Having a cast on your forearm might seem like the worst thing possible for someone that is going to make their living off of dealing cards. However, Anthony Gaines, who is a right handed blackjack dealer at the Hollywood Casino in Toledo still was able to wiggle his fingers at least. The cast that he bears shows his weight lifting mishap on Easter and was scheduled to come off in 2 weeks’ time. This cuts it tight before the casino is scheduled to be open on May 29 of this year. Gaines, who is 21, and lives in Detroit did not seem discouraged by the cast however. "I'm excited," he said, confident that his doctor will be able to piece him back together in time. "I'm ready to get started."
Even with his broken hand, he still joined over 100 new workers earlier in the week for their job orientation at the SeaGate Convention Center that is located in downtown Toledo. For a lot of the dealer, this was day one of the many months of training that they went through. They also took on unpaid practice sessions and had to wait forever for the grand opening of the casino to happen. They all received their employee handbooks, met their bosses, and learned all of the proper casino protocol in the seventh orientation all within two weeks. The operators of the $320 million casino are waiting for their license to operate and approve their casino from the Ohio Casino Control Commission. "We're so close to opening up these doors," said Jason Birney, who is the casino's vice president of marketing.
In order to get ready, the executives at the casino bought radio and television commercial time within the Detroit and Toledo media markets. These commercials begin running early next week. During this orientation, Chrystal Herndon who is the executive as the casino announced that the casino is going to hire around 100 more employees within the next few weeks. The positions that are open are mostly for the beverage and food departments in the casino. The average pay for an employee is around $40,000 a year, and includes base salary and the tips they receive. With the extra hiring, the employee range would be around 1,300 employees.75 percent of the employees are going to be full time, while the other 25 percent are part time.
The importance of customer service was stressed during the orientation.
This was definitely a time where a lot of the new employees felt the first day jitters. Alison Clark, 24 who is going to be a blackjack dealer was full of the regular first job questions: where to go, what are the average shifts like? She was a gambling novice, and this was her first time in a casino ever. "It's so new to me. I actually feel lost," said Ms. Clark of Maumee. "I just need to be pointed in the right direction walking and I'll be fine." This was also a time for exciting new adventures for her as well being a single mother and not having a job.
Wildgras Co. Ltd.
