Monday, February 09, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

JANE ANN MORRISON: Older workers lament Binion's loss, face added uncertainty because of age

Binion's Horseshoe has been closed for a month now, and craps dealer Howard Greenspon is still without a job.

The 62-year-old is candid about the biggest hindrance he faces: "My problem is my age."

So he's dieting to lose 25 pounds, so he'll look younger.

He's going back to school to learn how to deal poker, where older dealers seem more accepted.

Greenspon is even considering trying for a job as a bus driver.

At 62, he's not ready to retire because he's a man who likes working. He's lived in Las Vegas since 1975, raised his kids here and loved working as a dealer, especially the 10 years he spent at the Horseshoe.

Greenspon and I met when he was standing in line Jan. 12 to pick up his final paycheck from the 52-year-old casino. Not everyone in line was older than the casino itself, but a good chunk of them were.

The younger casino workers, especially anybody with their children present, refused to talk about their future. Maybe they didn't want the kids to overhear the questions that worried them all: What will you do? How will you pay your bills?

Older workers were more forthcoming. A 59-year-old cocktail waitress was sure she wouldn't be able to get another cocktail job, so she was planning to become a food server. "If they don't hire me, they're losing out on someone dependable and hardworking," said Carolyn Kuklock, who worked at the Horseshoe for 26 years.

"The 'Shoe was one of the few places that hired elderly employees," Greenspon said. "Some places on the Strip will hire one or two elderly dealers, but you look around, and 99 percent are between 25 and 35 years old. You'll see one or two guys in their 60s to prove there is no age discrimination."

Greenspon doesn't whine or wallow in self-pity.

He's fully aware he's in a better position than some of the 900 employees who lost their jobs. His two children are grown. His wife of 39 years works in a doctor's office, and they've saved and have a cushion so that they can pay the bills for five or six months without too much trouble.

He watched the downtown casino deteriorate during the more than five years that it was managed by owner Becky Binion Behnen. "We knew three years ago it was going to close," he said. And he would have had an easier time of it looking for a job at 59 than at 62. But he loved his work at the Horseshoe.

"You worked five days a week; if you wanted to take a day off, you asked and they gave it to you. If you wanted vacation days, they gave it to you. I took the Jewish holidays off, no questions asked."

That wasn't so at other casinos, where managers might change days off arbitrarily, and if you didn't like it, then so long.

So he has no regrets that he didn't leave earlier. "I had 10 good years, I made a decent living, there was no heat, no pressure. I know people who hated it, but I loved it."

Some corporate operations discourage dealers from chatting with customers. "The 'Shoe was fantastic. You could talk to the players and made friends with players," Greenspon said.

"It really and truly is not the most boring job in the world. You're talking to people, and you see people at their best when they're winning and at their worst when they're drunk and losing."

Emotionally, Greenspon said he's doing OK. He's applied at a handful of places. Even if Harrah's Entertainment opens the casino, he's not confident that the old Horseshoe workers will get any priority consideration.

As a dealer, he says he earned $39,000 a year, and his wife earns about the same, enough to help their two kids go to college. Son Jaq is a writer, daughter Fay Fulton is a teacher.

The Greenspons have a monthly mortgage payment of $1,300, but his unemployment checks have started up and, for a while at least, will pay $1,240 a month.

He could retire and pull his Social Security of about $900 a month, but Greenspon really wants to work.

In the meantime, he and his wife, Ricki, are cutting back on expenses. They eat in more and use coupons when they eat out.

But in an industry that favors the young and the beautiful, Howard Greenspon can only hope that skill and enthusiasm make him worthy of consideration by a gaming company.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.