Grand Casino in Tunica

[Randy_Refeld]

I wanted to let everyone know I am no longer the tournament coordinator at the Grand and I am on leave while I receive legal advice on how to proceed. I would say play at your own risk.

Randy Refeld

[Iplayragstoo]

Ok, I usually stay there when I go, so what kind of "risk" am I looking at?? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Randy_Refeld]

The risk you are looking at is having an inexperienced tournament and floor staff. I can tell you there is nobody on the floor staff that has worked outside of Tunica or St. Louis; if you don't know what is wrong with that still go, you will enjoy yourself and won't notice a difference.

Randy Refeld

[doggin]

I hope all works out OK for you.
I think that is too bad for The Grand, as you seem
to take a great deal of pride in your work.
Good luck, d

[Jim Kuhn]

What happened? I thought you were just promoted to Poker Room Manager or Assistant Shift Boss or something. Best wishes on everything that is happening!

Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4U
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[Randy_Refeld]

I was promoted to shift manager. Yesterday the director of tables games informed me my services we no longer needed.

[Jim Kuhn]

WOW - very sorry to hear that! I could tell by your posts that you loved the position and 'the business'. Hopefully, you will have no problem finding a casino that appreciates your enthusiasm and hard work! You probably have alot of contacts in the business?

Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4U
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[Randy_Refeld]

Not as many as I would like (I am only 32). I have put out feelers in both Vegas and LA and have a call in to someone opening a new room in Fla. My wife loves MS, but I don't see how I can stay here. When I moved to MS I was under the assumption that since nobody knows a thing about poker in MS (as far as managing a room) they would welcome someone with my knowledge. I was stunned from the moment I arrived here, when the Stratosphere closed I was able to arrange a job at the Bike over the phone, when I came to MS they told me they weren't hiring. I got a job and dealt and eventually showed them how to run poker tournaments and I am being cast out for no apparant reason, but I wouldn't be suprised if one of Herb Gee's friends appears on swing soon in the Grand poker room. The only reason I am not already in the desert heat is my wife loves it here and doesn't want to move.

Randy Refeld

[Nemesis]

sorry about that man. I was seriously looking forward to coming down and meeting you (although you probably have no idea who i am). I definately wanted to come play at the grand this summer and meet another 2+2er.

[MicroBob]

sorry to hear what happened.

welcolme to the wonderful world of Caesar's Entertainment. i had heard some 'interesting' things regarding the situation at the Grand but did not know it affected the poker-room also. a lot of corporate 'bottom-line' management type stuff in the universe known as Caesar's.

i know that the Isle down in Lula/Helena is in the opening stages of starting a poker-room.
it's a bit of a hike obviously but you may want to look into it.

there had also been rumors of the Grand Vic in Cincinnati area opening a poker-room but i don't know how true those rumors are.

obviously, you can try asking around at the other poker-rooms in Tunica but that idea doesn't seem to thrill you a whole bunch.


you're obviously pretty upset right now....but you should still be careful not to burn any bridges.
i'm not necessarily referring to Caesar's specifically, but rather with the rest of the Tunica and Mississippi casino-scene. as you know....it's impossible to predict who you may run into or wind up working for or with 5 or 10 years down the road even if you do leave tunica.

other than that, i understand your frustration and wish you the best.

[michaliv]

Man is this a bad time to hear this. I wil be there Sunday (a little too late to change). Where do you think I should play? I would like to play 3/6 or 4/8 Holdem and O 8/b as well as some 1/2 NL. I was going to enter the tournaments there, but I guess not now. Where would you suggest I get in a tournament at (Monday - Wednesday). Thanks for any advice.

[Randy_Refeld]

That is a tough one. I recommend playing at the Horseshoe. I am still employed at the Grand, but I don't know if/when I am going to go into work. The Grand and Goldstrike both have tournaments, but I have posted about the Grand and the Goldstrike is managed by a known theif so I woudl be reluctant to gamble there. Good luck.

Randy Refeld

[AA suited]

link to the Thief post???

[Randy_Refeld]

If you do a Google search you can find it (It happened in Jan 2002 and was reported on RGP in Aug 2002). I didn't include a link because I have first hand knowledge of Pepper at the Gold Strike stealing money from me.

