Casino Style Magazine 2020

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SPORTSBOOKS & THE APP | CASINO FURNITURE | BUILDING EXCITEMENT | JACKIE GAUGHAN’S EL CORTEZ

CASINOStyle 2020

A GGB publication

Non-Gaming Amenities for Integrated Resorts • $10

Circa Success Downtown Las Vegas welcomes its first new casino resort in 40 years

Covid Countdown Why the pandemic will change casino design in several permanent ways

Fun,

Fun,

Fun How casinos can engage their customers and bring them back again and again Official Publication of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers

Delivering Innovative Design to the Casino + Hospitality Industry for 40+ Years.

architecture interiors planning

atlantic city 609.345.5222 philadelphia 215.395.9555 sosharch.com

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a

GGB publication

2020

CASINOStyle CONTENTS

28 Cover Story Downtown’s New Jewel

COLUMN:

A gleaming $1 billion hotel-casino, a state-of-the-art transportation center, a massive and modern retail sportsbook, and “Stadium Swim,” a multi-level collection of six swimming pools, distinguish Circa, the first ground-up casino hotel opened in Downtown Las Vegas in 40 years.

F&B 45 Food Porn and Saving the Buffet

By Paul Heretakis

DEPARTMENTS:

By Roger Gros

4 Publisher’s Letter

Cover Photo by Erin O’Boyle

6 Building Excitement A roundup of the year’s most innovative and unique casino design projects

FEATURES: 18

Design in a Pandemic The design of casino resorts has always been a fluid art, but with the realities of Covid-19 to consider as well, the changes necessary to please and protect the guests are vast. Here’s how architects are responding to these challenges.

Style Spotlight 46 Cuningham Group Architecture 47 Gary Platt Manufacturing 48 HBG Design 50 Kambi 51 LG 51 SOSH Architects 52 Steelman Partners 52 Thalden Boyd Emery Architects

By Roger Gros

22

The Quest for Fun Modern design and operation of casino hotels should be centered around bringing the fun back to the gaming experience. Here’s a detailed plan to do just that.

54 Classic Hotels The El Cortez, Downtown Las Vegas

By Dean Macomber

34

The Modern Sportsbook With legal sports betting spreading across the U.S. at a rapid pace and online sports wagering ubiquitous, what does the modern casino sportsbook look like?

By Dave Bontempo

40

Furnishing Safely While the fundamentals involved in choosing and implementing plans for furnishing casino-hotels remain the same, there are special considerations for FF&E suppliers in the Covid-19 era.

By Frank Legato

2020 CASINO STYLE 3

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PUBLISHER’S LETTER A GLOBAL GAMING BUSINESS PUBLICATION 2020

Changing Places

Roger Gros, Publisher | rgros@ggbmagazine.com twitter: @GlobalGamingBiz Frank Legato, Editor | flegato@ggbmagazine.com twitter: @FranklySpeakn

Roger Gros, Publisher

Monica Cooley, Art Director mcooley@ggbmagazine.com Terri Brady, Sales & Marketing Director tbrady@ggbmagazine.com

W

hen casinos around the world closed for at least four months—some still are not open—the closure impacts went far beyond the walls of the casinos. The suppliers to the casinos—slot machines, table games, technology systems, furniture, food and beverage and a thousand other items previously unknown—were shut down as well. Employees were furloughed.

Transportation stopped. The world came to a grinding halt. It is, after all, 2020.

But one of the bright spots in an otherwise dreary situation was that it gave companies time to think about solutions. Yes, solutions to the Covid crisis for sure, but solutions to the long-term issues that gaming and casinos will surely face, with or without Covid.

One of those disciplines that responded positively was the design side. I’ve done a dozen or so podcasts and interviews with architects, designers, construction personnel and others involved in the design, renovation and construction of casinos, and the upbeat view on the industry and the shape of casinos over the next decade was uplifting.

Even before Covid, the casino floor was changing. The rows upon rows of slot machines were slowly disappearing (except perhaps for Encore Boston Harbor and its 4,000 games). There was repurposing of former casino floor space to sportsbooks, food halls or lounges. Machines were more likely to be clustered in four-piece carousels with lots of elbow room. Hotel lobbies were more elegant and comfortable. It was a change that was slowly developing long before Covid.

But when the pandemic hit and everything closed, seemingly overnight, that’s when the real change began to occur. Social distancing became a thing. The cleaning crew was suddenly the most important department. Virtual work became the norm— unless you dealt cards or attended slots for a living.

And that’s when the innovators shifted

4 CASINO STYLE 2020

into high gear. Plexiglas became a commodity. Every other slot machine was put to sleep.

Masks became a fashion statement.

We knew this pandemic won’t last forever. But what happens when we return? Will there be some residual social distancing? Will people continue to wear masks even though the danger has passed? Can we just pick up where we left off?

No, the smart people understand that the impacts of the pandemic will last far into the future. Will entertainment and sports events ever be the same? Let’s set some parameters in seating groups. Will nightclubs ever open again? Let’s repurpose that space for a cool pool experience. How about meetings and conventions? The larger your meeting space the more success you’ll have attracting trade shows and conferences.

I’ll be interested to see designs that come out post-Covid. Paul Steelman, who designed Derek Stevens’ Circa, told me that the design process was long done before the pandemic hit, so even though Circa opened in October in the later stages, it wasn’t truly influenced.

However, Nick Schoenfeldt from TBE said it did change the way they designed Fort McDowell’s impressive expansion, even though it happened after the fact. He said the slots were spread out more and poker was eliminated. The buffet has been substantially changed and hooked into an ordering technology that wasn’t initially considered.

Buffet changes have already been tried at Wynn Las Vegas and it failed. Casino executives didn’t really like buffets to begin with because they are loss leaders, so now they have the opportunity to reimagine the allyou-can-eat concept.

So there will be lots of changes in design for casinos of the future. While it’s still unclear what those changes will consist of, they are coming without a doubt. So don’t miss Casino Style 2021 where we’ll hopefully have more direction of the casino of the future.

Becky Kingman-Gros, Chief Operating Officer bkingros@ggbmagazine.com Lisa Johnson, Communications Advisor lisa@lisajohnsoncommunications.com twitter: @LisaJohnsonPR Columnists Paul Heretakis Contributing Editors Dave Bontempo twitter: @bontempomedia Dean Macomber | Patrick Roberts __________________

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Rino Armeni, President, Armeni Enterprises

•

Mark A. Birtha, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Hard Rock International

• Julie Brinkerhoff-Jacobs, President, Lifescapes International

• Nicholas Casiello Jr., Shareholder, Fox Rothschild

• Jeffrey Compton, Publisher, CDC E-Reports twitter: @CDCNewswire

• Dean Macomber, President, Macomber International, Inc.

• Stephen Martino, Vice President & Chief Compliance Officer, MGM Resorts International, twitter: @stephenmartino

• Jim Rafferty, President, Rafferty & Associates

• Thomas Reilly, Vice President Systems Sales, Scientific Games

• Michael Soll, President, The Innovation Group

• Katherine Spilde, Executive Director, Sycuan Gaming Institute, San Diego State University, twitter: @kspilde

• Ernie Stevens, Jr., Chairman, National Indian Gaming Association twitter: @NIGA1985

• Roy Student, President, Applied Management Strategies

• David D. Waddell, Partner Regulatory Management Counselors PC Casino Connection International LLC. 1000 Nevada Way • Suite 204 • Boulder City, NV 89005 702-248-1565 • 702-248-1567 (fax) www.ggbmagazine.com The views and opinions expressed by the writers and columnists of GLOBAL GAMING BUSINESS are not necessarily the views of the publisher or editor.

Copyright 2020 Global Gaming Business LLC. Boulder City, NV 89005 GLOBAL GAMING BUSINESS is published monthly by Casino Connection International, LLC. Printed in Nevada, USA. Postmaster: Send Change of Address forms to: 1000 Nevada Way, Suite 204, Boulder City, NV 89005

Official Publication

DESIGNING EXPERIENCES THAT ARE

T R A N S F O R M A T I V E

Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Resort Glendale, Arizona

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS AMAZING PROJECT? SCAN THE QR CODE.

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BUILDING Swim-Up Expansion

• Choctaw Casino & Resort, Durant, Oklahoma •

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he 1,000-room luxury hotel expansion to open in 2021 will feature a 2.5-acre pool area containing a large main pool with swim-up bar, as well as an oversized family pool.

Both pools will be surrounded by well-appointed cabanas. In addition, there will be two large hot tub pools and fire pits for guests to gather around and enjoy outdoors.

In addition to the increased room capacity, the plans feature an expanded gaming floor and fresh amenities such as retail space, entertainment options and dining venues.

Off the main hotel lobby, there is a large fountain that provides a dramatic foreground to the new pool area. A beautiful new, tree-lined promenade will connect the various spaces.

The stunning new entry will include large massings of flowering trees and shrubs and provide a dramatic statement and rhythm for guests driving into the new porte cochere.

The oversized planted urns, decorative paving and lush layered planting help complement the dramatic overhead canopy and architectural elements.

Additional improvements throughout the expansion include the addition of large evergreen trees to help soften the generous parking areas and garage and open lush turf area for guests to meander through the new garden spaces.

“The Choctaw Nation’s latest expansion in Durant will elevate the resort and gaming experience in Oklahoma to the likes of which are typically found only in Las Vegas,” said John Tynan, chairman and CEO of developer TynanGroup, at last year’s groundbreaking ceremony. “With a focus on the benefits this project will bring to the Choctaw Nation, the City of Durant, as well as the entire region, the Choctaw Nation has assembled a world-class team to build this megaproject. TynanGroup is proud to be working closely with the Choctaw Nation on this expansion.”

OWNER: Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma ARCHITECT: JCJ Architecture/Architects Ink LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Lifescapes International DEVELOPER: TynanGroup LLC CIVIL: Barker & Associates, Inc. LIGHTING: Lighting Design Alliance INVESTMENT: $500 million-plus CONTRACTOR: Tutor-Perini LANDSCAPE CONTRACTOR: Brightview POOLS: Aquatic Design Group

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‘The Dynamic Earth’ • Desert Diamond West Valley Casino, Glendale, Arizona •

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n February 19, the new $400 million Desert Diamond West Valley Casino held its official grand opening. The highly anticipated 1.2 million-squarefoot casino was filled with guests eager to experience the next phase of the Tohono O’odham Nation’s vision for its Glendale, Arizona, entertainment development outside Phoenix.

Top 5 nationally ranked hospitality designers HBG Design created the casino’s strikingly bold and sophisticated exterior and interior aesthetic, including the 75,000-square-foot casino floor, five uniquely designed restaurants and two eye-catching feature bars—the Edge Bar and the two-story Rock Bar—all derived from a distinctive Sonoran Desert-inspired design language.

Located in the heart of the bustling Westgate entertainment and sports district on the west side of the Phoenix Metro area, the new Desert Diamond West Valley Casino creates synergy with the surrounding entertainment options to deliver unique experiences for regional gaming patrons.

The design of the new casino is derived from the design team’s inspirational concept of “The Dynamic Earth,” a unique interpretation of the desert’s abundance, significant to the Tohono O’odham Nation.

The HBG Design team took a holistic approach to the architecture, interior design, lighting and landscaping to produce a meaningful and integrated guest experience centered around concepts belonging to The Dynamic Earth.

The design draws inspiration from the characteristics of the desert that are uniquely experienced here—the life and breath of the desert’s unique weather; the ever-changing light and shadow of the endless sky; and the solidity and sculptural elements of the land.

“The HBG Design team was challenged to envision a holistic project concept and translate that into a design vocabulary appropriate for this high-end gaming resort,” says Emily Marshall, IIDA, NCIDQ, interior design director and senior associate at HBG Design.

“The driving concept of ‘The Dynamic Earth’ was inspired by the life and energy of the desert and developed into unique design interpretations for multiple F&B venues, the casino floor, VIP spaces, public spaces and future phases. When achieving design cohesion, it’s literally all in the details. Design nuances pull individual stories together yielding a consistency that speaks to resort branding and a well-defined guest experience.”

Examples of this approach are numerous throughout the project.

The casino’s signature arching roofline is easily visible from adjacent Interstate 101. The architecture creates a beautiful contrast against the light and shadow of the desert sky. Its curved roof integrates LED lighting to mimic the ever-changing drama of the desert’s “endless sky.”

For the interior, windows allow the sunlight to filter inside, bounce around the

colored wall panels and provide glimpses to sun angles at every time of day. The hues of the interior color palette change from left to right with the time of day, as a sun dial might change as the path of desert light moves from dawn to dusk.

At each end of the casino and all parts in between, color expresses a distinct range connected to the desert story—from cooler ambient tones found at dawn to rich, warm ambers and reds as experienced at dusk.

In the casual-dining Fortune Café, light and shadow balance to create intimate dining areas inside the new 182-seat facility. Designers added dimension by layering the dark exposed ceiling with an open-slat wooden ceiling plane.

Contemporary pendants scattered throughout the space provide an abundance of light, while the private banquettes and patterned screening produce contrasting shadows leading to a more multi-dimensional dining experience. A 46-seat terrace adds sunlit outdoor dining.

At the Nineteen 86 Steakhouse, shapes and forms collide in the 99-seat design—just like the desert wind as it flows through the sky and sculpts the elements of the landscape. A balance of warm and cool toned finishes and materials in neutral shades turn the tempestuous silhouettes into an elegant backdrop for the resort’s fine dining.

OWNER: Tohono O’odham Nation SIZE: 1.2 million square feet OPENED: February 19, 2020 ARCHITECT: HBG Design INVESTMENT: $400 million 2020 CASINO STYLE 7

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Family Fun • Wildhorse Resort & Casino: Family FunPlex •

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he all-new Family FunPlex at Wildhorse Resort & Casino, opened in September 2020, features a total of 24 Brunswick bowling lanes with spacious seating, eight “Boutique” lanes, two private party rooms, a bowling center bar, a fully stocked 2,500-square-foot arcade, and a new food court.

TBE Architects, a St. Louis, Missouri-based Native American-owned architectural firm, has done extensive work for Wildhorse Resort & Casino in the past, and wanted to ensure that this addition to the property would be a source of pride to both the resort and the community.

Owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), the bowling center’s name is inspired by tribal heritage. “Nixyáawii,” a name that the Cayuse used to describe the tribe’s winter encampment, when translated, refers to the groves of quaking aspen trees that grew around the springs.

TBE Architects included several cultural and geographically significant elements in the design of this property. The new addition needed to provide a bridge between the adult and the family entertainment areas of the property.

Linking the existing Cineplex to the gaming entrance, the team designed a new three-venue food court, providing food and beverage access not only to the new bowling center but also to the Cineplex and the gaming floor. A promenade of customdesigned carpet, specialty finishes and murals transitions the guest from the exterior.

This immerses the guest in a fresh look at the centuries-old traditions of the tribe. Two of the three venues use independent contractors who are tribal mem-

Nature-Inspired • Casino & Resort Phú Quoc, Phú Quoc, Vietnam •

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et amid the lush tropical landscape and spectacular coastline of the city, Casino & Resort Phú Quoc delivers a world-class entertainment destination inspired by history, culture and nature.

Generating a vibrant seaside escape, this integrated development offers rich experiences of commercial and lifestyle activities to its guests.

