Puyallups deserve better from casinos
THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Gambling is an ethically challenged industry and a capricious source of revenue – as witness its sudden decline in the current recession. We wish the Puyallup tribe weren’t economically dependent on the profits from its two Emerald Queen casinos.
But dependent it is. Given the fact that many Puyallup households are making ends meet with their per capita shares of gambling profits, those casinos should be professionally run.
There’s evidence that they are not. A recent audit by Lamar Associates, a D.C.-based firm specializing in gambling operations, found abundant evidence of mismanagement in the casinos, ranging from poor security to poor morale to a less-than-inviting ambiance. Lamar Associates concluded that the tribe is forfeiting up to $40 million in potential profits as a result.
The audit, leaked by a casino employee, offers a fascinating inside glimpse of the industry’s practices, including the widespread use of “players clubs” to electronically track every move individual patrons make inside a casino.
The surveillance answers such questions as: How long did they play? Where did they come from? What did they eat? What did they drink? Do they smoke? What do they smoke? Where did they park?
Lamar Associates criticized the Emerald Queen for failing to have such a club, “a grossly short-sighted business decision” that “ignores the fact that 20 percent of the customers yield 80 percent of the profits.” We can’t fault the tribe for deciding against a Big Brother tracking operation that targets problem gamblers with free meals and other incentives to throw more of their income away.
Scamming is another question. According to Lamar Associates, lax security at the Emerald Queen has created openings for professional criminals to rob the tribe. Money earmarked for Puyallup families should never wind up in the pockets of cheats.
Security gaps can be closed with relative ease. But another problem – capricious favoritism and family string-pulling – is more fundamental and has undermined other tribal operations as well.
Casino employees told Lamar Associates of Puyallups placed in supervisory positions they weren’t prepared for and of “ghost employees” – also tribal members – who collect their paychecks but don’t show up for work. Many employees who do show up work in fear of arbitrary firing; some “were physically shaking and reluctant to answer the simplest of questions in anticipation of some sort of retaliation.”
Not surprisingly, the auditors also observed that “only approximately 25 percent of the employees smiled when interacting with the guests, while the other 75 percent gave the impression they were unhappy in their jobs.” Unhappy faces drive away patrons.
Bottom line: unequal treatment of non-Puyallups is costing the Puyallups money.
This isn’t just a commercial casino; it’s the economic mainstay of a tribe. Ordinary Puyallups deserve better.
