Las Vegas dealer lose at Wynn

[JSTAT]

The Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Wynn Resorts, Steve Wynn, decided to confiscate casino dealers tips and share them with pit supervisors in September 2006. Wynn contended that waiters/waitresses tip bus boys and dishwashers, and management deserved the same treatment. A trickle up situation that seems unfair and the dealers were furious enough to vote the Transport Workers Union to represent them. Foot dragging from both parties have stalled a union contract, while dealers are attempting to recover lost wages through Nevada's legal system. The case is ongoing and has a snowball's chance in hell to win, the house never loses as the dealers will get the shaft again. The United States Department Of Labor is the juristiction that favors Wynn dealers due to a precedent case. The Labor Department ruled that "invalid tip pools" are a violation to workers. Currently a case is pending in federal courts involving the tip debacle with Wynn.

The feds and casino dealer tips were resolved in the 80's, and pit supervisors weren't recognized in the issue. Casino dealers in Nevada were paying practically nothing in taxes to the Internal Revenue Service from tips earned prior to 1981. The IRS cracked down on dealers in Nevada after monitoring tips received at Atlantic City casinos. An amnesty was offered, if full tip reporting compliance were fulfilled. Tips were pooled and taxes taken out of each paycheck. No more pocketing the cash after a shift and dodging the taxman with untraceable earnings. The dealers were punished then, but don't deserve the tacky treatment from Wynn now.

Wynn has a history of over-reaching when it comes to his casino properties. Kirk Kerkorian bought a majority of Wynn's Mirage Resorts shares in 2000 and fired Wynn on the spot in Las Vegas. Wynn received about $483 million and bought the Desert Inn for $270 million, where the Wynn and Encore stand today. Wynn swore that he will be the majority shareholder at Wynn Resorts and not allow a corporate raider to topple him again. Cutting down on labor costs, such as not offering health insurance to dealers working 32 hours a week is also profitable to him. The taking of middle class employees tips such as dealers, and redistributing them to others, is the United States government's job, not a capitalist gone wild.

Article published at http://www.examiner.com/x-18051-San-Francisco-Blackjack-Examiner~y2009m10d14-Las-Vegas-dealers-lose-at-Wynn

 

[creeping panther]

Jstat

The Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Wynn Resorts, Steve Wynn, decided to confiscate casino dealers tips and share them with pit supervisors in September 2006. Wynn contended that waiters/waitresses tip bus boys and dishwashers, and management deserved the same treatment. A trickle up situation that seems unfair and the dealers were furious enough to vote in the Transport Workers Union to represent them. Foot dragging from both parties have stalled a union contract, while dealers are attempting to recover lost wages through Nevada's legal system. The case is ongoing and has a snowball's chance in hell to win, the house never loses as the dealers will get the shaft again. The United States Department Of Labor is the juristiction that favors Wynn dealers due to a precedent case. The Labor Department ruled that "invalid tip pools" are a violation to workers. Currently a case is pending in federal courts involving the tip debacle with Wynn.

The feds and casino dealer tips were resolved in the 80's, and pit supervisors weren't recognized in the issue. Casino dealers in Nevada were paying practically nothing in taxes to the Internal Revenue Service from tips earned prior to 1981. The IRS cracked down on dealers in Nevada after monitoring tips received at Atlantic City casinos. An amnesty was offered, if full tip reporting compliance were fulfilled. Tips were pooled and taxes taken out of each paycheck. No more pocketing the cash after a shift and dodging the taxman with untraceable earnings. The dealers were punished then, but don't deserve the tacky treatment from Wynn now.

Wynn has a history of over-reaching when it comes to his casino properties. Kirk Kerkorian bought a majority of Wynn's Mirage Resorts shares in 2000 and fired Wynn on the spot in Las Vegas. Wynn received $300 million and bought the Desert Inn, where the Wynn and Encore stand today. Wynn swore that he will be the majority shareholder at Wynn Resorts and not allow a corporate raider to topple him again. Cutting down on labor costs, such as not offering health insurance to dealers working 32 hours a week is also profitable to him. The taking of middle class employees tips such as dealers, and redistributing them to others, is the United States government's job, not a capitalist gone wild.

Article published at http://www.examiner.com/x-18051-San-Francisco-Blackjack-Examiner~y2009m10d14-Las-Vegas-dealers-lose-at-Wynn

Wynn is a pimp and has a need for alot of personal protection.

CP

 

[shadroch]

Damn, theres more misinformation in that one post than a weeks worth of Zen Zone. You've outdone yourself,jstat.

 

[JSTAT]

Damn, theres more misinformation in that one post than a weeks worth of Zen Zone. You've outdone yourself,jstat.

Please point out the misinformation from this article shadroch, it will improve the accuracy of the facts presented.

 

[Blue Efficacy]

Conveniently not mentioned is the fact that the dealers make UPPER middle class income, and they make more money than many of the floormen whom they are sharing their tips.

Also, how is forcing the dealers to pay taxes on their tips, punishing them?

 

[shadroch]

Wynn walked away with billions, not $300 million and had bought the Desert Inn prior to the Mirage takeover.

 

[ihate17]

If the Feds punished the dealers???

When dealers were forced to pay taxes on their income, if that is punishment, then we all have been punished, since we all pay taxes on our income. In fact, the dealers were punishing the rest of us because we had to make up for the taxes they were failing to pay. The dealers got a great deal because of the amnesty!

