Feature: Augustine Casino
Local Gaming in the Coachella Valley Bill Healey chats with Augustine Casino’s Jef Bauer
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outhern California’s Coachella Valley is well known for its many golf courses, its eight casinos, multiple music festivals, and notably as a winter destination for vacationers from Canada and the northern states. It is also home to the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians’ Augustine Casino. Augustine Casino was the first modern-day business enterprise of the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians when it opened in July of 2002. Though a short two hour drive from Los Angeles, the casino remains a draw for locals within a 15-mile (25km) radius. Casino Life Magazine was fortunate to catch up with Jef Bauer, the general manager at Augustine Casino. Could you give us a bit of your background and how you got your start in the casino gaming
industry. I entered the industry completely by accident. While attending college at University of Nevada and virtually broke, I realized I needed to find a job to support not only my education but my young family (I had a newborn daughter). Perusing the job boards at the university, I noticed an interesting posting for a “Sports Writer.” Since I was a journalism major, knowledgeable about sports, I thought it would be perfect. However, I was confused as to why Harrah’s Reno would have this position. Since the job paid $5.25 an hour, I was excited to find out. I interviewed and was hired...as a sports book ticket writer. This was in 1987 and was the beginning of my career in gaming. Has a career in casinos always been an interest of yours? When did you realize this was the career you’d want to have? 28
Augustine Casino General Manager, Jef Bauer
I had been in the business for nearly 10 years before I realized I wanted to make a career of it. I decided I would set my sights on becoming a general manager. At the time, I was in marketing, still working for Harrah’s in a corporate role. Until that point, I had literally just considered it my “summer job” from May ‘87 and hadn’t even recognized the growth in my own career as heading somewhere. What was your first big break in the industry? By 1993 I had worked my way up into managing the www.casinolifemagazine.com
