The legacy and appeal of games of chance played with dice, cards, or perhaps even a little ball and a spinning wheel is ancient indeed. Dice were recovered from the ruins of Pompeii and the modern term Casino can be traced to the Venetian Renaissance where games of chance were played in "casini" or little houses. It all carries a certain mystery and romance that perhaps can not be created on the Slot floor. Who can really envision an elegantly attired James Bond going head to head against some international arch-villain in a tense slot machine match?

As we all know, for many years this attitude ruled in casinos everywhere. Dealers, Pit Bosses and all the folks involved in play at the Tables enjoyed a certain in-house cultural superiority over their peers working on the Slot floor. This superiority often extended to their compensation package as well. After all, slots were the newcomer to the scene and didn't enjoy the aristocratic history of the Tables. Only a bit more than a century old, the original spinning reel games paid only pennies and often paid just trinkets or candy. This gave way to coins of all denominations in the 1930's but the one-arm bandits were still seen mostly as a novelty and not games for real Players.

Enter the modern world. Bally introduced the precursor of modern slots in the early sixties and the Slot floor has not looked back. The 1990’s saw slots overtake and pass tables as the revenue and profit center of most casinos and today they generally out-earn tables by more than two to one. In 2004, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board the 341 Casinos in Nevada reported wins of $3.5 billion at the Tables and $7.1 billion on the Slot floor. So does this mean that the people managing the Slot floor now make twice what their Table peers earn and enjoy that cultural superiority? We can’t really comment on the culture, but can look into our 2003 Gaming Property HCE for a comparison of their relative earning power.

Nationwide

In our 2003 survey of gaming properties the compensation of the VP/Director of Slots was in a virtual dead-heat with that of the VP/Director of Table Games across the nation (see table).

Nationwide Salaries and Bonuses
Base Salary	Minimum	25th Percentile	50th Percentile	75th Percentile	Maximum
VP/Dir Slots	$33,948	$71,496	$90,176	$113,728	$176,109
VP/Dir Table Games	$42,729	$75,854	$89,115	$106,090	$145,748
Bonus	Minimum	25th Percentile	50th Percentile	75th Percentile	Maximum
VP/Dir Slots	$0	$0	$14,160	$28,100	$99,979
VP/Dir Table Games	$0	$3,500	$13,947	$33,769	$96,709

At median base salary only $1,061 dollars separates the two positions. At the first quartile the advantage in salary goes to the Table games operators, but at the third quartile a distinct advantage goes to the Slots guys/girls. The minimum and maximum are anomalies so don’t really enter into this discussion.

Bonus payments are equally matched at the median with a minute advantage again going to the Slot operators. Since we all know that compensation can vary greatly depending upon the size of the Casino in question, I looked further at properties both large and small.

The Big and Little

Salaries and Bonuses - Properties less than $100M
Base Salary	Minimum	25th Percentile	50th Percentile	75th Percentile	Maximum
VP/Dir Slots	$33,948	$56,379	$73,291	$90,691	$148,526
VP/Dir Table Games	$42,729	$62,565	$76,701	$88,362	$103,546
Bonus	Minimum	25th Percentile	50th Percentile	75th Percentile	Maximum
VP/Dir Slots	$0	$3,150.00	$7,096.00	$17,594.00	$21,813.00
VP/Dir Table Games	$0	$3,030.00	$9,530.00	$11,474.00	$22,949.00

The patterns we saw in nationwide base salaries and bonuses are consistent in properties with less than $100M in annual revenue. Table games executives are paid slightly higher salaries until we get to the third quartile and the trend is similar in bonus.

Salaries and Bonuses - Properties greater than $100M
Base Salary	Minimum	25th Percentile	50th Percentile	75th Percentile	Maximum
VP/Dir Slots	$52,336	$84,257	$106,090	$118,986	$176,109
VP/Dir Table Games	$57,400	$83,583	$104,834	$116,699	$145,748
Bonus	Minimum	25th Percentile	50th Percentile	75th Percentile	Maximum
VP/Dir Slots	$0	$4,000	$14,500	$24,718	$99,979
VP/Dir Table Games	$0	$3,500	$14,166	$24,332	$96,709

The trends we have observed so far are even more striking in Casinos doing more than $100M in annual revenue. Here both salary and bonus payments match nearly identically from one group to the other. We can only comment that Tables and Slots seem to have achieved absolute parity in executive compensation.

There are obviously many differences in the needs of managing both these entities so I am not trying to comment on whether the above noted compensation is correct. The world of reel and electronic games has exploded with new games, money-handling technology and tracking software creating the need for very well informed and strategic Slot executives.

On the other hand, the Players in the Pits and at Tables are likely to be playing for higher stakes and require more in the way of attention in every way. The need for savvy, player knowledgeable execs here is as great as it ever was. It is probably very just that despite the difference in total win between the two areas, parity in compensation has been achieved. I will have to remember to check on this issue again when we finish our 2005 Gaming Property HCE in October.