On the question of sharing their current tokes, I do side with the dealers. If dealers are making more money than their supervisors all that means to me is that upper management in casinos might be underpaying supervisors. The truth though is the public is overpaying dealers by tipping too much.
The floor person should not share tips mainly because this can create a conflict of interest. His job is to watch the dealer, players, game etc. As soon as his income depends upon sharing the tokes given to dealers by players, he is now in some kind of partnership with those dealers and players.
Just think of the possibilities when the player is a huge whale who likes to put out big tokes when things are going his way.

Wynn made a move here and is singled out for it, but throughout the casino business there are many other casinos where dealers make more money than their supervisors.

ihate17

 

[JSTAT]

Wynn walked away with billions, not $300 million and had bought the Desert Inn prior to the Mirage takeover.

Wynn walked away with about $483 million after being canned by Kerkorian. Wynn bought the Desert Inn after the Mirage takeover for $270 million.

 

[shadroch]

Wynn walked away with about $483 million after being canned by Kerkorian. Wynn bought the Desert Inn after the Mirage takeover for $270 million.

Wrong on both counts.
Wynn owned about 15% of the stock,and it was a $6.6 billion dollar take-over. It was a hostile take over, Wynn got both the price of his shares and compensation for his residence and art. Wynn bought the DI in April 2000, The Mirage takeover was in June 2000.

 

[JSTAT]

Wrong on both counts.
Wynn owned about 15% of the stock,and it was a $6.6 billion dollar take-over. It was a hostile take over, Wynn got both the price of his shares and compensation for his residence and art. Wynn bought the DI in April 2000, The Mirage takeover was in June 2000.

According to Wikipedia, Steve Wynn offered to buy the Desert Inn on April 27, 2000, and closed the Mirage Resorts sale in June 2000. It took 18 weeks to close the Desert Inn deal because the deal was contigent on the Mirage payout. It is common knowledge that Wynn pocketed around $483 million, which probably included his shares, residence, art, and other assets.

 

[shadroch]

We all know responsible journalist look to wiki for their research,eh?

 

[Sonny]

We all know responsible journalist look to wiki for their research,eh?

Eveyone knows that the only reliable source of info is the San Francisco Examiner...and YouTube.

So let's make this official. What's your source Shad?

-Sonny-

 

[shadroch]

Eveyone knows that the only reliable source of info is the San Francisco Examiner...and YouTube.

So let's make this official. What's your source Shad?

-Sonny-

A responsible journalist never reveals his sources.
Some simple math, though. It was a 6.6 billion dollar deal. 15% of that would be 990 million. His residence was valued at 33 million, his art was valued in the hundreds of millions, and you can be certain there were poison pills which kicked in in the event of a hostile takeover.

 

[JSTAT]

A responsible journalist never reveals his sources.
Some simple math, though. It was a 6.6 billion dollar deal. 15% of that would be 990 million. His residence was valued at 33 million, his art was valued in the hundreds of millions, and you can be certain there were poison pills which kicked in in the event of a hostile takeover.

Here's one source at Steve Bourie's American Casino Guide (Dead link: http://americancasinoguide.com/News/6-28-Wynn.shtml) that used an Associated Press article stating that Wynn will pocket about $483 million from the Mirage deal. A Las Vegas Review Journal piece also confirms the same amount . Two legitimate sources are cited here instead of the fuzzy math you provided, shadroch. The AP article also stated that the Desert Inn deal was contigent upon the completion of the Mirage buyout.

 

[shadroch]

I see where those figures are coming from, but they are using different accounting methods. If you buy something for $100. and sell it for $200, did you walk away with $200 or $100? His after-tax profit may have been around $450 million, but he walked away with well over a billion in cash.
Again, public records indicate he entered into an agreement to buy the DI in April, while the Mirage deal was in June.

 

[JSTAT]

Conveniently not mentioned is the fact that the dealers make UPPER middle class income, and they make more money than many of the floormen whom they are sharing their tips.

Also, how is forcing the dealers to pay taxes on their tips, punishing them?

Management salaries ought to be raised without robbing Peter to pay Paul off the backs of dealers tips, Blue Efficacy. This was addressed on the Examiner site http://www.examiner.com/x-18051-San-Francisco-Blackjack-Examiner~y2009m10d14-Las-Vegas-dealers-lose-at-Wynn "If Steve Wynn prevails with the feds concerning tip pools, other casinos in the United States will implement the tip sharing policy in a New York minute. Dealers who survive on 40k a year will lose about 20% of their tip wages while subsidizing the pay of management. The United States government takes part of wages in the form of taxes, while Wynn and the casino industry desire the feds grant them this power. A dangerous precedent that will harm tip based employees nationwide."

Dealers in 1981 were threatened with paying back taxes and imprisonment if they did not comply with the IRS. Going to jail for not filing unreported income was punishment for some who ignored the amnesty program. Some dealers claimed that tips were gifts and didn't pay, eventually losing in federal court. Also the dealers tip case forced restaurants to report 8% of every bill from waiters/waitresses http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1088103. The IRS profited big time from picking on the casino dealers.

 

[JackBlack11]

What a crock, they are management thus should receive adequate pay for their services they should not be nickle and dimeing the small guy, waiters and waitresses in unison with busboys and dishwashers is not comparable, they are all poorly paid workers.
I'd be pissed too,