Randy Refeld

[JTrout]

Post deleted by JTrout

[JTrout]

link (http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&threadm=xyn79.41967%24Qg.16386459 %40twister.midsouth.rr.com&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3DPepper%2BGold%2BStrike%2Bgroup:rec.ga mbling.poker%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26group%3Drec.gambl ing.poker%26selm%3Dxyn79.41967%2524Qg.16386459%254 0twister.midsouth.rr.com%26rnum%3D1)

[Randy_Refeld]

Since someone covered for my laziness I will let everyone know how that turned out. After making a lot of phone calls I finally got to someone in their executive office and he told me the same thing; that it was my responsiblity to have a roommate. I then read him the confirmation letter they ahd sent me and he asked where he should send my check. To this day I don't know why Pepper wanted to beat me out of $90; the only thing I can come up with is he thought he could get away with it since I was leaving to go back to LA.

Randy Refeld

[snakehead]

a lot of casino execs read rgp and these forums. do you really think you have a future in this industry after what you have posted? time to pack your bags.

[MicroBob]

i too am curious why you would post such stuff on a forum of this nature.
it is certain to get back to Pepper that you've been posting about him.

i know that Pepper was posting on RGP as of a few months ago....so one of the RGP types that reads these forums may cross-post it over there for all you know.


fwiw everyone....maybe i'm not the most knowledgeable guy in the universe regarding poker-room quality....my B&M poker experience does not extend outside of Mississippi and Louisiana.
but i have played at the Horseshoe, Gold Strike and Grand and have typically found the management and dealers to be professional and courteous. i've had enjoyable poker experiences at all 3.
even more enjoyable now that all 3 are non-smoking poker-rooms.

i have never had any money stolen me from the gold-strike or at any other casino or poker-room for that matter. i have never suspected that something 'wasnt quite right' or anything like that when playing at the GS or others.

i dont know the details of randy's situation....and i have never really dealt with Pepper (although i think i know what he looks like)....but i an not concerned about playing there regardless of what i have read in this thread.

[MicroBob]

okay...i went through the thread on RGP and read your account.
regardless of whether your assertion of why pepper may have gone back on his word or not, i still think it's a bad idea to make enemies ANYWHERE in this business.


[ QUOTE ]

I used to
manage a convenience store; and I was robbed here as surely as if I were
back at the store being robbed at gunpoint. The only way they were able to
get any money from me in the first place was to threaten me with force
("security will remove you from the property"). The day after this Pepper
was in agreement and said he would "take care of it." I honestly believe
what happened is that after the WPO was over Pepper saw a chance to save the
poker room a few dollars and since I was going back to LA there wasn't a
thing I could do about it. What I have come to realize is that doing
business with a casino that is willing to cheat someone out of their money
is a bad idea. I don't believe Mandalay Resorts (or the Gold Strike
property itself) intends to cheat anyone out of their money; I believe this
was solely a case of Pepper showing his willingness to cheat me because I
was "just a dealer" and he felt he could do it without penalty.


[/ QUOTE ]


look...you guys had a disagreement as to how you were supposed to be reimbursed or IF you were supposed to be reimbursed or whatever. maybe he outright LIED to you.
i would be ticked too....
but this is hardly the same as getting robbed at gun-point at a convenience store.
the end result isn't even the same.....you might still be down $90....but after getting robbed at the convenience store at gun or knife point i'm likely to be thankful that i was just able to live through it without harm and i probably would have a little bit of psychological damage (a couple friends of mine who have been robbed at gun-point still have nightmares).

when you said 'robbed' i thought he snatched your chips when you were away from the table or he stiffed you on a buy-in or something.

actually, my apartment was broken into last year and the guy took some money and a beat-up lap-top computer (and nothing else of consequence).
when i reported the "robbery" to the police i was informed by the 9-1-1 person that i actually wasn't "robbed" because i wasn't there when he broke in and he didn't threaten me with a knife or whatever. i was "burglarized" because he broke-in while i was away.


to reiterate my previous sentiment....i'm pretty sure i know which one Pepper is...and i have always found him to represent his casino professionally (although this is more based on his demeanor than any specific examples).
additionally, i have always enjoyed my poker experience at the Gold Strike (except for the time my trips didn't hold up).


finally, i really have doubts as to whether personal squabbles such as these belong on the boards.....especially from someone who seems to have inclinations towards staying in the business.
you may be hurting your chances with Caesar's and Mandalay in the future....maybe not, but you may want to be careful.