Phú Quoc is also the first casino that allows Vietnamese citizens to gamble, one of only four casinos that are permitted to do so. Should the experiment prove a success, all casinos will be permitted to appeal to locals.

Jerde architects created a master plan to take advantage of the site’s beautiful natural settings and to maximize long-range and unobstructed views toward the seaside by the careful positioning and orientation of the different 8 CASINO STYLE 2020

bers to provide unusual and fresh food offerings.

From its conception, the integration of light and culture was critical both to the owner and the architect. A soaring light-filled concourse provides a gathering place between the standard and “Boutique” lanes. Drawing on the traditional horsemanship of the tribe, custom light fixtures remind the guest of the galloping horses across the high plateau which the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla call home.

The prominent black and red stripes within the bowling alley represent the colors of the CTUIR flag. Each of the carpeted walkways is adorned with tribal patterns reminiscent of those found in traditional woolen blankets. And above each seating area within the bowling lanes are custom blue light fixtures, symbolizing the Blue Mountains, which stretch to the east and southeast of Pendleton, Oregon.

OWNER: Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation SIZE: 2,500-square-foot arcade, 3,500-square-foot food court, 24-lane bowling center INVESTMENT: $35 million OPENED: September 24, 2020 ARCHITECT: TBE Architects CONTRACTOR: Lydig Construction

buildings.

A pedestrian-oriented design also organizes the districts within the resort, allowing guests to explore the unique amenities as they stroll from the beachside to the commercial area.

Within 663,684 square meters (7.1 million square feet), Jerde developed one five-star resort, two four-star resorts, a casino, conference facilities, a retail village, and a water park. Launched in 2018, the project is currently run by local partner Vingroup.

OWNER: Phú Quoc Tourism Investment and Development JSC LOCAL PARTNER: Vingroup SIZE: 663,684 square meters (7.1 million square feet) ARCHITECT: Jerde INVESTMENT: $4 billion

Any firm can design.

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Green Scene

• Quil Ceda Creek Casino, Tulalip, Washington •

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he new Quil Ceda Creek Casino in Tulalip, Washington is currently under construction and scheduled to open early next year.

More than doubling the size of the current casino located across the street, TBE Architects’ design for the all new “Q” casino covers over 120,000 square feet, providing space for 1,500 gaming machines (an increase of 500 machines), additional table games, an expanded entertainment lounge, state-of-the-art food and beverage services, and a multi-story parking garage.

“From the front door to the back door and beyond, the restaurants at the new Quil Ceda Creek Casino will be the ‘greenest’ in the Northwest when they open,” says Belinda Hegnes, interim executive vice president of Quil Ceda Creek Casino. “It’s a tribute to forward-thinking by the Tulalip Tribes.”

Menu items at each of the dining venues will feature fresh, local ingredients that are prepared using the latest “green cooking” techniques. To prepare food efficiently in a high-output kitchen— without sacrificing flavor and character—the new Q culinary team will be introducing windspeed ovens and other innovations to the food preparation. It’s a no-fry, greaseless kitchen with no vents, and the integration of new kitchen technologies will greatly reduce waste output and energy consumption.

Even to-go containers will have a short “life” of 90 days and will be compostable.

“The Kitchen” provides a new food hall dining experience where guests may visit one or multiple stations and choose from a variety of made-to-order menu items. Selections are recorded on a single card as they go, and guests pay one bill for all orders when they are finished, as opposed to the traditional “food court” experiences at most other casinos where patrons pay at each and every station or restaurant they visit.

In addition to “The Kitchen” food hall, the new Quil Ceda Creek Casino will also offer an a la carte dining experience at “The Landing” and several other new food and beverage venues, providing a total gaming, dining and entertainment experience.

OWNER: Tulalip Tribes SIZE: 120,000 square feet OPEN: Early 2021 INVESTMENT: $125 million ARCHITECT: TBE Architects CONTRACTOR: Andersen Construction

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Uniquely Functional Pool at Odiseo Casino, Murcia, Spain

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he new 42-meter-long (138 feet) swimming pool at Odiseo Casino in Murcia, Spain, will form part of the Odiseo casino and leisure complex, with cantilevers 20 meters on each side of central supports.

According to project architect Clavel Arquitectos, this makes it the longest overhanging pool in Europe.

Studio founder Clavel Rojo took the first swim in the pool to mark the completion of its construction. “We looked to the tradition whereby the creator has to test first his own creation,” he told Dezeen architecture and design magazine.

“This is something really imbricated in the pop

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culture—just think about the crazy scientist that tries some new vaccine on himself.

“Obviously the structure is totally safe, but definitely there was some reluctance to be the first to try it. So we thought it was powerful that I was the first to try it—jumping into the pool in speedos in frozen water. That talks about the way we see life and architecture in my office!”

When the building is complete, the swimming pool will be located within an elevated forest that is being built as part of a leisure complex on the outskirts of the town of Murcia.

The forest, which will be enclosed by a latticework of pipes to help shade the plants, will stand on top of the three-story building that will contain a casino, as well as a nightclub and restaurants. The swimming pool will be part of a raised platform that is cantilevered on either side of two lift cores.

According to Rojo, the pool’s large overhang was a result of the client making the decision to add it to the project once construction had begun.

“Even though the pool was in the first sketches of the building, the client discarded it before we started the detailed design,” he explained. “They only decided to build it when the project was halfway of the construction process. That meant the structure was not ready to resist that new weight, so we came up with the idea of supporting it over the two more rigid existing elements, the stairs cores.

“We strictly reinforced those foundations, not being able to touch the building in any other point. On the other side we clearly had to go through the façade to get views from the pool to the horizon. Once it was clear that it was going to be a very extreme structure, we just pushed it a little further, to the limit, producing this really fun experience for the users of swimming in a 20meter cantilever, second in the world and probably the slimmest as far as we know.”

Rojo hopes that the building can bring excitement to the city of Murcia, which was heavily impacted by the financial crisis. “Consider that Murcia, the city where Odiseo is being built, is as a small city, far from everywhere and extremely hit by the last crisis that devastated not only the economy but somehow the citizens’ self-esteem,” he said. “Cities like this have heritage, great architecture since Roman times. The question is: What is the architecture we are building for the next generations?”

OWNER: Resa Group SIZE: 138 feet long OPEN: March 2020 ARCHITECT: Clavel Arquitectos

Petals to the Metal • Crown Sydney, Barangaroo, Sydney, Australia •

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he Sydney waterfront is iconic. From the elegant Sydney Opera House to the Sydney Harbour Bridge where the world welcomes every new year, Darling Harbour now has a new icon: Crown Sydney.

As befits a new building in such a storied area, Crown Sydney is an architectural gem. Inspired by nature, Crown Sydney seemingly curves 60 degrees as it rises more than 275 meters above the harbor. Its “petals” twist and turn, providing visitors and residents maximum views of the surrounding landscape.

Conceived by James Packer and Crown Resorts in 2012, the arduous approval process included a concession that limited the gambling to a VIP casino aimed at Asian high rollers. The rest of the facility includes 350 hotel rooms, residences, shops and other uses. The top two floors encompass hotel suites, while hotel rooms and residences fill out the rest of the tower. Fourteen restaurants, shops and the casinos are located in the equally impressive podium.

According to the lead architect, Londonbased WilkinsonEyre, which won an international competition to design the building, the project was conceptual from the start.

“Central to the design of the hotel is the idea that it should be a sculptural, curvilinear form, an inhabited artwork, which contrasts with the more orthogonal geometry of the tall buildings in the central business district.”

The Barangaroo project has a vertical core structure with a glass and metal skin that was designed using parametric 3D modelling and helical perimeter columns in concrete. The result is a stunning structure that stands out even among numerous other high-rises in Sydney.

With the small VIP casino, Crown Sydney was going to depend upon junket operators to fill the space with the whales who would make it a

More than half of the 22-hectare (54-acre) building site is dedicated to open space, with the podium welcoming visitors to the casino, shops and restaurants The vertical construction of the tower is then clad with a twisting and turning glass and steel sculpture

success. But troublesome regulatory concerns about money laundering and ineffective leadership caused Crown to back off that plan. The debut of the casino, set for December 2020, may be delayed as the company scrambles to rework their business plan.

But the building remains a sculpture in the heart of the Barangaroo district. At the topping off, Crown Chairwoman Helen Coonan said it will be a new positive outlook for Sydney.

“This building was designed to be a tribute to Sydney and a landmark recognized around the world,” she said.

OWNER: Crown Resorts ARCHITECT: WilkinsonEyre Architects, Bates Smart, Robert Bird Group INVESTMENT: A$2.2 billion (US$1.55 billion)

2020 CASINO STYLE 11

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Tent Transformation • Apache Casino Hotel, Lawton, Oklahoma •

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hen BWA first met with the Fort Sill Apache Tribe, management team and contractor for the construction project at the Apache Casino Hotel, the collective goal was to create a plan for expansion by adding amenities, improving the guests’ experience and eventually replacing the aging tent structure, which was getting more difficult and expensive to maintain. This work was to be completed over several phases to make the projects more affordable.

The design team’s first step was to create a master plan and identify opportunities to improve the guest experience with the owner and management team. A roadmap was created that defined the phases of work, which included a new event center, additional office and back-of-house space, a new restaurant, a players club, additional gaming space and remodeling of several locations within the facility.

These initial efforts were completed in 2017, and enclosing the gaming tent within a permanent structure was completed in January 2020 over two additional phases.

During the entire planning process, BWA worked with the owner and contractor to establish budgets for these components based on owner-defined priorities for the sequence of phasing.

The last two phases of work were unique and technically challenging because gaming could not be moved to a different location during construction, and it was imperative to ensure that gaming operations be maintained to the fullest extent possible at all times during construction.

The aging tent structure had reached a point where it could no longer serve as the exterior of the casino, and a more permanent solution was needed. The legal boundary (trust land) for gaming is the footprint of the tent structure, so gaming could not be moved to occur anywhere else in the facility. After the team reviewed all options, the best solution was to build over the top of the existing tent and enclose the existing structure while keeping the casino operational during construction.

The first phase of the building enclosure was to construct the front part of the building, which contained new office space, enclosed the utility courtyard, would house new mechanical systems on the roof, and would be a landing point to support the large trusses that would span the top of the tent structure and tie back into the existing building completed in earlier phases. This phase of the building enclosure also created the new front entry into the casino.

Once this was completed, phase two of the enclosure started with the removal of the old mechanical yard behind the tent structure so new foundations could be placed and structural steel erected.

The tent structure had a second level which needed to remain intact, which required the design team to design an appropriately tall building enclosure to surmount the tent and still tie in proportionately with the rest of the complex.

To compensate for the extra height, the building was stepped up from the porte cochere in several steps, with a final step that creates a signage shelf near the top of the new building.

12 CASINO STYLE 2020

Programmable color-changing lighting from the old exterior of the tent was removed and reused. Its control systems were updated and ribbon LEDs were installed on the building steps to afford the building a dramatic effect at night which can be programmed to change lighting effects seasonally and for special events. This portion of the building creates a distinct new focal point and main entry into the casino, which ties the whole complex together with a sleek, modern and contemporary style that blends seamlessly into the location.

During construction, careful planning allowed most casino operations to continue without interruption while smaller sections of the casino were closed for less than an hour at a time as trusses and decking were installed over the gaming floor.

The final phase in the future will be to remove the tent structure from inside the building and remodel the gaming floor. For now, the Fort Sill Apache Tribe is enjoying the use of their gaming floor in a space that is comfortable, more energy-efficient, safer and secure from the elements and without concern about the further deterioration of the original facility.

OWNER: Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma OPENED: January 2020 ARCHITECT: Bergman Walls & Associates CONTRACTOR: Knutson Construction INVESTMENT: $50 million

Emerald Queen Casino TACOMA, WASHINGTON

Every Building Tells A Story® Innovative Design and Planning Solutions CUNINGHAM.COM

| FULLCIRCLEPLANNING.COM

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Culture Meets Design • Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma, Washington •

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uningham Group and Full Circle Indigenous Planning worked with the Puyallup Tribe to balance eye-catching flash of a Las Vegas-style resort with memorable references to Puyallup tribal culture for the new Emerald Queen Casino and Hotel.

The 310,000-square-foot facility in downtown Tacoma, Washington, opened on June 8, relocates the tribe’s existing gaming operations to a highly visible site along Interstate 5.

The 155-room attached hotel is expected to open at the end of 2020.

The design and integration of the Emerald Queen Casino into Tacoma’s urban infrastructure sets a groundbreaking precedent while creating an iconic landmark. Due to site and infrastructure constraints, the gaming floor and amenities are strategically placed four levels above the ground floor, spanning over two city streets and supported structurally by two parking garages.

This unusual and unexpected design approach creates a breathtaking building that is highly visible from the highway and provides panoramic views to downtown and to the culturally significant Mount Rainier and Puget Sound.

The Cuningham Group and Full Circle design team provided master planning, architecture and interior design services, while incorporating meaningful cultural elements.

The team collaborated with Puyallup cultural leaders to develop an interior design concept that draws influence from the textures, shapes and colors of the mountains, rivers, forests and sound that define Puyallup tribal land. Traditional and contemporary Puyallup art, cultural patterns and language adorn the casino.

The casino further distinguishes itself by incorporating large windows and daylighting into the gaming floor, maintaining guests’ connection with nature and providing sweeping views of Mount Ranier, Puget Sound and downtown Tacoma.

Completion of the casino and construction of the hotel have continued through the unprecedented challenges of 2020. The teams developed creative solutions to deliver a seamless transition to a more remote process, and the tribe’s willingness and dedication to adapt are key factors in the successful completion of this project.

OWNER: Puyallup Tribe of Indians SIZE: 310,000 square feet OPENED: June 8, 2020 ARCHITECT: Cuningham Group ARCHITECTURAL PLANNING: Full Circle Indigenous Planning INVESTMENT: $370 million

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DESIGNING EXPERIENCES THAT ARE

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Casinos Covid Crisis The pandemic has necessitated layout and operational changes in casino resorts, but how many of them will be permanent?

By Roger Gros

T

Every other slot machine is turned off at most casinos due to Covid-19

oday’s casino experience—post Covid reopenings—is nothing like it was intended to be. The excitement of a slot jackpot can now only be celebrated from six feet away. Table game players are often separated from other players and the dealer by a Plexiglas shield.

And in many jurisdictions, takeout from casino restaurants to your room is the best choice. And always masks are mandatory.

What does this mean for the future of casinos? Their business models aren’t built for today’s realities. With no entertainment, no meetings or conventions, no special events, and an underperforming gaming floor as a result of these restrictions, how will casinos survive? And with demographics changing, how can casinos meet the expectations of their younger clientele?

Casino architects and designers believe there is a way out. While these current constraints are onerous, shows and conventions and full-service F&B will eventually return. But what will be the experience, and how will casino executives decide how to best serve their best customers?

Gaming Floor Redux Even before Covid, the casino floor was changing. Increased competition and interactive alternatives made the casino floor less congested, more flexible and slowly evolving.

Brett Ewing, a principal with the Cuningham Group, says the extra space will allow for more comfort for players.

“One of our clients had some extra back-of-the-house space,” he says.

