After nearly five years working the slot floors at some of Las Vegas’
most-recognized casinos, Mike Montenez took what he learned to Southern
California. A slot host position at the 59,000-square-foot casino that
Harrah’s Entertainment manages for the Rincon San Luiseño Band of Mission
Indians allowed Montenez, 35, to be closer to his family, especially his
11-year-old son, and still work in a career he enjoyed. But his new job in
northern-most San Diego County allowed Montenez a benefit the majority of
Las Vegas casino workers don’t have. This fall, he’ll own a pair of newly
purchased season tickets to see his beloved San Diego Chargers.
Montenez’s home in the Riverside County community of Temecula, about a
45-minute drive to Harrah’s Rincon, is about a 90-minute drive to Qualcomm
Stadium, home of the National Football League team.
“There are a lot of trade-offs (working in San Diego), but I also got tired
of making the drive out here all the time to see my son,” said Montenez, who
has been with Harrah’s Rincon for two years. “When I went to work at the Rio
(also operated by Harrah’s), my wife and I saw the opportunities to come out
here and be closer to our families. So she got a job at Pechanga (an Indian
casino in Temecula) and I transferred here. It’s been a great move.”
San Diego’s nine casinos, which supply jobs to more than 13,000 workers, are
dotted with transplanted Las Vegas casino workers.
Former Las Vegas casino owner Jerry Turk, whose management company has been
operating Pala Casino for the Pala Band of Mission Indians since its opening
almost five years ago, said most of the casino’s senior managers have Las
Vegas gaming experience.
The onset of casino gaming in Southern California forced Indian casinos to
look to Las Vegas for experienced casino employees.
“Initially, when they opened table games, no one had ever dealt cards,” Turk
said. “We advertised in the Las Vegas papers and it built upon itself. Every
dealer in Las Vegas knows what’s going on in Southern California. If they
want to get a pretty good job and change their lifestyle, they come here.
Our dealers make an awful lot of money.”
Rick Messura, assistant general manager for hospitality operations at the
Barona Valley Ranch, spent 11 years in hotel management at Caesars Palace.
American Indian casinos, he said, benefit from tapping into a pool of
experienced casino workers from the Strip.
“We’ve surrounded ourselves with a lot of talent that came from gaming’s
biggest resorts,” Messura said.
“I live in a city that’s not all about gaming. There are so many other
things to do (in San Diego) plus it’s nice to live in a city where you’re
not reading about gaming all the time.”
Many of the relocated Southern Nevadans wanted a climate change; they traded
scorching summers in the desert for more temperate summers in beach
communities.
Others wanted better jobs; they took their Strip employment experience and
used their skills to advance their careers.
Joe Gonzales, a Harrah’s Rincon table games manager, for example, came to
San Diego to gain experience. He was working at Harrah’s Las Vegas as a
dealer and saw Rincon as a way to enter management.
“I’ll probably move to another Harrah’s at some point and that’s what makes
this a great opportunity,” said Gonzales, 28. “When I first came here, I
used my experience and helped other dealers. A lot would come up to me with
questions.”
Some transplanted workers wanted a lifestyle change.
Most of the transplanted Southern Nevadans don’t see much difference in
their day-to-day jobs.
“When it comes right down to it, this is absolutely like working in a casino
in Las Vegas,” Montenez said. “You don’t really recognize too many
differences right away. For the most part, it’s just like the jobs I had in
Las Vegas.”
Said Messura, “You’re working in a casino environment, but it’s a different
type of casino environment. (Barona) is in a beautiful valley and our
property has beautiful grounds.”
Mary Crane spent 23 years in hotel services at Fitzgeralds, dating back to
when the downtown casino was known as the Sundance. She said San Diego
gaming workers make trade-offs.
They may not have the short commutes Las Vegas casino workers take for
granted. Crane, the assistant general manager for hotel operations at Pala
Casino, said some of her staff spends between an hour-and-a-half to two
hours getting to the casino, located off Highway 76 at the far northern end
of San Diego County.
Also, she said, San Diego gaming workers must pay state income tax as
California residents.
“If you enjoy working in the casino environment and you want the Southern
California lifestyle, then this is the place to be,” Crane said. “It’s a
little more expensive to live here and the biggest change is in housing.
It’s much more expensive.”
With the casinos in somewhat rural communities in the county’s northern and
eastern edges, most of the San Diego gaming workers are spread between
highly populated northern county cities such as Escondido, Oceanside and
Vista, and cities in southern Riverside County, such as Temecula, Murietta
and Lake Elsinore.
According to the Web site Bestplaces.net, which compares cost-of-living
categories for different cities, both San Diego and Riverside County are far
more expensive places to live than Las Vegas. Based on an annual salary of
$60,000, Riverside County is 13.6 percent more expensive to live than Las
Vegas; San Diego has a 50 percent higher cost of living index than Las
Vegas.
“Certainly, the cost of living here is higher than anywhere in Nevada, but
it’s trade-off,” Messura said.
Gonzales, who lives in San Diego’s Mission Valley, a short drive from the
beaches, said he doesn’t mind the added expense and longer commute to
Harrah’s Rincon. Gonzales used to live in the Green Valley section of
Henderson and broke in as a dealer at Railroad Pass. He built his résumé by
moving to different Station Casinos’ properties.
“The clientele here are very much like we had at Station Casinos, primarily
local,” he said. “But we’re very customer-service-oriented.”
He said some dealers average about $22.50 an hour during a 14-day pay
period, which includes hourly wages plus tokes.
“I’ve even seen it average as high as $30 an hour,” Gonzales said.
The casinos have also provided employment for nongaming casino workers.
Singers Llynda More and Mark Gendel perform one week out of the month in
Pala’s Promenade Lounge. The pair had performed for two years in the Orchid
Lounge at Mandalay Bay, losing the gig when MGM Mirage bought the Mandalay
Resort Group.
Crowds at Pala are local, smaller and more subdued than audiences in Las
Vegas, they said.
“One thing we found here is that they want live music in San Diego,” Gendel
said. “They embrace live music here and that seems to be going away in Las
Vegas.”
Added More, “The crowds are nice
and because it’s a lot of local people, you
get to know them. Thank God these casinos are here to provide work.”
