Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Binion's fires 12 poker dealers

Another 10 to 15 others walk out of World Series tourney in protest

Binion's Horseshoe fired 12 World Series of Poker dealers Tuesday morning, one day after a group of dealers threatened to walk out unless Horseshoe owner Becky Binion Behnen guaranteed that the tourney's 125 championship event dealers would receive at least $94,650 in tips.

The $10,000 buy-in, no-limit Texas hold'em tourney started at 1 p.m. Monday, about 20 minutes after three temporary Binion's employees, tournament poker dealers who pitch cards at the world's top events, met with Behnen.

"The three dealers said 'We won't deal unless you give us 1 1/2 percent,' " Behnen said. "I told them I'd give them the 1 1/2 percent, but it was extortion."

The fired dealers said they dealt Monday afternoon to the record-setting 631-person championship field, but were fired at a Tuesday meeting before tourney play resumed.

Fired dealer Pamela Shandel of Paris said dealers wanted Horseshoe executives to guarantee they'd make as much as they made last year because dealer pay this year over the tournament's first five weeks has been much less than in past years.

"We've been making about $100 per day, and we'd normally make about $200 per day," Shandel explained.

The dealers were called into a room by tournament officials, told their services were no longer required, and kicked off the property.

"They told the three of us who spoke to Becky as well as another nine dealers that we had a special meeting," said Manny Fortez of Las Vegas, one of the three dealers who met with Behnen on Monday to ask for the 1 1/2 percent guarantee. "Then they told us to leave. It's obvious they picked us because we had talked to Becky."

Behnen said she was unaware of the decision to fire the 12 dealers, but said she understood her subordinate's action.

"As people in the tournament are eliminated, we need less dealers," Behnen said. "They may have picked these people because they're rabble-rousers. The tournament dealers are temporary help, and apparently we decided to let the rabble-rousers go first."

About 10 to 15 other dealers walked off the floor of the tournament and out of the casino after they heard about their fired cohorts, and the group collected on First Street, outside the Las Vegas Club, facing Binion's.

The dealers who walked out said they wanted to support the dealers who stood up for all the dealers by meeting Behnen.

"It's not fair when you negotiate a deal and then turn around and fire the people," said Stan Chin of Phoenix, a World Series dealer for the past 22 years. "I walked out of respect to my fellow dealers."

Dealers said players are not tipping as much as they have in the past, with Binion's decision to take a 6 percent cut from entry fees for each event prompting winning players' reluctance to tip.

Binion's took 3 percent off the top of each event last year, with dealers getting half of that amount.

The 50-year-old downtown casino is currently embroiled in a dispute over $1.9 million in past-due membership fees owed to the Fremont Street Experience pedestrian mall.

Poker pro Dick Turner of Seattle said the World Series dealers are underpaid and underappreciated.

"These are the best dealers in the world," Turner said. "They had a fair demand, the casino agreed to it, and then they're fired. The dealers have been mistreated here for years. This is America. You wouldn't think people would be fired for making a demand."

Swiss pro Chris Bigler said he was disgusted by the Horseshoe's actions.

"They screw everybody -- the players, the floor people and the dealers," said Bigler, from Zurich. "It's just unfair to these dealers, some of whom are the best anywhere."

But former World Series of Poker champion Amarillo Slim Preston had a different take on the conflict.

"What do you suppose George Steinbrenner would do if the umpires went to see him before Game One and demanded a bigger cut of the (baseball) World Series gate?" asked Preston. " I don't think George'd be paying them more. I think they'd be looking for another job."

The dealers said they hoped to hire a lawyer to make sure they get a fair cut of the World Series tips this year.

"And I won't be coming back next year," promised fired Las Vegas dealer Jim Keane.

Behnen said the dealers' demand was not fair.

"They came to us right before the tournament was about to start," Behnen said. "I felt like it was a shake-down."

Aside from Tuesday's dispute, Behnen said this year's World Series has been a big success.

"It's been great," Behnen said. "It's never been run as smooth as it has been this year."

The 34 events garnered 7,323 entries and will pay out $19.6 million in cash prizes to top finishers, both records.