“They took down the walls, laid down some carpet and spread their machines out. Short rows, small carousels, no Plexiglas. Customers really appreciated the fact that they spread it out, and they lost very few games.

“The key is flexibility. Our clients are going to want to pivot as they see new trends evolve and it becomes more clear about what their customers are looking for. There are important densities to consider when you’re talking about the relationship of table games to slot machines. We need to figure out where the critical mass is for the energy of the casino to be fully involved.”

Mike Larson, an architect and project director for JCJ, predicts the slot floor will change markedly.

“We’ll see a regrouping of the way slots are laid out,” he says. “We’ll largely eliminate side-by-side slot machines. It will also free up space for other uses. The real opportunity is how to use the extra space in a flexible nature to give your guests a way to enjoy themselves that may not be traditional for a casino floor.

“Fewer players at tables could become the norm or at least an option.

There are people who enjoy the extra space. But how do you create energy 18 CASINO STYLE 2020

on the floor with fewer players? We’ve been talking about how you could change the actual tables. What innovations could be introduced that could integrate technology that would make it easier to play and prevent the spread of germs?”

Tom Sykes, a principal with SOSH Architects, believes there needs to be more radical changes on the casino floor.

“There needs to be a great emphasis on familiarization and comfort with remote gaming, and gaming in whatever place you’re located in the casino,” he says. “There needs to be an interface that will kick in that will link interactive and in person gambling or even gambling from your home.”

Nick Schoenfeldt, a principal with TBE Architects, believes the space

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Three players at blackjack tables all separated by Plexiglas

on the casino floor could be repurposed, and explains how they did it with one client.

“We’re utilizing space more efficiently,” he explains. “We abandoned poker in favor of a non-smoking slot area. We’re spreading out the machines more so people can safely social distance.

“Even before Covid, I think the relaxed atmosphere was moving forward.

People didn’t like being right on top of one another like a cattle call. They like being spread out. So even after Covid passes, people are going to want to continue that more relaxed, more space.”

Sykes says that the days of an ocean of slot machines are over.

“Right now, we’re developing different zones to allow more engagement on the casino floor,” he says. “We’re no longer locked to the rows of slots.

We’re pulling out a few machines in exchange for more space. We need to change how the environment feels.”

Sykes’ partner at SOSH, Bill Salerno, says the capacity restraints didn’t really have an impact.

“You don’t know what to expect when the limits were imposed,” he says.

“The casinos are very happy with 25 percent, which they never hit. Expenses are down because of less staff, marginal F&B. So they’re making some money and doing OK even with these limitations.”

Paul Steelman, founder and president of Steelman Partners, believes some basic changes need to be made across the spectrum.

“We want to reduce the touchpoints,” he says. “We want to reduce chips, we want to reduce cash, we want to reduce the cash machines. We want to take advantage of the technologies that exist today on our phones, to integrate the phone much more so into the casino design, whether it be a slot machine, or whether it be a gaming table. In the hotels, we’re doing things like making the phone be your remote control in your hotel room; the phone can open up your hotel room as a key. Therefore, we can make our lobbies smaller, because people are going to be checking in on their phone, as 5G proliferates throughout the entire world.”

Food & Beverage Changes The buffet is dead. Almost all architects agree. But how will we replace the buffet?

“The original buffet concept has changed,” says Schoenfeldt. “We’re adding additional screens and wider seating layouts, and we’re using technology so guests can order from their tables. Of course, they can order as much as they want just like a buffet, but they won’t be touching or even seeing the food until it gets to their table.”

Ewing believes the food court concept will come back, but with major changes.

“We all know what the old food courts look like,” he says. “We’ve already been trending away from that for some time now. It’s already a much more engaged experience. That’s already taking us in another direction from the traditional food court. I think we’re going to see an incorporation of grab-and-go. Not just a premade sandwich, but a meal made to order using high-quality ingredients. One of the most unpleasant experiences with food courts was trying to find a table. The experience of dining in your room is going to evolve very quickly.”

Sykes believes that there will be some sea changes in the food-and-beverage approaches from the casinos.

“It’s back to the future,” he says. “I think there’s going to be a trend toward third-party food and beverage. Buffets have always been houseowned, but they’re not going to exist anymore. There will be food halls and eateries and entertainment that makes it fun to eat and try different things.

It can be very formal or very informal. We’ve already seen a pattern of outsourcing to third-party food vendors. You know how to run a casino, but restaurants and buffets are marginal. Let someone do it who’s an expert at it and has a name.”

Going forward, Ewing says the capacity limits are more problematic for restaurants.

“If you operate at 50 percent capacity, restaurants can’t survive, even in a casino environment,” he says. “So new restaurants have to be designed with that in mind and right-size the capacity. Restaurants are going to have to offer take-away service and maybe even incorporate some level of customer service into the guest rooms.

“Where you would once have had a long row of booths, the design will be more flexible. There might be a big family booth in the corner, but there will have to be flexibility until we see what will happen with social distancing. If you do have booths that are back to back, you’ll have a screen that physically separates the customers. It would be something very artful and decorative so it could be a permanent change.”

Steelman says the trend will now be for restaurants to offer outdoor space as well on patios or other enclosed spaces.

“Over time, we have started to see a lot more integration of outdoor spaces,” he says. “Now, they weren’t necessarily integrated in accordance with the virus that we currently have, but they have proved useful. We think that the restaurants will be fine, but I’d be surprised in the future if we do a lot of indoor restaurants.”

2020 CASINO STYLE 19

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“The original buffet concept has changed.

We’re adding additional screens and wider seating layouts, and we’re using technology so guests can order from their tables.

Of course, they can order as much as they want just like a buffet, but they won’t be touching or even seeing the food until it gets to their table.”

—Nick Schoenfeldt, Principal, TBE Architects

Entertainment Options Showrooms and large concert halls have yet to come back, but the smaller shows have returned, particularly in Las Vegas where both MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment have opened several shows at their Strip properties. Social distancing and mask wearing are required, but it’s heartening to see entertainment return.

Schoenfeldt says that some of his tribal clients are eschewing larger national entertainment.

“There’s going to be a building trend toward smaller venues where local talent can be showcased,” he says. “These days you don’t need the huge superstars to pack a big ballroom, since you can’t pack it anymore, or at least for quite a while.”

Sykes says while the larger showrooms can be apportioned off in order to honor social distancing, that won’t help casinos sign the bigger acts that demand higher fees.

“I don’t think you’ll see the headliner or the more expensive talent for some time,” he explains. “Casinos will be looking for the more affordable, Blevel acts, because the seating is going to be more dispersed and you won’t be able to pack a theater.”

As for the nightclubs that have become so important to the bottom line, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, according to Ewing.

“Nightclubs are tough,” he says. “There’s no way around the social distancing at nightclubs. But one thing I know after having a fair amount of experience designing them is that nightclub operators are smart. If there’s a way to do it, they’ll figure it out. It’s already happening. At Marquee at the Cosmopolitan, they’ve already repurposed their outdoor area as a nighttime poolside environment. It might not be a long-term solution but it proves the desire is there. We’re going to have to really look hard at what the appetites of millennials and Gen Z are toward social proclivities going forward.”

Salerno agrees that the desires of the younger generation will drive innovation.

“Prior to Covid there was already a changing of the guard occurring,” he says. “Baby boomers and blue hairs were getting older. Casino operators were concentrating on how we replace them with younger gamblers. The Covid situation has accelerated that. They need to figure out what they want and how they want it.”

20 CASINO STYLE 2020

Changing Times Most designers believe that technology will play a role in anything they imagine going forward.

Larson says the mobile devices are front and center.

“The biggest change is going to be the use of apps,” he says. “A lot of these properties have been looking into this for some time, but now it’s going to be accelerated. This situation is supercharging that rollout. We’re seeing apps that help you check in and make dinner reservations. These apps can track your location so maybe they can help increase mobile betting or allow players to place wagers while they’re at dinner. If we have a seating area or lounge or sportsbook in the middle of the casino, people could actually be gaming there on their devices. This is something that’s going to be rolled out very quickly.”

Health and safety are also going to depend largely on technology. Sykes says many of his clients are already installing equipment that ionizes the air and therefore kills any virus—including Covid—in the air entering the casino resort.

“It’s a very achievable goal and quick to implement,” he says.

Steelman believes a casino resort could be the safest place to be with regards to air handling.

“I believe that good engineering, good operations, will all be put together in this particular place, in this particular building, to probably create the safest, cleanest casino in the world,” he says.

“Casinos do in fact change the air more than any other building. The casinos, especially in Las Vegas with some of the finest engineers, are probably the freshest, cleanest air in any building, other than a hospital operating room.”

Along with technology, says Schoenfeldt, it’s going to take human aspirations to solve these problems.

“Change is something we always embrace at TBE,” he says. “It’s exciting when you see the creativity of the people and what they come up with. And 90 percent of it is creative perception. They know how clean it is. They understand how much attention the staff is paying to cleanliness. I don’t think the average gambler is going to be comfortable exactly as it used to be—ever.

If we’re given the opportunity to do something we love and enjoy and if we can do it safely, we’re going to make those changes and some of them are going to be here to stay.”

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FUN

Bringing Back the

A detailed explanation of how your casino can return to the days when players came to a casino for fun, excitement and enjoyment

By Dean Macomber

W

here did it go? The fun, that is.

Using an extreme then-and-now comparison, during the start of what might be called the modern era of casino gaming that began in the early 1940s with the opening of the first legit Las Vegas Strip casino-resorts, casinos were reasonably scarce in number, small but edgy, personable, naughty and outright sexy, these perhaps the quintessential adult native environments for fun. If you were not there for fun, you didn’t belong.

Fast forward, today’s casinos are legal, numerous, accessible to just about everyone, and bigger, badder, better edifices of their birthrights—admittedly generating more fun in aggregate as a noun but perhaps less fun as a verb for certain players individually. Hence the title.

We can argue about what was better or worse, more or less fun, but if there is indeed some fun to put back into casino gaming that would accretively generate more visitors, profits and continued expansion of casino gaming, then the opportunity is worth exploring. This article will attempt to do just that.

22 CASINO STYLE 2020

Step 1: Align the Company/Casino Goal Set All casino companies and casinos talk about being committed to their customers. Not all, however, are committed to it as honestly, irrevocably, and/or holistically as they should be where “it” is defined as: • Conceptualizing, producing, and delivering target guest experiences (TGEs) that meet or exceed the needs, wants and expectations (NWEs) of each and every customer in your optimal target market segment mix (optimal TMS mix) at a price/cost that creates a real or perceived value, niches/beats the competition, and meets or exceeds the goal set—i.e., being customer-centric.

For fun to have to be “brought back,” it had to be allowed to “leave.”

Admittedly, there can be valid reasons to allow it to leave—surviving the financial crisis one recent good example. But absent such outlier events, for fun to be brought back, its potential to be fully unlocked and sustained…

Customer centricity must be embedded as one of the top independent

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Casinos serve hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands of customers a day, but they do so “one customer at a time.” For each customer, it should both feel and be that way.

goals in your casino’s goal set, and then interdependently linked to your financial and non-financial performance goals so that both must always be considered and simultaneously optimized.

The customer centricity goal and performance goal are the two dominant cause-and-effect forces that lead to the sustained success of a casino. They are symbiotic and synergistic; one cannot optimally perform without the other, and both perform better when managed in combination.

Step 2: Establish the Institutional Foundation Needed to Bring Back and Sustain Fun There is a need to declare, announce and initialize the fun. The goal should be declared and announced as a major, critically important undertaking.

The driving strategy to achieve this goal arises from the following observation: Casinos serve hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands of customers a day, but they do so “one customer at a time.” For each customer, it should both feel and be that way.

But modern-day casinos send unintended signals that they may be more interested in attracting large volumes of patrons and then processing the collective “them” than serving and satisfying “me” individually.

Consequently, the driving strategy is to make customer service: • First, “It’s about me!” individually; • Second, “It’s about them” collectively, not vice versa.

The process to achieve the strategy is not complicated. De-construct each individual, grouped, and collective target guest experiences (TGE) generated by your casino and then where there is an opportunity, re-construct those TGEs to create and foster an “It’s about me!” environment.

The remaining foundation elements needed to support the “Bringing back the fun!” initiative follow:

De-Institutionalizing Regardless of whether a single entrepreneur like Bill Harrah, a tribe, or a publicly traded company, the owner must make a passionate commitment to “It’s About Me!” That commitment must be evidenced in practices and deeds that continuously rise and break through the noise of business and so they can be heard externally by the public, internally by your employees, and ultimately and most importantly individually by each gaming and/or non-gaming customer.

Humanizing and Human Scaling Walking into a building of any type with a million or more square feet is in-

timidating. Walking into a large, mega, metasized casino that serves upwards of 80,000 people a day is even more so. The challenge is to capture the benefits of size as your casino gets larger without making your customers feel overrun, unimportant, and insignificant—i.e., the absolute need to humanize your casino and make it about me.

Personalization Casino TGEs are complicated to conceptualize, produce and deliver. The tendency has been to stamp them out in a relatively small number of variations in large number, e.g., X-dozens of blackjack tables or Y-hundreds of slot machines. Your casino might be able to more personalize these options following one or more of the following principles.

• Personalizing Playing Areas to Player NWEs Players typically first determine what table game or type of slot machine they want to play and then go find it. But the information players need to decide where, what, and how to play is largely absent. In all, playing areas and environments could be more varied and personalized and more help provided to the player in finding the right area, game, and machine.

• Personalizing Service to Player NWEs The obvious method to increase personalized service is to add staff. But after a decade of listening to the beat of the cut! cut! cut! expenses mantra, scored and published during the financial crises, arguing for more staff can still be a hard slog and worse, a career killer. Even so, the burden should be on those who refuse to show why well-researched and thought-out proposals to extract incremental revenue are not probed to determine if they can produce an accretive net increase in earnings, even if they add labor.

• Personalizing Casino Marketing Perks and Benefits Excepting VVIP and VIP players, for all remaining players receiving a perk or benefit from a casino can be an amazingly institutional, inflexible and impersonal exercise, about as much fun as receiving your airline loyalty club statement in the mail. How to personalize service for the other 97 percent to 99 percent of your players is the challenge. Part of the cry for fun to return might be a desire to be recognized and awarded in an earnest, personal, and human manner.

• Personalizing Price/Cost/Value to Players’ NWEs First, a visit to a casino must be affordable. Once determined to be affordable, the TGEs must create a real or perceived value in the mind of your 2020 CASINO STYLE 23

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customer. But determining the actual price/cost/value of casino gambling is complicated, the nuances of which go beyond the interest and training of most adults. Casinos must ensure that not only is fun delivered, but its customers know or perceive value was received.

Step 3: Bringing Back (and Adding New) Fun

It behooves a casino to always promote a sense of winning by ensuring that by the end of a casino visit the player leaves a winner, has been a winner, and/or has seen other players win sometime during their visit.

This section presents an array of ideas and programs that have the potential to achieve the “Bring Back the Fun!” goal.

First, an introduction to value. A fun experience must ultimately be translated into some sense of value received for a player to conclude at the end of a casino visit that they enjoyed the trip, want to return, and will speak highly of the experience to others. The value of a casino visit to a player is typically evaluated in terms of both time spent value (time value), from a finite amount of personally available free time; and dollar spent value (dollar value) from a finite amount of personally available disposable income relative to this casino visit, visits to other casinos, other gambling options, and other free time and disposable income options.