[Randy_Refeld]

Pepper is aware of what I have posted about him. He was aware of it before I posted it back in 2002. The only reason I posted it back then was his refusal to pay the money that was owed. I was eventually paid, but I nver hesitate to tell anyone that wants to know the truth about Pepper.

Randy Refeld

[Randy_Refeld]

Thanks for the advice. I have been robbed at gunpoint (I used to be a manager at a convenience store). The reason I made the connection is I was threatened by security to give them all the money I had. If they had asked for the money at a reasonable hour I would not have made the connection. I have come to the conclusion the Mississippi poker is not for me. As far as hurting my future chances I enjoy working in poker, but I decided a long time ago not to work for anyone that is unaware of the basics of the game (sometime ask Pepper about his dealers holding the deck too high off the table).

Randy Refeld

[Jim Kuhn]

Sorry to disagree with you Micro but I think these boards are a great place to post about Poker Room management not being honest, trustworthy, knowledgeable, etc. Also psychological damage could be claimed as Randy may have been very trusting and now he no longer trusts what is stated verbally or in writing.

I do agree that Randy may damage his chances for employment by posting in these forums with his real name. The casino industry is VERY POLITICAL and you want to avoid being on anyone's blacklist. I am sure Randy posted the information on these forums as he seems like a man of principle and his trust was violated. It may have been his way of getting back at the GoldStrike and also warning people not to trust their management.

Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4U
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[MicroBob]

there are a lot of casino employees (dealers/managers, etc) who i dont like or have had disagreements with but i would never post details as to what they did and/or who they are.

i see your point Jim and actually considered your general position before posting.
but i really feel this is a personal squabble between a dealer and his employer.

if someone came to Randy...or even came on these boards....asking for an opinion on working as a dealer in Tunica, or working specifically for Pepper...then perhaps giving the details of his experience would be warranted. on a public-board though, i would still recommend saying something along the lines of 'I previously worked for Pepper and we had a disagreement over the pay. i did not get everything i felt i was entitled to when i dealt a tournament for him. i had to go to management to get it resolved.'

however, saying things like 'Pepper is a crook....and i wouldn't play at the Gold Strike if i were you because they out-and-out robbed me blind' is a bit over-the-top (i know these weren't his exact words....but the sentiment is generally the same i believe).

no matter how right Randy may have been in this situation, or wrong Pepper was....chatting about it on public boards just strikes me as incorrect.

and i dont like using this particular example as ammunition to tell everyone else to steer clear of the Gold Strike.


i had disagreements with my management on occasion when i was dealing at a different casino. a couple dealers, including myself, felt we were hosed by being 'double-charged' on our insurance payments for example. i probably lost around $90 as well i think. but i am not posting the name of the casino, nor the person i believe is responsible.

in fact, i had no inclination towards posting anything about my little insurance situation except to show that these types of disagreements and even back-stabbing go on all too frequently.


i guess we'll have to 'agree to disagree' as it were regarding this.
i'll probably be by the Grand sometime again in the next few weeks. i hope that if i get the opportunity to meet Randy personally he won't hold my opinions against me.
he seems like a good guy who just got stuck in a couple of lousy situations now (previously at G.S. and currently his situation at the Grand).

[Randy_Refeld]

I would never hold someone's opinion against them. As far as someone being dishonest I really believe if someone is willing to be dishonest for $90 they certainly would be dishonest for $900 or $9000. I didn't really want to bring up the Goldstrike, that was a long time ago. As far as the situation at the Grand I am going to deal for a while longer. In Oct and again in Jan I helped them when they were stuck with having a tournament scheduled and nobody available that had directed a tournament that size. If this situation arises again I will be far more reluctant to help them out. As far as the Goldstrike they do ironically have the best floorman in Tunica (Gary Philips), but I am also aware that their other floormen rule that after the 4th raise you can't raise any more in no limit holdem (if Pepper is unfamiliar with the rules of poker how can his employees learn the rules).

Randy Refeld

[Jim Kuhn]

Randy,

Harrah's in St Louis is opening a Poker Room within the next couple of months. I also have several friends that are Floor and Pit Bosses on the Casino Queen. They have no poker and usually promote people after they have dealt. I spoke to one yesterday and they stated they have dealer positions open and the pay + toke rate runs between $18-$20 per hour. Best of luck in your job search!.
Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4U
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