The reality behind the flashing lights
BY FRED MANN
The Wichita Eagle
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -Out on the casino floor, a slot machine is ringing, the sound of someone hitting a jackpot. A supervisor hears the news on her radio and moves quickly to the machine that is paying off. She finds a middle-aged couple -- gray hair and blue jeans, the man in horn-rimmed glasses, the woman in a St. Louis Cardinals T-shirt -- whose $10 slot machine has just paid them $8,000.
They are hanging out by the machine like they're waiting for a bus: calm, quiet, looking around.
They have been to this casino, the Ameristar in Kansas City, Mo., many times. They even greet the supervisor with a "How you been?" when she arrives. So it is a good bet they spent a lot of money before the win. But not long ago, they won $24,000 on the machine right next to this one.
Around them, other slot players pay little attention. They smoke and fidget on their stools and keep jabbing the "spin" buttons, waiting for luck to leave that machine and come to theirs.
This is life on a casino floor. As Sedgwick County prepares to vote on whether to allow casino gambling in the county, The Eagle decided to visit a full-fledged "destination" casino and get an idea of what happens inside.
The Ameristar is one of the 10 largest casinos in the nation, a massive complex with a hotel, restaurants and entertainment venues in addition to a casino -- the sort of amenities destination casinos need to compete. It sits on 183 acres along the river on the north side of Kansas City, east of I-435.
Ameristar is one of four riverboat casinos in Kansas City, although nearby Wyandotte County will get one soon, and The Woodlands racetrack will get slot machines, under Kansas' new law.
Ameristar is actually two boats pushed together, but neither boat is going anywhere.
In 2006, it posted net revenue of $253 million.
Gamblers can win
The winners of the $8,000 slot payout are just two of the gamblers filling the endless rows of more than 3,000 slots and video poker machines inside the two-tier casino.
Reels spin in dizzying colors, and the machines beep up and down the scale like cartoon music.
The winning couple decides to take some of the prize money in the form of a check, and the rest in cash so they can keep gambling.
They are so casual about their payout, they start talking about how the country needs universal health care.
"Medicare for everyone!" says the woman, who then lights a cigarette.
But slots players aren't much on conversation. For that, you go to one of 90 table games in this 140,000 square-foot-casino, where dealers in gold and black tunics deal cards and scoop up chips with the lightning hand speed of magicians.
Felicia Williams is one of the best -- tall and slender with a head full of curls that flounce as she deals and chatters with gamblers at her Blackjack and Three Card Poker table.
"Who's your momma?" she says as she deals a blackjack to a player.
"Oh, look at you! You from Tennessee? 'Cause you have the only 10 I can see," she says to another player.
"Who's the cutest dealer?" she says.
She has the table laughing.
Until she deals herself a winning hand.
"That'll never happen again!" she says as she swipes their chips. "Never!"
Adults on a weeknight range in ages. Many are wearing jeans or shorts and sports jerseys or T-shirts.
The quality of dress improves in the rooms with higher-limit slots and table games.
The loudest spot is a craps table where a couple of guys in khaki shorts and knit sport shirts light up cigars and holler at a buddy what number he should roll.
"Get hot!" one of them shouts.
Bars on the casino floor contain video machines at each seat so gamblers can't get away from temptation even on a drink break. Missouri casinos don't serve alcoholic drinks on the casino floor because drunk gamblers aren't allowed. Kansas' new gambling bill doesn't include this provision, although it allows operators to sell and serve alcohol in a casino.
There are games to fit all wallet sizes. They range from penny slots to $100 machines in high-limit slot rooms.
There is a 15-table poker room, where some of the players fit the TV poker stereotype -- sunglasses and hats.
Missouri law won't let a gambler lose more than $500 in a two-hour span, and players have to get cards when they enter the casino that track their performance. Kansas' law doesn't include a loss limit.
Far more than gambling
Outside the casino, the ceiling of a vast entertainment mall that greets visitors when they enter the complex is a mural of a blue sky with puffy white clouds, creating a feeling of perpetual daylight.
The mall is lined with eateries, including a large buffet, a fine-dining Italian restaurant, a steak house, a diner, a deli, a barbecue restaurant, a brew pub, an oyster bar and a franchise-food court.
Gone are the days of cheap casino food. The Ameristar's 13 restaurants have a variety of prices similar to what you would pay in most restaurants. The casino has 43 chefs on duty creating innovative meals.
It also features a gift shop, a meeting room, an 18-screen movie theater, a children's activity center, a video arcade and a 1,350-seat concert hall.
The whole thing is done in Victorian style with lots of stained glass, marble and granite.
An old Pullman railroad car sits just inside the entrance. Attached to it is a depot housing an 88-seat venue for blues, rock and country bands.
The car is a holdover. Ameristar bought the casino from Station Casinos Inc. in 2000, renovated the hotel rooms and lobby and added a parking garage.
The hotel has 184 rooms, and they aren't for losers. They start at $199 a night, but rates vary according to availability. Rooms contain custom furnishings, inlaid marble flooring, and plasma flat-screen TVs.
The rooms are intended to compete with the Las Vegas market, and the casino has a national reputation. It has won awards from industry magazines and readers' polls for its facilities, restaurants, tournaments, comps, dealers, poker rooms, slots, lounges -- almost everything about it. It has also been honored for its philanthropy.
Keep gamblers happy
The casino employs 1,800 people, and although they can't gamble at Ameristar, they can win a new car by being selected "Team Member of the Year."
Jamal Abedrabbo, a server in the Horizon Buffet, won a new Chrysler this year. He is a Palestinian who lived in Jerusalem before coming to America 3 ½ years ago with a wife and two children. He worked at franchise restaurants before coming to the casino. He says the Ameristar job is "awesome."
"They make you appreciate what you do and make you feel part of the family," he says.
Some of the employees sing and dance to entertain diners and gamblers. Abedrabbo can sing. Williams, the dealer, can, too. She also does a mean Elvis impression.
The mother of a 13-year-old daughter, Williams has been working at the Ameristar for 10 years.
"I play all day and work with cool people," she says during a break. "It fits me."
She likes the gamblers at her tables.
"You want them all to win," she says. "I can't do anything about their money, but I can help make them smile."
At the table, she deals a strong hand to one of the players.
"There you go, finally!" he tells her.
"You hot!" she says.
Then she deals herself a 21.
The table moans.
"I never do that!" she says. "That's the first time ever!" |
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