Casinos need to increase involvement when playing the game or machine.

Efficiency initiatives have reduced player involvement. It may be time to consider the possible elasticity of allowing cards to be handled, removing the shoes on card games, putting the “ka-chunk” or its equivalent back into playing slots, allowing coins to be played in machines (putting them in and hearing the payout as they hit the tray), encouraging free play credits to be converted to cash (to be felt/touched and shown to others), and the like.

This is not a suggestion to return every everything back to the way it was in the ’50s and reversing all of the efficiency gains. Rather, it is a suggestion to consider something like a nostalgia pit of, say, six to 12 games and/or a nostalgia slot area of 25 to 50 machines that returns player involvement in one or more ways to test customer reaction incrementally and evolutionarily.

It is also not to say the price/cost of playing that game/machine has to stay the same. Adjustments may need to be made to retain financial performance.

It behooves a casino to always promote a sense of winning by ensuring that by the end of a casino visit the player leaves a winner, has been a winner, and/or has seen other players win sometime during their visit.

The larger casinos have become, the more difficult this has become. The taller the slot machines, EGM, ETG, progressive meters, and signage in general, the more difficult it becomes to see, hear or feel a sense of winning. Good physical configuration and sight lines, use of light/sound and technology to act as proxies of winning and winners, and use of video and vid-walls to announce/track winners can be part of the process of creating and promoting a sense of winning. Existing tracking technology can be expanded to cover more games, machines and areas and more visual/audio ways of projecting “winning” sprinkled around the gaming areas and the casino. More conscious, proactive thought needs to be applied to promoting a sense of winning in modern-era casinos.

Some players complain that their playing time has decreased over the years. It has. This is due to casinos increasing game speed in a multitude of 24 CASINO STYLE 2020

ways, most without informing the customers but not “hiding it” either, but not giving anything of value to the player in return.

Casinos may want to consider probing whether there is elasticity in giving back some of the playing time it has eroded away to select target market services. If they do so, casinos may want this time to promote this change, not hide it.

Casinos may even want to help players choose games and machines that are slower than their counterparts.

Note that another way to extend time value is to extend non-gaming time by providing indoor areas in otherwise “dead spots,” with couches and chairs, television sets, places to play cards with friends, and/or outdoors around a pool or overlooking a view for this purpose.

Encouraging use of dining, bar, lounge, entertainment, recreation, relaxation and other non-gaming activities will also add “time.” Doing so would amortize the casino playing time across a longer trip time and increase the time value in the process.

Perks, Discounts, Awards and Other Benefits Loyalty clubs, signed comps, and/or property perks, promotions, and other benefits can be used to keep your property “sticky.”

Demand stimulation marketing initiatives, or DSMIs, have the potential to reduce the cost of a casino visit and thereby increase dollars-spent value— and/or, particularly when delivered human to human, have the potential to personalize and humanize the overall casino visit TGE, thereby increasing both time- and dollars-spent value.

Periodically, but definitely when conducting a “fun audit,” it would benefit most casinos to take a zero-based review of the efficacy of current DSMI personalization initiatives and to probe the elasticity of deepening and broadening the use of them.

Increase Human Contact With Your Customers Except for the VVIPs and VIPs where human-to-human contact is still high, the personalization of giving perks, discounts, awards and benefits has been slowly but relentlessly eviscerated by technology and other efficiency initiatives. For many, the fun of interacting with a real casino exec, host or representative is missed.

Casinos would do well to periodically take a zero-based review of their human-to-human protocols to see where more human involvement would be accretive.

Create Physical Environments that Align Player with NWEs For time immemorial, casinos have been conceptualized and configured essentially as “one big room.” As casinos have gone from small to meta-sized, the utility of this approach has been strained. Primarily because, as currently executed, most large main casino areas are homogenous, they do not provide a sufficiently diverse range of activities and/or environments to align with the

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diverse and changing NWEs of your customers. Secondarily, as exciting as a large casino can be when full, as utilization decreases and more “empty-ness” results, the effect becomes increasingly off-putting just as it does with an empty restaurant.

In most casino situations, there should probably always be a “main casino” with non-gaming activities around the perimeter and a casino bar in the center, albeit perhaps not as big or as single-purposed as prevalent today.

Along with the redefined “main casino” area, it may be time to think about opening a mix of multiple mid-sized self-contained areas and smaller areas with adjacent or nearby non-gaming support. These areas should be retrofitted to accommodate in-house food, beverage, ticket, and other delivery options to be self-sustaining.

Besides size, each of these areas should have varying degrees of flexibility in terms of permanence and usage. Permanent areas might not change but every three to seven years. Multi-use areas would allow use by a limited number of activities/environments without a major overhaul.

“Flex” areas would be designed to be changed frequently—i.e., ranging from, say, quarterly to several times per day. Ideally, management should have 25 to 50 environments in which to develop TGEs that align to differing customer NWEs. Not an exhaustive list of possibilities by any means, but as illustrations of what the above approach portends, think about…

• “Permanent” area efforts that already include a single main casino floor with sub-areas allocated within or adjacent to high-limit areas, VIP rooms, Asian, tournaments, and party pits concepts. When downsizing, thought could be given to replace gaming with non-gaming bars, lounges, places to eat, informal entertainment staging areas, rotating “retail kiosks,” and just plain furniture to relax and socialize. Today, there is little that does not mix well with gambling.

• “Midi” and “small” areas could be developed around such themes as other cultures, micro-immigration cultures, feeder market country cues, exotic destination “escape” themes, music and movie themes, club-like environments, e-gaming/casino hybrids, generational (one for each of the five current generations of gaming age today), holidays, sports, haute couture, and as many other demographic/psychographic/market segment cues that can be thought of.

• Areas could also be developed around “softer” environments and activities: e.g., for

those who want to escape, relax, socialize, or be able to be loud and raucous while watching sports, races, or music videos.

• Stadium seating with everyone facing a center focal point could be expanded to be habitat-like cubes facing multiple directions, and/or developed even more vertically, taking a cue from the Lan Kwai Fong Entertainment Area in cen-

for more informa information, tion, contact cont act jeanne m. muscolino jmuscolino@jcj.com om 860.559.8243 hospitality hospit ality markets marketts leader / business devel development opm ment mana manager ger an empl employee oyee owned owned d company company jcj.com

bost boston on har hartford tford las vegas new wy york ork phoenix san diego tulsa

2020 CASINO STYLE 25

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tral Hong Kong where over 100 dining, bar and club outlets rise upward from a rather small footprint with balconies overlooking every perimeter—interlocking the energy and magnifying it.

• Some areas traditionally viewed as single-purpose might be designed to be more flexible, such as meeting rooms, exhibition areas, day/night clubs, showrooms, pool/outdoor decks and patios, and hotel suites.

Increase Socialization Much of the adjunct fun of gaming is socializing and/or people watching people. This behooves a casino to provide the means to direct a player to where similar players are gambling, to find opportunities to play together with friends, family or a date, and to find areas where other people are simply aggregating.

A data app could be modified, geofenced to your casino perimeter following popular and accepted protocols to further people-meeting-people.

Anyone participating would have to opt in, but there is no reason these days for two lonely people to be alone or a casino not to enhance people meeting other people.

Socializing can also be physically promoted by providing places to socialize. More chairs, couches and coffee tables, mini-areas where games are intentionally slowed down a bit so people can talk a bit, announcements of “mixers” taking place rotating in and around the casino, a dance floor in the main casino area, and more social dining, drinking, music, dancing and mixed gambling configurations will subtly reinforce socializing as well.

Price/Cost/Value; ‘Truth in Pricing’ It may be time to consider rethinking how casinos price and “cost” gaming TGEs, share critical price/cost information with players, and how doing so impacts the customer’s sense of real and perceived value of a given or multiple casino visits.

The means exist to provide all of the information a new or seasoned player needs before the start of their trip to help set their gaming NWEs and budget, help them manage their trip in progress to adjust their gaming to help achieve their NWEs based upon actual results, and at the end of their trip accurately and validly determine the real price/cost of the casino visit so they can accurately determine the value received.

In short form, all of this would be accomplished via a system and app that may be referred to as a “truth in pricing” game/bet optimizer, finder, and manager. Players could enter their gaming/gambling NWEs with respect to “playing to win” vs. “playing to win to play” objectives, this visit dollar and playing time budget, and other NWEs so that the system could show players their best game/bet options and betting styles that optimize meeting expectations.

The objective would be to better align the fun of playing to the financial expectations of the player. Intuitively, there appears to be enough upside, perhaps substantial, to make that work worthwhile.

Employ Technology and Systems to Connect and Leverage the Initiatives There is a real opportunity to further leverage and multiply the benefits of 26 CASINO STYLE 2020

a fully executed “It’s About Me!” environment via a system that expands on technology already in use today, so the system dynamically connects everyone with everyone else, every activity, and everything in real time.

Capability-wise, the truth-in-pricing module and capabilities become an essential part of the system for reasons already explained. Once placed in the system, it could go beyond providing truth in pricing information. For example, upon arrival, the system could direct the player to open table or slot machine options that meet their parameters (including both areas and environments), allow them to reserve the gaming position to make sure it is available when they get there, and provide the ability to plan and reserve all of a trip’s non-gaming activities (e.g., meetings with friends/family/dates, send alerts for starts of shows booked or your table is available at a club).

The app could and should be downloaded to the player’s mobile device to allow remote or proxy betting, partake in other forms of e-gaming, race and sports betting and the like, where legal. The mobile device would facilitate the aforementioned deliveries in and around the casino.

Video streaming would be a critical part of the system generated by an array of fixed video cameras that would show dozens of images where public activity can or is taking place, augmented by a roaming casino 24/7/365 video team streaming “up-to-the-minute news.”

Opening/closing times would be posted for everything, and people density would be shown using such things as heat maps to see where the action is taking place in real time.

Ideally, every bet on every table and on every machine would be monitored, tracked and displayed in a manner that promotes a sense of winning in real time.

All of the existing loyalty club protocols would be subsumed into the system. There would be no reason why a player would miss a perk/award to which they are entitled or miss any activity if used properly.

Added to the system would be a back-of-the-house, purposed personal customer service tracking and support module. Essentially, customer service standards would be established and human-to-human contact would be tracked to make sure it is proactively delivered and player requests for contact are responded to in a timely manner.

There is more to discuss the system, but the point to remember is that the system has the potential to extract the maximum potential from the total environment approach to meeting or exceeding the NWEs of every customer, every visit.

The underlying theme of this article is that there is always room for more fun for players and non-players alike. This article provides some pathways to uncovering it. Go forth and make more fun. Never stop. And, don’t ever let anyone take fun from your casino again!

Dean Macomber is president of Macomber International, Inc. With 35 years of diversified experience in the gaming industry ranging from dealer to president, development to operations involving mega-destination resorts to locals-oriented casinos in numerous domestic and international venues, Macomber provides executive-level consulting in the areas of strategic and business planning, feasibility and all other project development phases, and pre- and post-opening management and profit improvement engagements. He can be reached atmacomberinc@gmail.com.

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Downtown Rebound Derek Stevens’ Circa brings a new elegance and excitement to Las Vegas

By Roger Gros

D

erek Stevens was a player long before he became a casino owner. He was a manufacturer from Michigan who would make several pilgrimages to Vegas every year, mostly around sporting events, to bet on them.

“I started coming to Las Vegas a long time ago, in the ’80s” he says. “I came for pleasure. I’m a sports fan, so I came to a lot of fights and for football weekends. Forget about owning a casino; I never envisioned working at a casino.”

In 2006, though, Stevens and his brother Greg bought the Golden Gate in Downtown Las Vegas—the oldest casino in Las Vegas—and transformed it after a renovation. Five years later, Stevens bought the old Fitzgeralds casino, a few blocks up from the Golden Gate, creating the D. A few years later, he bought land behind the D and created the Downtown Events Center, an outdoor events space.

Along with Stevens, other parts of Downtown were improving.

Tony Hsieh brought his Zappos headquarters to the neighborhood.

Sophisticated housing was added. The Fremont Street Experience was upgraded.

“It became a really cool entrepreneurial vibe around here,” says Stevens. “Everybody had something going on. It really developed into a community of people that got to know each other and were all really aligned in a manner where everyone was rooting for the growth of Downtown Vegas.”

Soon after Stevens arrived in Downtown, the nation was hit with a deep recession. But that worked out to be in Stevens’ favor.

“Ironically, it was probably the most fortunate thing that ever happened to us,” he explains, “because, a lot of real-estate values in Down-

28 CASINO STYLE 2020

“I love operating casinos. I love building teams. I like being around our people.”

—Derek Stevens

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2020 CASINO STYLE 29

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The Circa Sports Book is part of an evolving sports betting business designed by Stevens and his team

town Las Vegas became far less expensive.”

So Stevens started assembling land across the street from the Golden Gate at the foot of Fremont Street, which is where he envisioned his perfect casino, Circa.

To design the casino, Stevens held a competition between some of the most prestigious architecture firms in gaming. Stevens paid each firm to present a concept and a preliminary design. The winner? No surprise, Steelman Partners, a firm that has put its stamp on many gaming jurisdictions.

“We competed against some very reputable architects for this project,” says Paul Steelman, the president and founder of Steelman Partners. “I think Derek chose us because we got it. We are firm believers that Las Vegas has a style, and we’re the architects who actually get that.

“We gave him the suggestions for the sportsbook, and gave him a place that looked new and modern, but it looked like it belonged on Fremont Street.

And that was really important to Derek. I didn’t know how important it was to him in those competition days. But I respect Fremont Street. I started there.

I lived on Fremont Street for the entire year of 1986. It was a slice of life to me.

There are unusual people and unusual cars, and all types of things happening that I’d never seen in my life, growing up, and being an architect. So I think Derek chose us just because I respect it, and I believe Las Vegas has a style, now influenced by Derek Stevens.”

Sports Haven Circa inspires the sports fan in Stevens so much that he’s built a massive sportsbook—somewhat of an anomaly in this day when most people carry sportsbooks around in their pockets as apps on their phone. But to Stevens, the sportsbook is the heart of the property.

“I have always thought in years past that a significant brick-and-mortar sportsbook was something that could bring people together,” says Stevens.

“Obviously, betting on an app is not just the future; it’s the present. It’s easy, 30 CASINO STYLE 2020

convenient and quick. It’s more efficient. But there’s still an element of going to a sportsbook, and the camaraderie with all the people, that it creates a unique excitement that you can’t get elsewhere.”

Stevens says the experience at the sportsbook at Circa will be more like a watch party rather than a pure betting play.

“I would say there’s still something inside of a Las Vegas brick-and-mortar sportsbook that’s different,” he says. “It’s not an experience they can get at Hometown USA. We’ve created a stadium effect. And for us, this isn’t really all that new. I own the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, where we’ve been throwing concerts, EDM events, food festivals, boxing matches, UFC matches, and watch parties.

“We learned a lot in doing watch parties at our events center. The psychology of someone that goes to a watch party, it’s much different than someone that’s going to a live sporting event. It’s a different angle, a different perspective. People feel differently when they go to a watch party. There is more social demeanor as they come into the game—a little bit more upbeat and willing to Circa’s transportation center, the Garage Mahal

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socialize. We’ve really tried to create our sportsbook to be something where you end up picking up a lot of the energy of all the rest of the fans and customers who are there.”

