Harrahs New Orleans
 

It is unpleasant to see all the bad news about New Orleans lately. Harrahs New Orleans was the best cardroom I had ever seen. I hope all the New Orleans people and Harrahs poker players (Bush, Zeke etc), dealers and floor people are ok. I hope Harrahs can re-open in 2005...

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

Bush, Bernice, and all the other octogenarian (at least) players, and the faces without names whom I sat with for hours on end.

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

I seriously doubt anything is going to be reopened in 2005.

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

I read a great article about how long the recovery effort might take in NOLA. It was something along the lines of...
Pump out the water, 60 days
Go house to house looking for bodies and/or survivors, 90 days
Inspect and decide which buildings can remain, 90 days
Bulldoze everything else, 120 days
Haul off the rubble, 120 days

So you're looking at more than 1 year before the city is even ready to start rebuilding. So I'll be shocked if Harrah's reopens in 2006.

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

Wow. That really sucks...but it does seem like a fairly realistic rebuilding plan.

What the hell all the refugees are going to do for all that time is beyond me. Not just those who are at the Astrodome or the Reliant Center. That's just a few thousand of MANY.
There are many many people who left the area on their own before the hurricane got there who can't stay in a hotal forever.


We went to New Orleans for my birthday/Halloween last year and had a great time (Halloween in New Orleans is pretty crazy) but obviously won't be doing the same thing this year.

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

There are still resorts in Florida that haven'r re-opened from Charlie last year. Katrina looks 10 times worse. I would think late 2007 or 2008 is a more reasonable estimate. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Harrahs won\'t miss YOU !
 

You will find another place to play. Anyway, Harrah's definitely won't miss YOU. Harrah's is the largest gaming company in the world. Fifty properties in thirteen states. The consumer doesn't have a snowball's chance in h..., with that predator, now that they own Caesar's Entertainment and Horseshoe Corporation. [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

Re: Harrahs won\'t miss YOU !
 

My wife an I took our honeymoon in NewOrleans last may. For the most part [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] the locals there are some of he nicest people you will ever meet, and the harrah's was a ton of fun. I dont know if the french quarter can ever be quite the same. Heres to one final toke to the harahs in new orleans I hope everyone is safe.

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

It appears the French Quarter and parts of the Garden District might have been spared the worst...

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/03/kat...ter/index.html

At any rate.....here is a timeline for recovery a friend emailed me:

60 days....pump out water.
90 days.....search for and remove bodies.
90 days.....inspect buildings to see what is salvagable/beyond repair.
120 days....bulldoze what can't be fixed.
120 days.....remove trash and bulldozed buildings.

It seems there would be some overlap with these processes, but still, a long haul.

Also, this timeline makes no mention of bridge and road repair, and that is a big factor also.

Of course, if NOLA gets hits with another storm (even as small as just a thunderstorm dumping an inch of rain)it sets all this back a bit.

Re: Harrahs won\'t miss YOU !
 

It's worth being mindful of how Harrah's handles the situation with its out-of-work employees. If they don't do right by them, I'll be squeamish of going into any of their casinos ever again. It's a company that told tons of lies to Louisiana and New Orleans just to get that casino into the city, so I'm wary of how they will proceed now.

Re: Harrahs won\'t miss YOU !
 

Feelix......you just said what I have been thinking. Harrah's has three casinos worth of employees.....and probably virtually all of these folks have lost everything.

Hope to see them do the right thing here.....but not holding my breath......

Re: Harrahs won\'t miss YOU !
 

September 1: Recovery Starts Here

Help our Gulf Coast employees affected by Hurricane Katrina.

The Harrah's Foundation has donated $1 million to help our employees. If you would like to contribute to the Gulf Coast recovery effort, make your check payable to "The Harrah's Employee Recovery Fund." All donations, including $1 million from the Harrah's Foundation, will go immediately to help our fellow employees and their families recover from the hurricane.

Let's give them a hand, so they can get back on their feet. Bring your checks to your property's Human Resources office.




Date: September 2, 2005
To: All Harrah's Entertainment Employees
From: Jerry Boone - Senior Vice President of Human Resources, and Nizar Jabara - Vice President of Compensation, Benefits & HRSS
Subject: Benefits Relief for New Orleans, Biloxi and Gulfport Employees

In response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the first priority of Harrah's Entertainment is the safety and well-being of our nearly 8,000 employees in the Gulf region. In addition to the numerous relief and recovery efforts that the company has initiated, employees of Grand Casino Biloxi, Grand Casino Gulfport, Harrah's New Orleans and the Mid-South Service Center will continue to receive their base pay for 90 days, and will continue to be covered for enrolled benefits including health care and 401(k) plans.

For the same 90-day period, a number of benefits requirements are being eased to help our employees in the affected regions deal with the emergency:

For enrolled hourly and non-management employees, health care premiums will be paid by the company.
Payroll deductions for 401(k) loan payments have been suspended. Automatic contributions will continue and will be matched at the customary rate.
Preauthorization requirements for medical care are suspended.
Medical claims will be paid in-network, regardless of where care is received or whether or not the provider is part of the network.
Prescription drugs can be replaced before they are scheduled for a refill at no cost to the employee.
Time and frequency limits are removed for eye exams, eyeglasses and contacts.
Any 401(k) loan or withdrawal request will receive priority processing.

Re: Harrahs won\'t miss YOU !
 

as the other post indicates..it's already been announced that the Harrah's employees are receiving pay-checks for the next 90 days...which I think is a very classy move.

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

the quarter is the only section of the city not flooded...so who knows?

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

Harrahs should enact something to get the employees jobs and similar positions through out the US in one of the other millions of casinos.. like St. Louis isn't incredibly far..etc.. I'm sure they could fit alot of them into positions at the other casinos.. just for temporary relief so the people may work and have some place to go...

