Come Join the Party in Casinos
There’s a lot more to Hooters than the girls
by Rob Wiser
Rick Newman, vice president of casino operations for Hooters Casino Hotel, invites you to let the good times roll
Not all of Las Vegas’ 40 million annual visitors give a hoot about expensive gourmet restaurants, Cirque du Soleil shows and all of the Strip’s fancy trappings. In fact, a lot of people would rather stick with blue jeans and tennis shoes and find a casual, comfy casino they can call home. That’s been the key to the success of Hooters Casino Hotel, which stands just off the Strip on the former site of the Hotel San Remo.
The property also receives plenty of buzz due to its “Hooters girls,” which turned the Hooters restaurant chain into a massively popular global franchise. These hand-picked beauties wear the signature Hooters outfit (orange athletic shorts and white tank tops) while they serve ice-cold beers, deal cards at the tables, and make sure every guest is having a good time.
Since opening in February 2006, Hooters has kept improving upon their winning formula, rolling out new promotions and benefits for its Owl Club members and adjusting its amenities to make the experience even more fun. Its new Night Owl showroom opened in April with comic Bobby Slayton, “The Pitbull of Comedy,” onboard as the property’s resident headliner. He’s the latest addition to Hooters entertainment lineup, which includes poolside concerts and a variety of bars within the casino.
In short, Hooters offers a good gamble and a fun, down-home alternative to the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas’ larger resorts. Strictly Slots caught up with Rick Newman, the property’s vice president of operations, to learn more about the secrets behind its success.
SS: Rick, tell us about your background in the gaming industry.
RN: I started in this business as a dealer 31 years ago at Union Plaza (in downtown Las Vegas.) I worked downtown and on the Strip, and spent more than 10 years in the locals market working for George Maloof at Fiesta Rancho and also with Station Casinos. I was assistant general manager at Fiesta Rancho and Fiesta Henderson, and then director of casino operations at Boulder Station. I’ve been at Hooters almost two years.
When the Hooters corporation decided to branch out into gaming and create a Las Vegas casino, how did they go about assembling its staff?
Michael Hessling, who was the CEO for the Hotel San Remo, stayed on as a part-owner and member of the board for Hooters Casino Hotel. He basically put the team together. Some of our executives were with him at the Hotel San Remo, and some came from the Hooters camp. I was approached through an executive search and asked to come in and interview. I met the principals and the major shareholders. It was a good fit. I liked the idea, the concept, and the ability to build a casino from the ground up.
In your opinion, what is it about Hooters that made the property instantly popular?
We want to cater to anyone who wants to come, so we’ve created an environment where people are comfortable no matter what their age is. It’s a “Cheers” environment where everyone knows your name and you’re getting value for your time and money. We tell our [employees] to go out and have fun with it. The bottom line is, take your job seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously. If we’re having fun, our guests are going to have fun. That seems to be working very well for us.
Hooters seems to offer an alternative to bigger, flashier Vegas properties that might feel overwhelming, or a bit pretentious, to some people. Is this a large part of your appeal?
There are places [in Las Vegas] for people who want to come and be awed, and feel like they’re staying at a palace. When you get tired of all the glitz, glamor and superficial stuff, and you want to go someplace where you feel at home, Hooters is where you can put your feet up and get served an ice-cold beer by a pretty girl, play the game of your choice and listen to some great music. People care about you here; you’re not just another number. That’s where I believe we excel. It’s what Hooters has been about for almost 23 years. We didn’t want to reinvent the wheel with this casino; we just wanted to be Hooters.
The customers at Hooters restaurants are predominantly male. Is this the case at your casino?
Our customer base is probably slightly more male than female, and of course we don’t have any trouble attracting all the young guys. Surprisingly, we get a large number of couples, especially in the 35-55 range. Once women come in, they realize we’re not a strip club. Our girls are wearing more than most of the cocktail waitresses around town! They realize this place is all about having fun, not about being overly sexy. They play the slots and tables, or go to our bars and restaurants, and they see it’s not intimidating or demeaning. They have a great time.