Steelman says the placement of the sportsbook, at the back of the casino, was a debate, but one that was resolved quickly.

“The sportsbook takes up the entire Main Street side of the building,” he says. “It was a logical thing to us because, you know, the milk is at the back of the store. Same thing. Most of the foot traffic that wants to see the sportsbook has to walk through the corner of First and Fremont. So, it’s a logical thing to locate it on that side of the building.”

that Main Street deserves. You don’t obstruct Main Street Station or the California, which need that visual aspect connecting them to Fremont Street. That led to a very good solution, and it was an interesting exercise for us, to try to make it as small as humanly possible.”

Pooling Resources The biggest “wow” factors for Circa, however, notwithstanding the massive

Parking Paradise Parking is always an issue in Downtown Las Vegas, as it is usually in every city’s downtown. While there are lots of parking garages, they are the usual dark, dirty caverns, opening awkwardly onto the casino. Not so with Circa. The “Garage Mahal” is located across Main Street from the property, and will be a different experience than any other garage in Las Vegas.

“I’ve been talking about parking for a long, long time,” says Stevens. “I didn’t want to design an average parking garage. Parking garages are generally built with the thought of minimizing costs.

You’ve got low ceilings and inadequate lighting.

When you have to cut costs or reduce overtime, they stop cleaning the garage.

“We wanted to create something where the parking spaces were a little more spacious. We wanted to have great lighting. We wanted to have extreme cleanliness. We wanted to add in music.

We wanted to add in art. We wanted to add in concierges throughout various areas of the garage.

We feel lucky, from a design perspective, that Circa is the very first hotel-casino that I’m aware of, that ever really contemplated ride-sharing into its hotelcasino design.”

Steelman says it’s part of creating an arrival experience unmatched in all of Las Vegas.

“One of the things that we tried to do was to create a ‘wow’ experience in the lobby,” he says.

“When people step from their Uber, at that moment they’d look up at the highest level of the sportsbook. You’re walking in from the garage and seeing our centerpiece. It’s quite an exciting look, and so that was part of the overall planning.”

The bridge over Main Street from Garage Mahal to the casino isn’t as elaborate as Stevens originally envisioned.

“At the end of the day, Derek, together with the Boyd Group (which owns several neighboring casinos), made a wise decision to build a very thin bridge that would allow the respect for Las Vegas 2020 CASINO STYLE 31

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Circa Stadium Swim, with the secondlargest screen in the U.S.

“Our pools won’t close. It’ll be the greatest pool in Las Vegas. It’ll be the greatest pool in America. This will be the greatest pool in the history of the world! That’s what Stadium Swim’s going to be.”

Rooms to Move

sportsbook and the transportation center, are the six pools on various levels on the podium of the building Stadium Swim. The pool experience is always important in a Las Vegas resort, but at Circa it’s the crucial and most visible piece of the entire building.

But designing a pool isn’t the most simple thing. Since Las Vegas has approximately 350 sunny days a year, the way the sun would hit the pool is a very important factor. Steelman says Stevens was intimately involved in those decisions.

“We did sun studies on this pool,” he says, “and we did every day and every hour. Derek actually sat there and watched the entire movie, every day and every hour, multiple times. And it just spins around, and the sun’s going from here to there, to make sure that we weren’t making the screen too tall, or the afternoon sun in the winter would work, and things of this nature.”

Stevens says the pools are the centerpiece of the hotel, and that they are different than any other pool experience in Las Vegas.

“First is really the scale,” he says. “Stadium Swim will be a key feature in Circa Las Vegas, with a capacity of around 4,000. We have the second-largest screen in the U.S. to watch all sports, only behind the screen at AT&T Stadium in Texas. And this is a stadium to watch events and enjoy the sun.

We’ll have programming that will be far more musically orientated throughout most of the day. So, as opposed to us designing a pool as an amenity for a hotel, with 512 rooms and suites, you could almost say our hotel is designed as an amenity to Stadium Swim.”

Another feature unique to Circa will be the year-round nature of the pools. Stevens says he always wondered why the pools in Vegas shut down for months at a time when the weather isn’t really that bad.

“Obviously I’d been out here Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, you know, all throughout the summer,” he says. “But you come out in December, January, the pools are always closed. I always wondered why the pools close in Las Vegas, but they can stay open at Vail, or Park City, or Aspen. For those of you that have been out to a ski resort, whether it’s in northern Michigan or Montana or Utah or Colorado, in December and January, when it’s snowing out and 5 degrees, the pool scene’s a pretty cool scene.

“Our top pools of the upper deck, we can heat them up to 103 degrees.

What we wanted to do is to create a 365-day experience, so that when people come to Circa there’s consistency that pools will be open, and yeah, temperatures are different, but we’ll create a vibe that we’ll be open every night, every day.

32 CASINO STYLE 2020

When Stevens first bought a Vegas property, it wasn’t the most modern property in the city.

“The Golden Gate is the oldest building in the history of Las Vegas,” he says. “1 Fremont Street. And when the Golden Gate was designed in 1904 or 1905, well, the average American wasn’t quite as big as what they are now. You know, the ceiling heights at the Golden Gate sometimes don’t even hit 7 feet.”

And while there were significant renovations at both the Golden Gate and the D, both properties were constrained by space. There are few suites in either hotel. But that’s not the case with Circa.

“We’re going to be heavily weighted on suites,” says Stevens. “We’re going to open with 777 rooms and 60 suites—six two-bedrooms and the rest will be one bedroom. We’ll have a handful of hospitality suites and some bunk rooms, party suites and things like that. We think there’s a certain element where when you have big groups that come out, we’ll let them sleep in a bunk room, but they’ll have a huge living room out front, with a bar, and TVs and couches. We’re excited about this room product, and we’re excited about having far more suites in our mix.

“We’ve done something with design, with much taller ceilings, with much more spacious showers and bathrooms—much taller showerheads, and things like that.”

Even the standard rooms are something special, say Stevens.

“Our average square footage is 450 or 460 square feet,” he says. “We did something from a design perspective—we ran an offset hallway. Our tower runs west to east, and our hallway’s not straight down the middle of the tower.

It’s shaded by about 20 inches to the north, which provides for standard rooms that are a little bit larger to the south than the north. The south, on the lower part of the tower, faces Stadium Swim. And the south on the higher part of the tower gives you the Strip views. We think the rooms are ready for today’s customer, and ready to last for a while.”

Steelman says a lot of other elements went into the tower.

“We wanted a short walk to the rooms,” he says. “We want the elevators to be designated to the customer. We believe in creating not only stratified hotel rooms, or stratified hotel floors on the basis of suites and standard rooms, but also then, those elevators engaging in the podium in the proper sort of way.”

But when you get to the top of the tower, that’s where Circa really shines.

“I think we have captured a view that nobody has,” says Steelman. “I think the view from the Legacy Club on the roof is probably one of the most spectacular views in Las Vegas. I always thought the Stratosphere had a spectacular view, but seeing the Stratosphere from this 400-plus-foot-tall building really empowered us.”

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Covid Conscious When casinos closed in Las Vegas on March 18 and didn’t reopen until June 4, Stevens put procedures in place at his casinos over and above what lots of other casinos have done. At the D, as of September, guests were required to get temperature checks, walk through a metal detector and wear masks. He says the same will go into effect at Circa should the same restrictions be in place.

“All we can really do as operators is continue to follow all the guidelines, all the directives,” he says. “Of course we have to do that. Gaming is a privileged license.

“But we just have to be prepared to adapt quickly. When we reopened, we did something above and beyond, temperature checks at our doors. The regulation is you have to do a temperature check to go to a hotel room. So we temperaturechecked everyone coming in and out. We thought that gave people a sense of greater security. We also felt that it was a safer thing to do.”

With some disturbances occurring on the Las Vegas Strip, Stevens says his casinos strive to keep the guests safe and secure by requiring ID to enter.

“From a security perspective, I think everyone has been adapting as best they can. Our country just wasn’t necessarily ready for the magnitude of what happened, and I think because of the magnitude, everyone in the country is struggling, some from a health perspective, some from a financial perspective, some from a general economic perspective, some from just an isolation and psychological perspective. We hope they can visit us in Las Vegas and give them some relief.”

Legend in the Making Lots of people compare Derek Stevens to the visionary Steve Wynn in his early days, when he was full of ideas, entrepreneurial fire and operational magic. Steelman agrees.

“We have a superstar in the making in Derek Stevens,” he says. “Derek’s vision on this property is unlike anyone else’s. Circa has a unique spin to it.

“When I have my foreign clients here from Vietnam, Cambodia or Macau, or some even from Atlantic City, many times, we go down to Andiamo’s (the Italian restaurant in the D) for dinner, because it’s got a great old Las Vegas feeling. And then we walk up Fremont Street, and they all turn to me and say, ‘Paul, we want this.’ Here’s a little tiny street in Downtown Las Vegas that attracts 24 million people each and every year, and it still resonates. So, one of our unique challenges on this design—and Derek’s challenge, of course—was to design, from the ground up, a facility that was compatible with Fremont Street. And we’ve done that without a doubt.”

Stevens is a little more demure when it comes to his legacy.

“I love operating casinos,” he says. “I love building teams. I like being around our people. I don’t love being a deal-maker. You know, I kind of got thrown into that. I’m not going to back off from numbers or finance, but I don’t love it the way I love teams and love growing businesses. For me, coming here from 2006, with the Golden Gate, to 2011 at the D, and 2014 with the Events Center, I now have a great opportunity to be with a lot more great people that we work with and our guests. And for that, I’m very grateful.

“I am beyond excited to be able to operate and run Circa, for the first year.

We have the first 365 days numerically mapped out. I look forward to operating that way. And then, day 366 to day 730, I can’t wait to see what the second March Madness is going to be like, and the second St. Patrick’s Day, and the second Fourth of July. Because that gives us an opportunity to get better. That’s the stuff that gets me all fired up. When we open, we’re going to have fun, but we always have to get better.”

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The Book Club DraftKings Sportsbook, Resorts Atlantic City

>>

Sportsbooks are the new hot item in casinos, so how do you design a sportsbook that competes, but also complements your app? >> By Dave Bontempo

T

here are places in the United States where one can judge a book by its cover. And its parlays, teases, odds boosts and bonuses that eliminate the vig.

Welcome to the sports-betting surge, a sizzling commodity encompassing roughly half the country. States race to legalize and prioritize this market niche, mimicking the sprawling surge of gaming itself 30 years ago.

The books themselves are not colossal profit centers. But the combined effect of books with bars, gamblers with apps and big-screen sports glorification creates an industry winner. A venue can be tailored to its gambling audience. Big wagers can originate from a small geographic area or a massive open-air room.

Operators consider the upside limitless and the downside limited. Casino Style canvassed leading designers and architects regarding the impact of sports betting on their projects.

Planning for the Mobile Entry “As the industry continues to embrace the activity in creative ways other than just betting online, we’ll see some very innovative applications at casinos,” says HBG Design principal Dike Bacon. “Who knows? A new-generation 34 CASINO STYLE 2020

sports betting customer could be a new customer that the casino doesn’t currently have.”

Bacon believes the package of mobile and brick-and-mortar components can be lucrative for operators.

“Many industry observers think another 15-20 states may pass legislation in 2021, so it’s clearly a rapidly emerging national trend to be capitalized upon,” he says. “What Penn National, Rush Street, and a number of Indian gaming tribes are doing are diverse examples.

“If mobile sports betting is allowed, how can casinos take advantage beyond a traditional sportsbook area? Mobile sports betting at a brickand-mortar facility has the potential to be a social or party-type event (post-Covid, of course) which could be a great opportunity to drive revenue across a lot of other amenity platforms.”

There can be great opportunities to connect land-based premises with online accounts and be able to directly interact with the casino and the various amenities those facilities offer, Bacon asserts. This could create an entertainment experience that is beyond just one physical area like the sportsbooks of old. It could become facility-wide.

“As an example, on-site betting could drive higher-profit F&B sales

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>>“On-site betting could drive higher-profit F&B sales and potentially drive casino play.”

—HBG Design Principal Dike Bacon

One Hill of a Nice Book

and potentially drive casino play,” he indicates. “The key is creatively intersecting amenities like bars or restaurants with televised events. Brick-andSOSH Architects has worked with the biggest operators in this realm, includmortar casinos obviously offer experiences you can’t get on a phone or ing FanDuel, DraftKings, William Hill and PointsBet. It has collaborated on computer terminal.” more than 25 innovating and world-class gaming destinations.

Application of laws varies widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

One of them was the William Hill book at Ocean Casino Resort, an AtWhere betting is currently legal or on the verge of being legalized, HBG lantic City industry leader when it launched in 2018. works with clients to study the impact and opportunity of integration of “When we were in the early planning stages for the William Hill Sportssports betting into larger entertainment experiences and venues. book at Ocean Casino Resort, there was a large tenant space identified in the “A few of our concepts integrate sports betting into the center bar or center of the casino that was ideal to repurpose into a sportsbook,” says Bill into existing restaurants or multi-use venues,” Bacon says. “Instead of havSalerno, principal of SOSH Architects. “Not only because it was in the heart ing a sports betting back room, there is a great opportunity to bring the acof the property, but because it could accommodate a massive amount of A/V tivity right out to the casino floor, or at least adjacent to the floor, and and technology equipment that had to go into it. Within the 7,700 square potentially introduce casino gaming to a new customer. feet of space, we were able to include bar, high top and lounge seating, a 24“Depending on what is allowed in a particular jurisdiction, we will work hour bar and 17-seat slot bar, and a state-of-the-art video wall with over 1,500 with clients to either update existing sportsbook areas, move the activity ensquare feet of high-definition LED screens and 330 square feet of sports ticker. tirely to a new location in the casino or possibly into an existing restaurant, “At Ocean Casino Resort, we wanted to create an attention-grabbing or create an entirely new space. What’s really compelling is the notion that transformation from the existing entertainment tenant space into an exciting sports betting could potentially attract a younger demographic to the casino. and inviting new high-tech, state-of-the-art sportsbook which was more inteSports betting can become an integral part of a total entertainment experigrated into the rest of the casino,” Salerno adds. “The design objective was to ence that appeals to a wide audience, male and female.” provide guests with a Times Square-esque digital experience to view and imWhile sports betting doesn’t generate a lot of revenue by itself, it bemerse themselves in sporting events. Our team took the large space and broke comes a marketing tool, especially when combined with enhanced food and it out into three zones: a wagering counter and general public viewing area, a beverage sales, potential other types of gaming spend, and maybe even an VIP sofa and club chairs area for a comfortable and intimate viewing experiovernight stay. ence, and a center concourse with high-tops as a public gathering space.”

There are sporting events going on somewhere all year long, so there are Michael Mangini, the director of design for SOSH Architects, says the great opportunities to create special event nights, particularly on off nights, size of a sportsbook can range anywhere from 2,500 square feet to 12,000 and promote them as such.

What should the standard book look like now?

“Modern sportsbooks need to be William Hill Sportsbook, Ocean Casino Resort Atlantic City more open and inviting to all demographics and less intimidating,” Bacon says. “Betting can be more fun and attractive to a much broader customer base if it’s social and communal. This means the creation of larger areas that include open seating or areas with pods, with tables that allow food and bar service but still meet distancing guidelines.