Re: Harrahs won\'t miss YOU !
 

I always had the impression that Harrah's treats their employees pretty decently and looks out for them in extreme situations.

Now, the customers, on the other hand, might not be on the same level... at least poker players.

Rebuttals?

Re: Harrahs won\'t miss YOU !
 

Glad to hear that, though I wonder how it applies to tip-oriented positions like poker dealers and cocktail servers.

Re: Harrahs won\'t miss YOU !
 

well...regular dealers are 'tip-oriented' too.

Usually it's something like a base hourly wahe of $5.50...and then the pool tip-rate is somewhere around $12-$17/hr on top of that (depending on where you deal).

So now that I think about it....they might be paying all their blackjack dealers just the regular hourly-wage without the tip-rate too.


I know a couple of blackjack dealers at the Grand and Horseshoe in Tunica. When I head down there next I'll see if they've heard any rumors as to how much the out-of-work gulf-coast dealers are getting.


Also - many many dealers are just technically part-time (even though they are working 32-40 hours a week they don't get regular health-insurance for example).
So it's possible that they are only taking care of the full-timers....which certainly does not include all dealers.

Re: Harrahs won\'t miss YOU !
 

Correct.. I'm a table games dealer at Harrah's Lake Charles, and we make a low base wage ($4-$6) + a toke rate (anywhere from $14-$20 an hour on top). I'm not sure if they're just getting the base pay or not.

I don't know about other properties, but all of our table games employees here in LC are full-time.. the only ones that are part-time are the ones that legitimately work 2-3 days a week.

Harrah's has also said that the out-of-work employees would be able to get on at other properties.. not sure when that will happen though, I haven't seen anyone come into LC yet.

Re: Harrahs won\'t miss YOU !
 

[ QUOTE ]
which I think is a very classy move.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very classy. Those who work for smaller companies probably won't be afforded the same luxury.

If I was a Harrah's employee, I'd feel like I worked for a good company that cared for me, and I think it would make me work even harder for them.

Re: Harrahs won\'t miss YOU !
 

They are getting just the base pay, not the toke rate.

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
the quarter is the only section of the city not flooded...so who knows?

[/ QUOTE ]

So the part of town with most of the hookers and drug dealers gets spared [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
the quarter is the only section of the city not flooded...so who knows?

[/ QUOTE ]

So the part of town with most of the hookers and drug dealers gets spared [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

God loves a good time! Apparently he hates the poor though.

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

Ehhhhhh. I live in St. Charles parish, about 20 miles east of the city and we barely got any damage compared to the city, but things are just barely starting to get to normal even around here.

As far as opening Harrahs goes, I'd be surprised if they're not opened for limited operations within the next month. There actually was a few feet of water on Canal Street
(think streetcar, palm trees, saks fifth avenue--you may have seen it on tv), but I think I remember the main floor of the building being five or so feet above ground level. The underground parking garage and tunnels may need some work, but that won't prevent them from opening. Another question is whether any looters broke in and ransacked the place (it's right across the street from the convention center). I have to imagine that Harrahs did everything they could to protect their property though.

The main problem, I think, is going to be staffing the joint. So many homes aren't livable. So many people are scattered everywhere. They're just now letting people back into New Orleans. Water still isn't drinkable. Every single open store (more and more are opening up each day!) has help wanted/now hiring signs out front.

On an anecdotal note, they were building a hotel across the street for the casino. I've never seen a building go up so fast. They had people working on that thing around the clock. Lesson: money talks. If there's going to be a business open, its going to be Harrahs.

So if you've planned a trip, keep an eye out. We can sure use the business.

- Matt

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
I seriously doubt anything is going to be reopened in 2005.

[/ QUOTE ]

things are opening quickly, 1 strip club is already open, and bourbon st. is coming back to life. Harrahs is 10' above street level and is in a higher section of town. their tunnel was flooded and their basement, but nothing else. most of their delays will come from damage to the parking garage, which was minimal. when the economy will support them, and their employees have returned, they will open. looks like they will be open before end of '05.

i know of one dealer that harrahs relocated to las vegas, free place to stay and a job @ a harrah property. don't know how widespread this is, but a great gesture from a large company

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
the quarter is the only section of the city not flooded...so who knows?

[/ QUOTE ]

So the part of town with most of the hookers and drug dealers gets spared [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Just noticed this. In New Orleans as it was, the Quarter was not necessarily the part of town with the most hookers and drug dealers. For hookers try Airline Highway and the hot-sheets motels. For drugs, consider any housing project and its environs. The Quarter was (still is) heavily policed (although some of the police there needed themselves to be policed) and wasn't as wide open as some other parts of town. The current captain of Vice and Narcotics is Timmy Bayard who is a first-class police officer. Whether his minions meet his standards I don't know.

And, of course, the Quarter was not the only part of the city that wasn't flooded. Everything along both sides of the river was OK. BTW the Boomtown casino on the West Bank is up and running, but that is the place where the former bingo crowd goes to play the slots. Not a place for poker players.......

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

Wasn't it on the news yesterday that one of the NOLA casinos was open for business?

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

[ QUOTE ]
I read a great article about how long the recovery effort might take in NOLA. It was something along the lines of...
Pump out the water, 60 days
Go house to house looking for bodies and/or survivors, 90 days
Inspect and decide which buildings can remain, 90 days
Bulldoze everything else, 120 days
Haul off the rubble, 120 days
Rebuild NO's reputation as a "good times" city, after that reputation was destroyed by the televised looting, the corrupt PD, the clear evidence of racial tensions, etc., 10 years


[/ QUOTE ]

FYP.

Re: Harrahs New Orleans
 

Yeah, Boomtown casino. It was on the westbank and didn't get much damage. Small card room tho.