.

Park Place last year initiated a strategy to cut operating costs companywide, a policy that has continued under Wally Barr, who replaced outgoing Chief Executive Tom Gallagher last fall. Paris and Bally's, which are connected and operated as a single resort, appointed a new president in May.

"We're committed to reducing costs but we're also committed to creating a better customer experience," Stewart said.

Several major resorts have eliminated the positions over the years, presumably to save money, said Bill Steinbarth, a retired casino manager and box supervisor. Unlike most other table games, craps is a fast-moving and complex game that typically requires more surveillance to make sure dealers and players don't cheat, he said. A busy table could call for up to two box supervisors, he said.

Over at least the past three years, MGM MIRAGE has gradually eliminated box supervisor jobs across its Las Vegas resorts. Each resort employed at least a dozen or so box supervisors. Some of those employees were offered other jobs at the properties, MGM MIRAGE spokesman Alan Feldman said.

Advances in surveillance technology have made such positions virtually obsolete, Feldman said.

"A lot of that box supervisor position was really part of surveillance as opposed to game play," he said. "We're not going to let the integrity of the game be compromised because we want to save (money)."

Similarly, "cashless" slot machine technology that allows gamblers to play and redeem money using paper vouchers instead of coins has eliminated many coin attendant jobs, he said.