“In a post-Covid era, there may be plenty of underutilized spaces and square footage in a resort. Operators will be looking for new activities or uses for these spaces, and the creation of a modern and entertaining sportsbook could be one of the best.”

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>> “It’s critical that sportsbooks keep up-to-date on trends and keep the latest technology and apps incorporated into their interactive experience.”

—Bill Salerno, Principal, SOSH Architects

Books Get Bigger and Better

square feet, depending on the operator and the location. A casino book space Brett Ewing, principal with Cuningham Group, has a cutting-edge will vary in size from a stadium sportsbook, for example, and have different pro- overview of the industry. The marriage between casino gambling and program requirements. A larger space can include more amenities like retail, food fessional sports leagues has opened a financial spigot. and beverage, whereas a smaller space can be more digitally driven. It depends Advancements in betting, display, seating and mobile technologies have greatly on budget and the goals of the client. led to the creation of modern, comfortable sportsbook spaces with ameni“The design (at Ocean Resort Casino) was developed with the intention of a ties appealing to the increasingly diverse casino attendee base. These venues quick construction turnaround—selecting custom FF&E and materials that had will be entertainment-based, immersive environments—sports theater, he fast deliveries—so the venue could be up and running as soon as possible after believes. the sports betting legislation was passed in New Jersey,” he says. “The construc“Online betting platforms are growing rapidly, and casino owners are tion took approximately 12 weeks with an all-in budget of about $10 million.” embracing their popularity,” Ewing asserts. “Many operators have already Shortly after books like this came into play, mobile betting changed this dy- teamed up with or created their own platforms. Analysts predict this namic. Most patrons bet on their phones. Some brick-and-mortar facilities usage will increase as sports leagues restart during Covid-19. In response to throughout Atlantic City have been negatively impacted, because customers this growing popularity, on-site sportsbooks are expanding services, as don’t want to wait in line. well.”

“Mobile phones and the brick-and-mortar venues work hand in hand,” According to Ewing, the upgrades in many sportbooks include personal Salerno asserts. “Mobile betting came first with fantasy sports before brick-andLED terminals with high-definition resolution, state-of-the-art odds boards mortar sportsbooks began popping up. Once sports betting legislation was that constantly update and offer opportunities for in-game live wagers, and passed, many states required bets to be placed in land-based venues. new full-service bars, ticket windows, and ultra-comfortable seating and “There are three ways to place a bet within a venue, and they’re all imporVIP areas with their own dedicated theatrical spaces. Operators are also detant: mobile devices, betting kiosks, and teller winveloping new player incentive programs online dows,” Mangini adds. “The sportsbook venues we and in-house. design include and support all of these methods. It’s What about the role sportsbooks play in a also important to include a space for advocates to property? They could be teamed up with bars or talk to and educate players, some of which are new to become stand-alone entities. betting. This also gives the operator an opportunity “Due to state approvals and the convergence of to capture the player’s information and keep them operator-based betting platforms, sportsbooks are coming back.” earning a lot more attention from owners,” Ewing Mangini indicates that the sportsbook look deindicates. “Players are utilizing the technology at a pends on the operator, the location and the guest exvery high rate, and sports betting is making a much perience they want to deliver. He notices a trend of faster recovery than other types of gambling; theremore preference toward expanding amenities to be fore, it makes sense that owners will continue to inclusive and interactive, such as food and drink ofparlay that popularity into other areas of their propferings, retail, and participatory games and events erties. We have owners that are looking at both like cornhole, bowling alleys and virtual driving stand-alone venues and venues incorporated into ranges. By incorporating more participatory events food-and-beverage solutions.” and creating an entertainment destination complex, Cuningham has blended these concepts into guests will likely stay longer beyond the game. design for two properties, not named for confidenSalerno sees the sportsbook-operator marriage as tiality purposes. an evolving dynamic.

One location fashions a simpler integration of “New advances in technology are happening as a casino bar and a grab-‘n’-go deli where the sports we speak,” he says. “It’s critical that sportsbooks keep element both centers and ties the venues together up-to-date on trends and keep the latest technology with state-of-the-art audio and video. The other and apps incorporated into their interactive experiproperty will be a new, stand-alone sportsbook bar —Brett Ewing, Principal, ence to keep betting simple and easy for their guests and restaurant within a repurposed space. That Cuningham Group to use. The technology of the sportsbook drives the venue will have a great outdoor space associated architecture and design.” with it as well.

>> “Players are utilizing

the technology at a very high rate and sports betting is making a much faster recovery than other types of gambling.”

36 CASINO STYLE 2020

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>> “The goal is to provide the most options and opportunities for wagering.”

—Nick Schoenfeldt, Vice President and Principal, TBE Architects

Embracing a New Age JCJ architect Mike Larson says sportsbook venues vary greatly depending on the client, the property, and the environment. The traditional, large sportsbooks of Las Vegas are not what the industry is seeing now, as both the experience and technology driving those spaces has changed.

“We’re mainly seeing two types of scenarios playing out,” he says.

“First is a venue with sports betting that looks and feels much more like a food-and-beverage lounge. They are often fit out with amenities such as sporting activities and buy-out spaces for small to mid-sized groups, with components like private TVs, sound, and video gaming consoles.

“The second scenario is deployment of sports betting technology across the properties in the form of betting kiosks. Both speak to the future of sports betting, which is one that is fully integrated into how the customer experiences the game and the property.

“That can take many forms, whether it’s convenience betting for the guests, or the ability to combine sports betting with other revenue-generating activities such as food and beverage, buy-out events, or traditional gaming.”

Regardless of what style is selected, some design elements are consistent, according to Larson.

“While this will depend largely on the property and their goals, it will all start with creating a beautiful, distinctive and exciting space that supports great service,” he indicates. “Sightlines to the screens are of the utmost importance. You also want to establish various seating types and zones to give options to both guests and operations. These zones and seating types should always create complementary energy, while servicing the range of customers—whether those are bar patrons, traditional race bettors, or small or large groups.

“And since watching sports is often a communal activity, we really wel-

come the opportunity to create comfortable small group spaces where people can enjoy games with friends, food, and fun. All the details that you can work into these spaces can go far in making sure the guests have a memorable experience, which is one of the most important ways we define a successful project.

“We’ve done group spaces that include things like USB power ports, drink holders, tabletop interactive gaming, dedicated/multiple video screens, and tuned audio specifically for that zone.”

Larger group spaces are also an interesting aspect in that these areas will also enter the property’s group sales inventory, he asserts. Sporting events have long been a place where companies entertain. These spaces are the natural evolution of that, and can give tremendous opportunity to both the event host and the property—especially now that in-person attendance at sporting events is much harder to come by, he notes.

JCJ has worked on a couple of new projects in Mississippi. The rich sports culture in this region brought a tremendous amount of excitement from the sports community, and was well-received, he says.

Larson indicates that as sports betting becomes more prevalent across the nation, JCJ works with many gaming clients to convert existing spaces into sportsbook experiences which expand and complement their current offerings.

The company also has several clients in states where sports betting has yet to pass regulatory approvals. In those instances, JCJ is creating multi-faceted spaces designed to serve as sportsbooks at the appropriate time so they are well-positioned to move quickly once that approval takes place.

Where is the industry going?

“I think the keyword here is integration,” he says. “We’re going to see sports betting become more deeply integrated in all aspects of the property—whether that be an integrated resort or a regional casino property. While we’re seeing a lot of specific efforts to bring sports betting online in terms of venues and functional sportsbooks, down the road this will be a product offering that will come up in all project types in terms of how sports betting may be integrated. It’s all about giving the customer a seamless, convenient and fun experience.”

Multi-Faceted Approach

Golden Nugget Atlantic City Sportsbook

38 CASINO STYLE 2020

Nick Schoenfeldt, vice president and principal at Thalden Boyd Emery Architects, says the company’s Native American and corporate clients are planning for the inevitability of sports betting. His advice: prepare the space ahead of time. This is especially important prior to an NFL season.

“To the majority of our clients, sports betting is simply another amenity to add to their integrated resort,” he says. “Everyone is planning for one because they all want to be ready. Many of the well-informed operators we communicate with understand the limitations and the risks associated with a sportsbook.

“With an average profit of between 3 percent and 4 percent, the amenity needs to be paired with another, more consistent revenue generator. We are seeing a lot of sports bar concepts surrounding the sports bet to bring a consistent level of activity to the area and to energize to crowd. The ability to crossuse the monitors and televisions saves on A/V costs, which have gotten very capital-intensive.”

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Schoenfeldt says TBE’s typical sportsbook has been used in conjunction with a food-and-beverage venue. This helps generate additional revenue from the sportsbook during off hours. The screens and A/V connections can easily be justified if two functions are using the hardware, he says.

Phones are definitely a tool of convenience, but a well-designed sportsbook creates an atmosphere of enthusiasm and team spirit. For operators, it’s all about finding a balance of creating high-energy guest experiences and maximizing potential profitability.

Each book takes on a unique personality.

“Having designed a sportsbook for some of the largest ‘off-Strip’ gaming players, each sportsbook has taken on a unique feel. In certain areas, the ‘vintage’ feels or design direction combined with the technology of a modern sportsbook gives a nod and a wink to the unsavory past of illicit betting and the sleek technology of the 21st century,” he says.

“Novice guests respond well to the ability to follow the action before venturing into the full world of sports betting.

“For the dedicated sports bettor, we provide an area which encourages full immersion of the guest into the sensory world of sports betting. If it be horse racing, European football, or North American Football, the guest has the ability to view everything available. The same monitors, sound equipment and information are available to the intermittent wagerer as the casual observer who might happen to be enjoying the F&B in the area. Sports betting can be intimidating to

those not familiar with it.”

Schoenfeldt says that while many people have a mental image of the intensity with which a middle-aged man bets, many women and younger guests who are sports enthusiasts can also be enticed to participate.

“The goal is to provide the most options and opportunities for wagering,” he says. “The built environment can do this by being warm and comfortable. Very high technology harmonized with familiar touchpoints to reassure the guest ensure the best possible experience. This is one place where the supporting role of food and beverage needs to move away from the traditional quantity and focus more on a quality product.”

Sportsbooks may not fit the classic evaluation of revenue per square foot. He says operators need the option of incorporating the book venue into a lesser-used bar or another area, providing flexibility.

“With Covid-19 restrictions in place for the foreseeable future, space is a premium you cannot afford to waste,” he says. “Operators don’t have to start with the biggest and best A/V equipment. By introducing the sports betting kiosks into an existing sports bar or other bar that has a lot of televisions, a functional sportsbook can easily be accomplished in most facilities.

“As the sports betting appeals to a broader base, operators can then reinvest in bigger and better A/V. This is something that needs to be monitored closely, as each casino will look to meet the demands of slightly different populations and demographics.”

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BUILT to LAST Casino designers, furniture suppliers and the FF&E purchasers that put gaming interiors together face new challenges in the Covid-19 era

By Frank Legato

D

espite the fact that the casino industry came to a grinding halt for nearly three months due to the Covid-19 crisis, many casino-hotel design, construction and expansion projects soldiered on. Consequently, the vendors that supply those projects have had to adjust their game plans to deal with the new normal forced by the pandemic.

The pandemic has, in particular, affected the nuts and bolts of casino design, which is the FF&E plan—furniture, fixtures and equipment.

The fundamentals, of course, remain the same. “The main criterion for FF&E is really just going to be function,” says Carl Long, senior vice president of Purchasing Management International (PMI), one of the companies charged with gathering and managing FF&E for a number of large projects, including the new Circa in Downtown Las Vegas. “The furnishings in a casino environment are used and abused, and heavily used. So, you need to go with reputable manufacturers. You need to be able to stand up to the rigors of a casino environment.”

That applies to each individual part of the FF&E plan, down to the chairs in which the players will sit. “First and foremost is comfort,” says Joe Esposito, CEO of furniture supplier Gary Platt Manufacturing. “At Gary Platt, we have spent years researching player habits, and we have found that when players are comfortable, they stay and enjoy the game longer. That’s why we developed our proprietary blend of foam that operators and players worldwide consider to be the most comfortable in, sit test after sit test...

Our design team is filled with experts who also employ the latest developments in ergonomics in every chair model they create.”

‘Theater of Clean’

Tesla by Gary Platt

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But in what is increasingly being identified as the Covid-19 era, ergonomic considerations are necessarily blended with the need for furniture to be cleaned and sanitized regularly.

“Pre-Covid, everybody was just trying to get more excitement,” says Long. “We’re working on the Circa in Downtown Las Vegas. It was the first new-construction hotel or casino in Downtown Las Vegas, and that’s a big deal, given the focus, but that was pre-Covid; that was the new thing. It was exciting, and people want to be part of what’s new.

“And now, post-Covid, people want to be part of what’s clean. And so, we’ve started talking a lot around here about the ‘theater of clean.’ How do you communicate about your gaming facility, your slot chairs, your gaming chairs, your gaming tables—how are you clean? And how are you protect-

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Lifescapes International has tailored the use of outdoor seating to Covid-19 distancing requirements

ing your employees, your customers? So, the trend on furnishings is using cleanable fabrics.”

One of the models being followed in this effort is the health care setting. “Those fabrics can basically withstand anything,” Long says, “and they’re anti-microbial—they actually don’t promote the growth of things in them, whereas other fabrics do. So, we’re seeing more and more of a trend toward that type of fabric. But what makes it difficult is they’re not as pretty. Think of a hos—Andrew Kreft, Director of Design, pital. When you go to a hospital and sit in the waiting Lifescapes International room, it’s not the glitziest-looking fabric.”

Long says one of the biggest challenges for furniture manufacturers is to combine anti-microbial fabrics with the classy look required for casino usage. “There are companies that do accept “In today’s challenging environment, casinos want to be careful with their the challenge, and the interior designers will work towards getting that type capital spend and ensure they are getting value for their money,” notes Esposof spec, looking at those manufacturers, to be able to meet those standards. ito.

“To that end, durability becomes more important every day, because casiSo, those are questions that we ask our fabric companies. What fabrics do nos want their chairs to last long into the future. you use that are used in health care settings? Can you make that fabric in this “Of course, in the current pandemic, safety is paramount. We are partnerstyle? Can you get that design?” ing with fabric suppliers to recommend the safest, easiest-to-clean fabrics for Long says senior living facilities provide another model for this combinacasinos.

In addition, we have developed cleaning protocol to share with our tion in seating materials. “If you look at senior living, you’ll see a shift to customers to ensure our chairs are also the safest on the market.” more hospitality design, more comfortable design. They had started that, but Another area of casino design that is affecting FF&E in the Covid-19 era it had never been used in casinos. It’s the durability that’s needed in a casino. is the outdoor venue.

As more casinos turn to outdoor amenities for a safer alThe rough and tumble, we’re going to sit there, we’re going to spill a drink ternative during the pandemic, planning for these areas continues to evolve. on it every 10 minutes. We’re going to to abuse it, 24/7.”

“With the impact on attendance at casino resorts due to Covid-19, design Manufacturers like Gary Platt are meeting this challenge, which in considerations have to include quantities of chaise lounges for the pool areas,” today’s environment goes along with catering to casino properties with signifsays Andrew Kreft, director of design for landscape architects Lifescapes Intericantly trimmed capital budgets.