I’ve noticed that your dealers are a lot more animated than the typical dealers you’d find at a Strip resort.
Having employees on the floor who are genuinely enjoying themselves, smiling and laughing—we support that. That’s what I love about my job. I let my dealers high-five customers on the games. They’re allowed to shake your hand. They sing, they dance, tell corny jokes. They won’t let you just sit there and play; they’re going to get you involved with the experience. Each dealer has a unique way of doing it. We don’t give them any canned scripts or choreograph anything, we just tell them to go out on the floor and have fun.
Your games appear to be dealt by a mix of Hooters girls and “regular dealers.” How does this work?
We have a special Hooters Girls game area with six blackjack tables; Rapid Roulette; and a carnival games area with Let It Ride, three and four-card poker and Casino War. In the main pit we’ve got single deck, double deck and shoe blackjack; roulette; three craps tables; and also Pai Gow and Three Card Poker. All of these games are dealt by everyday people. My regular dealers are just as much fun to play with as the Hooters girls…and I also want to mention, we got some bad press in the beginning because of the fact that we brought in Hooters girls and had to train them to be dealers within just a few weeks. I had them dealing out of continuous shuffling machines simply because we didn’t have time to train them. Now they’re dealing single deck and double deck, just like other places in town. Our games are as liberal or better than anywhere on the Strip, or what you find in most locals casinos. We offer a very good product for everybody.
How did you go about selecting your Hooters girls?
We do casting calls. We’ve found some Hooters girls that already deal. Or, once they’re brought in and accepted, if they choose to be a dealer we put them through a dealing class. We’ll help them along in their career that way.
Tell me about your mix of slots and table games, and the betting limits people can expect to find.
We’ve currently got 30 table games and we’re running at about 660 slot machines. We’re adding three poker tables, which will bring that total to six. Typically, for anyone walking in off the street, table game limits are $1,000. Depending on the time of the day, you’ll find $5, $25 and $100 minimums. Limits can go higher depending on the player, and if we know him. We’re adjustable, but $1,000 limits for our crowd seems to be a comfortable level.
Which slot titles have been performing especially well for you?
Well, we’ve got most of the really popular ones including Megabucks and Wheel of Fortune. We just put Green Acres on the floor. One that’s going nuts out there is the new Monopoly game where everyone plays into a single jackpot. We’ve got the new Star Wars games, Millionizer, Mr. Cashman, Powerball…and the old standbys that everybody likes, lots of penny, nickel, quarter and dollar games. We’ve also got games that are unique to us, such as our Blazing Hot Wings and Blazing Hooters in-house progressives. We’ve got another game called Hooter Bucks, and a unique bank of games that will be up shortly where you can win a customized Hooters Hummer golf cart. It’s now on display. Those are penny games, and that golf cart is the top award.
Your casino is obviously performing well. What about your hotel?
We’ve got 696 rooms, and occupancy is excellent. We’re sitting at 100 percent this week and next. The rates are much more reasonable than Strip resorts, and all of our rooms were recently redone. We’ve got exceptional bedding; the mattresses are so comfortable that some people order them and we have them delivered to their homes. Our rooms are very bright and airy, with a Southern Florida appeal. The rates vary, depending on what’s going on in town—anywhere from the $60s to over $100.
What other changes or improvements have you made since opening day?
We recently reevaluated our whole marketing approach and our products. We loosened all the machines on our floor, and added much better paytables to our video poker product. We now have four Optimum Play video poker games on the floor which have a very high rate of return. We’ve implemented a number of new programs for the Owl Club (the casino player’s club), such as cashback. Most locals casinos return $1 for every 600 points; we return $1 for every 100. So it’s a very liberal slot club. Our machines are looser, and we’ve changed our marketing to go after the Los Angeles, Southern California and Arizona crowd more, as well as locals.
Come Join the Party in Casinos.
