Casino Enterprise Management

For 15 years, Kevin Parker has worked in, and launched, casinos. Since 2009, he has served as the director of casino operations at Colusa Casino Resort in Colusa, Calif. His casino experience ranges from properties with  349 machines and six table games to those boasting 2,115 machines and 75 table games. He spoke to us about his start, his hobbies, lessons learned about launching casinos, how a hamburger led to a new mobile gaming solution and a little red truck that dropped him off on the way there.

Mark Bennett has an incredible gaming pedigree. The young executive, hand selected to excel in a prestigious industry training program, is now the vice president of slot operations at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. He recently told The Gaming Life about gaming’s future and why, sometimes, he should be avoided on Monday mornings.

CEM sat down with Lynn “Nay” Valbuena, the recipient of the 2010 Indian Gaming Advocate of the Year Award. Follow our conversation to find out just what makes this woman so outstanding.

As the chief information officer, or “head computer guy,” overseeing both information technology (IT) integration and administration for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Bill Oliver is online a lot. In fact, Bill Oliver is probably, in all likelihood, online right now. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

For the better part of the last decade, Larry Flynn has served as the senior vice president of gaming for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG). It’s a big job that includes overseeing 22 gaming sites, two warehouses and some 6,500 employees—not to mention a mandate to establish new business and foster organizational and leadership capabilities within his management teams.

Located just a half-hour drive from downtown Minneapolis is Canterbury Park Racetrack. Canterbury is home to live horse racing and a 24/7 card club featuring Texas hold’em, blackjack and more. The director of table games for Canterbury and that card room is Michael Hochman, who recently spoke with The Gaming Life about the increasingly humbled table game, why it still matters and cultivating a culture of service.

A 27-year veteran in the gaming industry, Wendy Reeve’s career has taken her from the Clermont Club to tribal gaming. Today she is director of casino operations for the Sycuan Casino & Resort in San Diego. Reeve took some time to speak with CEM about the Southern California market, networked gaming, horses, and a lifetime in the industry.

A longtime friend of CEM, Chuck Hickey was at the top of our list when it came time to launch a new feature we’re calling, “The Gaming Life.” This is the first article in a new series exploring the lives of industry professionals. Today Hickey is the vice president of slot operations at Barona Resort & Casino in San Diego—no small job.

All his life, Ali Saffari has taken giant steps. His goal has been to leapfrog through life powered by his charisma, dedication and desire to succeed. And succeed he has. Throughout his 24-year career with International Game Technology (IGT), he was responsible for many of the greatest gaming industry innovations of our time, including Megabucks, the first bill validators, TITO standards and GAMMA (later known as the GSA).

After careers in nuclear engineering and international finance, Harrah’s new Corporate Vice President of Capital Effectiveness Christian Johnson takes on new challenges in the gaming industry. It’s a position he never expected to hold, and it wasn’t until Johnson was hired that the position even existed there.