“This (effort) is ongoing, and our designers are constantly educating themselves about new products and technologies.”

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“We help players feel comfortable in the casino, whether that’s at the slot or the table. That may sound simplistic; however, it is perhaps the most important service we provide. The research is very clear that when players are comfortable, they play longer. That makes what we do at Gary Platt extremely important.”

—Joe Esposito, CEO, Gary Platt Manufacturing national. “Reduction by 25-30 percent may be necessary for social distancing.

However, if the need for outdoor patios at restaurants increases, there may be more attention spent on outdoor furniture, and also indoor furniture to accommodate customers that wish to be inside, but may require comfortable and socially distanced areas for small group interactions.”

These needs also may require rethinking the design of the chairs themselves. “Single chaise lounges that are light and stackable have always been important to allow for an easy transition to open up the decks for other uses in the off-season, but more and more operators prefer to have other seating configurations that can provide for tiered monetization,” says Kreft.

“Seating that holds two or even four people from the same social or family group on one larger chaise or bed allows for a tier of offerings above the single chaise, but below the full cabana. This opportunity will more than likely be even more advantageous with social distancing.”

Savannah Poker by Gary Platt

2020 Reality While there are projects like Circa, the Cordish Pennsylvania properties and others that have soldiered on through the Covid-19 shutdowns, this year’s new reality with respect to design projects and the furnishings at the heart of them all boils down to capital budgets.

Designers, FF&E planners and suppliers are dealing with budgets strained from consecutive zero-revenue months for the operators. The chain of this revenue strain travels to the contractors, suppliers and designers that depend on operators being able to wield those capital budgets.

“Long gone are the days of, ‘We’re going to make Revel,’ or ‘We’re going to build Borgata,’” says PMI’s Long. “The idea of working within a constrained budget to meet the goals is really at the forefront. Everybody right now is dealing with a mess of cash burn, but they still have to renovate. They still have to build.”

For FF&E aggregators like PMI, that means not only laying out plans to suit today’s budget, but providing backup plans to save money later. “We do a process called conceptual budgeting, where we work with the owner, work with the designer, and establish budget goals,” says Long. “We establish itemized budget allowances for everything on the project. It defines scope, it sets boundaries for the design team, and it lets the owner have a predictable anticipated cash flow. And you do that by being informed with current market prices, and changes in the supply chain.”

Long adds that keeping an eye on market prices can prevent surprises down the road, if the furniture purchase lags behind other elements of a design project. “If you didn’t plan for (the pricing) in the beginning, all of a sudden when you go to buy it you’re stuck, and you can’t actually afford it,” he says. “If the designer designed something that was out of your budget, you’ve wasted time on design. So, really collaborating early on in the process

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Gary Platt Lugano

Healthy Plan Fabrics by Gary Platt

TGGfullpage2021_Layout 1 10/20/20 1:54 PM Page 1

A

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“The idea of working within a constrained budget to meet the goals is really at the forefront. Everybody right now is dealing with a mess of cash burn, but they still have to renovate.”

—Carl Long, Senior Vice President, Purchasing Management International

for budget guidance, and for schedule guidance, is critical, because with the starts and stops we’ve seen, and with some of the trade uncertainty that exists in our market currently, things take longer. Component parts take longer to find.”

Along with that goes a bit of future-proofing of the supply, so operators can be nimble when replacements are required. According to Long, the larger operators maintain an inventory of replacement chairs allowing quick on-site change-outs that minimize machine downtime.

Lifescapes’ Kreft says one key to surviving this year has been a constant effort to adapt to the new needs brought on not only by restrained budgets, but by the pandemic itself.

“This (effort) is ongoing, and our designers are constantly educating themselves about new products and technologies,” Kreft says. “We often bring in vendor representatives for ‘lunch and learn’ seminars to gain more insight into the uses of their products.”

“Innovation is key to our success, and our design is constantly in a state of renewal,” says Esposito at Gary Platt. “As design tastes change and evolve, Gary Platt’s design team is perpetually changing and improving our line of chairs. We introduce several new models every year to our mix. Our greatest strength is our ability to adapt to changing market conditions, design trends, and casino requests, and still carefully handcraft the most comfortable, durable chairs on the market.

“Customization will continue to be a crucial aspect of the business. As casinos become more careful with their spends in today’s challenging environment, they want value and differentiation to separate them from their competition. Gary Platt will continue to work directly with each casino to develop the best solution for their future.”

Kreft says the coming months are likely to see a continuation of close attention to cost as operators carefully resume capital expenditures for property improvements, including new furnishings. “With cost considerations at the forefront of the market, we foresee a very cautious approach to purchasing any FF&E for existing projects unless it pertains to design changes resulting from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Kreft says.

“For new projects, there will be further discussions about the type of furnishings and space planning required for customers still concerned about the pandemic and its psychological and physical implications on their customers.

“Outdoor furniture design itself will have to come under scrutiny to see how its material makeup and design can be cleaned and disinfected easily, if not inhibit germs, between guests. Common use items like waste/recycling containers, towels bins, etc., will also need to transition to a touchless arrangement with automatically closing covers so guests do not have to come in contact with doors.”

PMI’s Long adds that the pandemic, and the need to return to full operations safely, will actually have a positive effect on the overall future of the in44 CASINO STYLE 2020

dustry. “It’s going to drive the older facilities to need to renovate,” he says.

“Whether or not the current owners can do that remains to be seen. But that will create opportunity for either acquisition or reuse by another operator or owner.

“The arrangement of the product—meaning the gaming floor and F&B venues—will change. But it’s going to come back on an individual, drivable place. Where we see the biggest challenge is going to be conventions. And the large convention center facilities, where you have to have 8,000 or 10,000 people come through to make it work, those are going to take a little bit longer. Because you can’t get through those volumes of people presently. People are anxious.

“That is really going to drive, operationally, how a hotel, how a casino interacts with their guest. Make them feel safe, make them feel clean. Make it obvious that it’s clean. And translating that into furnishings, is it cleanable? Can it stand up to chemicals? Can it stand up to a deeper scrub than normal? Will a metal finish wear off?”

It’s all addressed at the beginning of each project, and the key to success is finding the right vendors to address each element, right down to how comfortable a chair is.

“We help players feel comfortable in the casino, whether that’s at the slot or the table,” says Gary Platt’s Esposito. “That may sound simplistic; however, it is perhaps the most important service we provide. The research is very clear that when players are comfortable, they play longer. That makes what we do at Gary Platt extremely important.

“Operators rely on us to help them increase their bottom line, and we take that responsibility seriously. We are continually researching new developments in design and ergonomics that help players feel comfortable wherever they decide to play.”

“As landscape architects, we are focused on guest experience on the exterior as well as interior environments,” says Kreft at Lifescapes International. “Restaurants will continue to expand their space to exterior patios largely to accommodate social distancing and to provide a sense of comfort and safety to customers.

“These spaces not only help guests feel more relaxed, they create unique and special environments which are appreciated by casino customers/visitors. It is also important that we consider creating flexible-use areas that can be used for pool, entertainment and food/beverage so that spaces can be easily put to a new use depending on the time of day, season or social distancing need.”

PMI’s Long sees a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. “I think that the gaming side is going to come back strong, because people want to do stuff; people are tired of being cooped up,” he says. “And so the gaming operators that are able to space correctly, use the theater of clean, and actually have new product—they’re going to be attractive.”

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Food Porn and Saving the Buffet Solutions to your Covid F&B problems

W

e can argue about vaccines and the calendar all day, but in the end we will come out of this and changes will need to be made.

Offering less and expecting more is not realistic as we reopen the country. There will be obvious health concerns, but the bigger issue that no one is addressing is the new level of spend of our customers.

If you live in Las Vegas, you observe empty fine dining establishments that are open for business, closed buffets and nightlife venues.

We need new ideas. You can’t just reopen with limited offerings, menus and seating. People’s expectations are still high. You still need to attract and WOW them; that will not change. A celebrity chef or national brand is not going to save you. You all need to come up with new ideas.

The Buffet

Buffets are used generally as a marketing tool, with either over-the-top offerings or a discounting program for player card holders. The true essence is “food porn”—an overwhelming display of goodies. Unfortunately, they have a lot of breakdowns in perceived health safety. They also require a lot of space.

The Solution

Can you turn your food service line into a food hall? Each station can become its own offering with fresh food display, prepackaged to-go goods and its own pay station. Use pre-paid cards (or phones) so no cash is exchanged. The food porn aspect still exists, with even more impressive displays. Staff limitations can be monitored. The large seating areas can be thinned out or simple musical entertainment can be added, as they usually open to the gaming areas and will add energy to the casino as well.

Fine Dining

Existing fine dining establishments will be fighting for their lives as the customer base that can afford these offerings will shrink. Whether it’s reduced spending, travel or lack of savings, their core customer will be less.

By Paul Heretakis

The Solution

Show the people you care about them and you are sympathetic to their limited financial position.

Open for lunch and offer specials like you do during popular dining weeks. Offer an entertainment option like an old-fashioned supper club seating later in the evenings. How about a late-night comedy club entertainment option? As a complement to the last seating, offer specialty desserts, drinks, cigars, etc., to extend the late-night fun. You have all this space that’s closed more hours than it’s opened. Expand your hours, expand your offerings—keep the register running longer.

Some of these fine-dining restaurants will need to change their format; there are too many at a high price point. Change the format. Even if I have less money, I still believe I’m special (my mother tells me so). I still want VIP experiences. Can the closed steakhouse become a VIP sportsbook offering with presold tables with locked-in pricing tied to various sports events? I can still feel special, but I also know how much the experience will cost me.

Fast Casual

For the regional casinos that don’t rely upon food and beverage to drive visitation, Covid has helped you. You’ve closed high-operational-cost buffets and fine dining offerings. Your fast casual offerings have excelled. People view them as being a cleaner exchange of food delivery. These changes have driven your profit margin through the roof. If you’re in a destination casino resort, you have a lot of decisions to make.

The Solution

A more “pop-up” approach should be considered.

The fast casual offering is very tenuous in our fadhappy society. Baja-fresh, burgers and design-yourown pizza concepts have dominated the market, and have disappeared just as quickly. Shorter leases will warrant a lower rent, but that will give you the ability to stay relevant with your offerings. New offerings need to fold into the casino lifestyle better. Can they offer room service delivery options? Promote more app-friendly ordering solutions. There are less moving parts with fast casual, and you can control the environment better. But that’s not an excuse to

get lazy and offer a bad experience. Efficient, fresh, healthy, clean and safe must be the goal, but you still need to exceed expectations and be memorable.

Conventions

The future of the convention business is in shambles. Large-scale conventions that Las Vegas, Orlando and a few other cities compete for are on hold. But for every big show there are 1,000 small shows that accommodate 50 to 200 people, and they are booked in multiple hotels across the country. You need to reinvent and dominate that market.

The Solution

Can you have these smaller conventions in your fine-dining restaurants during the day? Imagine having a convention in a Puck restaurant on Monday, Giada on Tuesday and finishing out at Ramsey’s on Wednesday. Now that’s a convention and an offering few can compete with. You have all of these names and more under one roof.

Set up a great A/V system, a small stage, and you can reinvent the business. Save two business segments in one move. What else can you do with all of those closed restaurants, lounges, bars, theaters and nightclubs? Let’s get creative—that DNA is at the core of the casino industry. Do you have it?

Covid excuses are over. Don’t laugh at these ideas and poke holes in them. Turn your cynicism into optimism. Use them as inspiration for your own ideas. You can’t afford to do nothing or pull back on the dream to save money. People go to a casino to escape reality. We need to offer them unique experiences. It will be more competitive than ever to attract customers and their money.

Bring it! Earn your pay and deliver creative solutions to a new world. Give them something to desire. I’ve acted—I’ve laid down the gauntlet.

It’s your turn now!

Paul Heretakis, RA, vice president of Westar Architects, has over 15 years of experience overseeing hospitality design and mixed-use, master-planning projects throughout the world. Heretakis can be contacted at pheretakis@wagnarchitects.com.

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STYLE STYLE SPOTLIGHT

Destinations by Design

BERGMAN, WALLS & ASSOCIATES

B

ergman Walls & Associates is a global architecture and interior design firm specializing in destination design for the casino gaming, entertainment and hospitality industries. Since 1994, BWA’s mission has been to provide the highest level of individualized design services, while realizing the owner’s vision and business objectives.

BWA’s design team has extensive experience conceptualizing, master planning and designing entertainment, hospitality, mixed-use and gaming projects, ranging from intimate boutique restaurants to entire mega-resorts. Additionally, BWA’s interior design studio works closely with clients to develop dynamic environments, from traditional to trend-setting, creating value-added revenue generation opportunities while exceeding guest expectations.

BWA’s projects include Caesars Palace Las Vegas, Paris Resort and Casino, the LINQ Hotel + Experience and renovations to 5,000-plus rooms at Caesars Palace, Paris Resort and Planet Hollywood Las Vegas hotels.

BWA’s tribal gaming experience includes Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians (Morongo Resort & Spa), Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (Apache Casino Hotel), Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (Mystic Lake Casino), Swinomish Tribe (Swinomish Casino and Hotel), Barona Band of Mission Indians (Barona Valley Ranch Resort/Casino), Snoqualmie Tribe

(Snoqualmie Casino), and Muckleshoot Tribe (Muckleshoot Casino).

Designing for the gaming, entertainment and hospitality industries requires in-depth understanding of the functional, operational, economic and aesthetic considerations behind each. With more than a quarter-century experience with every project type, BWA has helped clients plan, design and renovate the projects that have kept their properties on the map as destinations of choice.

From the moment guests arrive, their experience is BWA’s responsibility— from configuring access to the property to setting the ambiance and creating moments that enhance their enjoyment and bring them back again.

To find out more about how BWA brings project vision and guest experiences to life, visit bwaltd.com.

Outstanding Energized Spaces and Amenities CUNINGHAM GROUP

C

uningham Group, an international design firm founded in 1968, and Full Circle Indigenous Planning, a Native American-owned design firm, understand the gaming industry’s shifting demographics. In response, they create award-winning gaming resorts and entertainment venues that meet their clients’ needs.

Cuningham Group helps clients evolve their facilities to feature dynamic gaming and entertainment experiences that attract guests of all ages. Together, Cuningham Group and Full Circle implement an integrated approach and use cutting-edge technology to design energized spaces and amenities that stand out in competitive markets.

Emerald Queen Casino: Culture Meets Design

The new Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington balances the eyecatching flash of a Las Vegas-style resort with memorable references to Puyallup tribal culture. The 310,000-square-foot facility, opened June 8, relocates the tribe’s existing gaming operations to a highly visible site along Interstate 5.

The design and integration of Emerald Queen Casino into Tacoma’s urban infrastructure sets a groundbreaking precedent for the future of gaming. Due to site and infrastructure constraints, the gaming floor and amenities are strategically placed four levels above the ground floor, spanning over two city streets and supported structurally by two parking garages. This ap46 CASINO STYLE 2020

proach creates a breathtaking building that is highly visible from the highway and provides panoramic views to downtown and to the culturally significant Mount Rainier and Puget Sound.

The Cuningham Group and Full Circle design team also closely collaborated with Puyallup cultural leaders to develop an interior design concept that draws influence from the textures, shapes and colors of the mountain, river, forests and sounds that define Puyallup tribal land. Traditional and contemporary Puyallup art, cultural patterns and language adorn the casino.

The casino also distinguishes itself among the major players in the gaming industry by incorporating large windows and daylighting into the gaming floor, maintaining guests’ connection with nature and providing sweeping views of Mount Ranier, Puget Sound and downtown Tacoma.

For more information, visit cuningham.com.

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Performance Casino Seating GARY PLATT MANUFACTURING

F

or more than 20 years, Gary Platt Manufacturing has been the world’s leading provider of performance casino seating. The design team has more than 50 years of experience in providing products with unsurpassed comfort and excellence. Gary Platt produces premium seating for casinos on five continents and creates chairs for slots, table games, poker, bar-top, bingo and hospitality.

The Gary Platt design team never stops inventing, never stops innovating. Helping the company’s customers is the focus of every Gary Platt team member, so operators can keep their players comfortable with Gary Platt’s proprietary foam and innovative ergonomic designs. The design team is known for innovation and creativity, in chair creation and customization.

Because of that, team members always are on the lookout for interesting and inventive upholstery and fabrications.

The Gary Platt design team is constantly thinking of ways to provide unsurpassed comfort, safety and durability to help customers succeed. Over the last several months, in addition to the company’s continual handcrafting of casino and hospitality seating, Gary Platt actively sought out partnerships to help customers in the new world of the pandemic. As a result, the company recently introduced its newest partnership, the Healthy Play line of upholstery.

Gary Platt recently was issued U.S. Patent Number D861405 for the Tesla chair design, adding another patent to the collection the company al-

ready has received for innovative designs. Previously, Gary Platt received U.S. Patent Number D829458 for its Monaco chair design, which stands alongside the Tesla as one of the best-selling casino chairs worldwide. Earlier, the company received U.S. Patent Number D847549 for its Epic Frame, known globally for its versatility and durability.

For more information, visit garyplatt.com.

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STYLE SPOTLIGHT

Designing Experience HBG DESIGN

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BG Design has been pioneering the creation of imaginative and transformative guest experiences for more than 40 years. As a Top 5 hospitality and entertainment design firm in the U.S., their team of 100 architects, interior designers and building professionals in Memphis, Tennessee and San Diego, California share a passion for making design stories come to life by shaping physical space and connecting people to place.

HBG Design translates market influences, brand, culture, original storytelling, sustainability and wellness concepts into inspired hospitality and entertainment design for its esteemed clients, which include commercial hospitality and entertainment giants such as Caesars Entertainment, Oaklawn Racing & Gaming, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Hyatt Hotels and Hilton Hotels, and more than 45 Indian gaming enterprises.

As the industry collectively navigates a new era of wellness and safety needs, HBG Design is on the forefront in the development of creative design solutions that will lead to overall healthier and safer environments for guests. The HBG Design team has been steadily working with clients to reimagine the casino and hotel experience, through innovative design strategies where the first touch point for every guest provides a sense of well-being, both physically and mentally.

HBG Design’s in-house team of architects and interior designers works sideby-side to approach hospitality and entertainment design as a collaborative, cohesive process, as showcased in the firm’s recent and upcoming project openings.

Each design brings to life a vibrant concept uniquely tailored to the owner’s specific vision.

For the new 459-room hotel and resort expansion at Cache Creek Casino 48 CASINO STYLE 2020

Resort, in Brooks, California outside Sacramento, designers drew contextual influences from the region’s agrarian landscape brimming with wine vineyards and olive and almond orchards. The result is an upscale and sophisticated four-diamond resort hotel design that fits beautifully against the natural, serene backdrop of the picturesque Capay Valley.

The new 1.2-million-square-foot Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Resort in Glendale, Arizona offers guests a multi-sensory experience rooted in the inspiration of the dynamic Sonoran Desert landscape. On the 75,000-squarefoot casino floor, dozens of illuminated overhead fins dazzle with sparkling colors whenever a jackpot is hit. Among the amenities are five uniquely designed restaurants and two eye-catching feature bars—the Edge Bar and the two-story Rock Bar. At Sycuan Casino Resort in El Cajon, California the firm’s $226 million, 500,000-square-foot expansion features a 300-room hotel tower and striking new casino and food and beverage amenities, creating an array of revenue-generating opportunities that fulfill a need for more distinct cross-generational experiences.

HBG Design celebrates the recent opening of the new Canopy by Hilton hotel in Memphis, designed to integrate vibrantly into the downtown entertainment scene just steps from the famed Peabody Hotel and historic Beale Street. In the coming months, HBG Design eagerly anticipates project openings of the Oaklawn Racing and Gaming hotel and casino expansion in Hot Springs, Arkansas and the Hyatt Centric at One Beale hotel in Memphis.

For more information, visit hbg.design.

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STYLE SPOTLIGHT Market-Leading Sportsbook Experience KAMBI

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ith a range of partners including Penn National Gaming, Seneca Gaming Corporation and Rush Street Interactive, Kambi is the industry’s leading independent provider of sports betting and technology services, powering more than 20 operators on six continents.

Through its data-driven sportsbook core and flexible technology, Kambi not only provides a market-leading land-based and online sportsbook experience, but acts as an incubator for operator innovation and differentiation.

Coupled with a wide range of empowerment tools, enabling operators to control crucial player-facing elements, Kambi has built an impressive track record of springboarding visionary sportsbooks to success across the globe.

Kambi’s fully managed services encompass a broad offering, from frontend user interface and odds-compiling to customer intelligence and risk management, built on and delivered through a robust, in-house-developed software platform.

The Kambi sportsbook has been proven to elevate the whole casino’s bottom line, helping to enhance returns across gaming and hospitality and

future-proofing growth by attracting a new generation of player.

The Kambi kiosk has proved transformative to how players like to bet in the U.S. With more than 600 kiosks in operation across the country, they generate more than 75 percent of wagers at partners’ casinos.

Furthermore, Kambi’s unique Bring-Your-Own-Device technology allows bettors to view lines and construct bets anywhere, before placing them at the casino, simply by scanning a QR code—thus enabling on-property sports wagering to be conducted in a contactless manner.

Integral to Kambi’s work is its long history in sports trading and dedication to the highest levels of corporate probity and sports integrity. Listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm First North, Kambi operates in an ethical manner, ensuring business only is conducted in markets where gambling is not prohibited, and employing sophisticated risk processes to detect signs of sports manipulation at the earliest of stages.

Kambi’s team is made up of more than 850 sports fans across seven global locations, including a fast-growing Philadelphia office which opened in early 2019.

For more information, contact kambi.com.

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True Innovation Beyond Simplicity LG BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

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G Business Solutions serves commercial display customers in the U.S. lodging and hospitality, transportation, retail, systems integration, health care, education, government and industrial markets.

With a foundation in technology innovation and a wide range of digital signage solutions, LG Business Solutions offers cutting-edge features and modern design, while delivering an exceptional viewing experience to enhance audience engagement.

Based in Lincolnshire, Illinois, with a dedicated engineering and customer support team, LG Business Solutions delivers business-to-business technology solutions tailored to the particular needs of virtually every business environment.

For more information, visit lgsolutions.com.

Rewarding Design SOSH ARCHITECTS

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OSH Architects was founded in 1979 on the core conviction that quality design continually rewards the community, the client and the design team.

The firm has steadily grown from a company of four partners to its current size of 40 design professionals and support staff engaged in the execution of master planning, architecture and interior design commissions worldwide.

SOSH’s philosophy drives a design process that values exploration, visualization and the contributions of multiple voices to deliver the best design solutions that are the result of thoughtful collaboration and creative analysis.

With offices in Atlantic City and Philadelphia, SOSH has handled every aspect of hotel and casino design—from small, intimate VIP lounges and retail spaces to expansive casino floor renovations and new tower and resort construc-

tion. Each project has its own unique set of design opportunities and technical requirements, which SOSH addresses to meet client needs and stay ahead of market trends.

SOSH has played a pivotal role in the successful launch of several sports betting venues across the country over the last few years. More recently, the team has delivered design solutions for resort renovations required to address the challenges amid a global pandemic. Other current hospitality and gaming projects include work with high-profile clients including Eldorado Resorts, Hard Rock International, Ocean Casino Resort and Mohegan Sun. While hospitality-based work is a substantial aspect of its business, SOSH also is engaged in a variety of project types around the globe.

To learn more, visit sosharch.com.

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STYLE SPOTLIGHT Renowned, Remarkable, Memorable Work STEELMAN PARTNERS

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teelman Partners, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international architectural firm specializing in the multidisciplinary facets of entertainment architecture, interior design, graphic design, planning, theater design, 3D design and lighting. The company currently has offices in Zhuhai, Macau, Ho Chi Minh, Amsterdam and Phnom Penh.

Established in 1987, Steelman Partners has positioned itself as the leading entertainment architecture firm. The company is well known within the gaming industry with a client list that includes MGM, Harrah’s, Wynn, Venetian, Lady Luck, Swiss Casinos, Caesars and many others.

Steelman Partners is made up of the industry’s most talented and acclaimed architects, designers, planners and artists, resulting in worldrenowned, remarkable and memorable work.

Crafting exemplary casino-resort designs for an ever-increasing global market, Steelman Partners has designed more than 4,000 projects worldwide, including the most successful casino in the world, the Sands Macao, the first Las Vegas-style casino in the People’s Republic of China.

Steelman Partners embraces all aspects of the design process, from project viability to revenue projections, site location, thematic considerations,

conceptual design, programming and supporting the client’s marketing efforts.

Steelman Partners is consistently ranked as one of the top 300 largest architectural firms by Architectural Record Magazine and is on Engineering News-Record’s Top 500 Design Firms list.

Steelman Partners also owns and operates several other design companies, including DSAA (interior design), shop12 (lighting, theater, ride and attraction design), and MARQI (branding and corporate identity).

For more information, visit steelmanpartners.com.

All Hospitality, All the Time TBE ARCHITECTS

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ver the past 49 years, Thalden Boyd Architects LLC, dba TBE Architects, has become one of the best-known hospitality and gaming architectural firms in North America. Principals at TBE attribute the firm’s prosperity to outstanding client relationships and the ability to quickly adapt, change and grow.

52 CASINO STYLE 2020

The firm has designed more than 400 unique hotel projects and 300 casino projects, with three major projects opening this year. “All Hospitality, All the Time” is much more than a tagline—it’s the very foundation of TBE’s client base and an integral part of defining the firm’s passionate culture.

TBE Architects provides full architectural services including master planning, architectural design, branding development and interior design. Its highly experienced design teams work tirelessly to deliver bold, unique, high-quality and fully integrated projects, on time and on budget.

Much of the firm’s work is a direct reflection of the team’s ability to meet the unique demands of diverse clients. Hence, no two TBE casinos or hotels are alike. With roots firmly planted in gaming and hospitality, the team has an exceptional understanding of sophisticated entertainment and leisure for adults.

TBE has dedicated a significant portion of time to the growth and development of several national and internationally recognized brands such as Caesars, Churchill Downs, Delaware North, Harrah’s, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and Jacob’s Entertainment. It also has designed directly for 116 Native American tribes and First Nations.

Throughout the firm, each employee shares a common goal: “To fuse team talents with client needs,” designing architectural destinations that are fresh, exciting, appropriately branded and fully functional.

TBE Architects is an active associate member of both the American Institute of Architects the National Indian Gaming Association.

For more information, visit TBEarchitects.com or contact Nick Schoenfeldt, vice president and principal, at 314-727-7000.

C I N O P O ER

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A E S O O H C

• Increase yields by 30% • Use 98% less water • Plants grow 3X faster • Vertical design uses 90% less space

Let’s plan your aeroponic urban or commercial food farm. Commercial farms can help sustain your business at ground level, on rooftops or anywhere you can envision a farm.

• Casinos • Restaurants • Resorts • Universities • Hotels • Residential

GROW GOOD HEALTH

Becky Kingman-Gros | Tower Garden Specialist

bkingros@gmail.com | rk86302.towergarden.com | 609-992-5508

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Blast from the Past El Cortez honors Las Vegas history in a way no other casino does

By Roger Gros

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ackie Gaughan is an almost mythic figure in the casino world. Along with Benny Binion, Gaughan dominated the casino market in Las Vegas for decades. At one time, Gaughan owned more than 25 percent of all the real estate in Downtown Las Vegas. He mentored his partner in the Golden Nugget, a young Steve Wynn.

Some of the properties Gaughan once owned include the Plaza, the Western, the Gold Spike and many more. But the one that was closest to his heart—and where he lived until his death at 93 in 2014—was the El Cortez.

Once owned by the mob led by Bugsy Siegel, Gaughan purchased the El Cortez in 1963. The El Cortez opened in 1941, built by another legendary Las Vegan, Kell Housells, who sold it a few years later to Siegel, only to get it back in 1946 when Siegel was raising money to build the Flamingo.

When Gaughan took it over, it became one of the most successful casinos Downtown, and today is the longest continuing gaming license in Nevada. Originally it was what they called a “sawdust joint,” referencing the sawdust owners would spread to soak up spilled drinks and other things. Today, the El Cortez has a classy elegance.

But it wasn’t just the large (for Downtown) facility, it was the personal service delivered by Gaughan and his team. Kenny Epstein, who bought the El Cortez from Gaughan in 2008 and worked for him since 1976, says reproducing the personality of Gaughan is difficult.

“Jackie was a special guy,” says Epstein.

“He always put the customer first and was on a first-name basis with hundreds of them who would come to see him.”

Epstein says he met Gaughan when he was 15 in 1956.

“We lived in Chicago and drove to Nevada to stay at the Cal Neva in Lake Tahoe,” he explains. “My father introduced me to Jackie, who owned the Tahoe Biltmore at the time, just across the street. Jackie showed me around the casino, the 100 slot machines and 10 games. He made me feel very special, and that’s what was so great about him.”

Since taking over the El Cortez, Epstein and his partners have sunk over $60 million in the property, renovating rooms, adding amenities and trying to maintain the charm of the El Cortez while connecting it with history. For a city that discards its history when it becomes inconvenient, the El Cortez celebrates it.

“We renovated our only restaurant a few years ago and renamed it ‘Siegel’s 1941,’” he says. “We’ve got pictures of Bugsy and his compatriots all around the restaurant, and I love showing them off to people and explaining who and what they were.”

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Left: Jackie Gaughan a few years after purchasing the El Cortez Below: Today’s El Cortez

Vintage slots at El Cortez; Popular table games at El Cortez

Another big draw for the El Cortez are the vintage slot machines, usually high-paying video poker games that actually still accept coins. People come from all over to play them, and the word has spread. Epstein says his market has transitioned over the past five years from 80 percent locals to a 50-50 balance now between locals and tourists.

“I’d like to claim that our team helped that happen, and I’m sure they did, but Downtown Las Vegas is going gangbusters now, and we’re benefiting from it.”

Of Derek Stevens’ new Circa casino (see page 28), he thinks it will be a huge success and will benefit all Downtown properties, including the El Cortez.

“I look at it this way,” he explains. “Your neighborhood is already nice, but when someone comes in and knocks down two houses and builds a magnificent new house, that’s got to make your house more valuable.”

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