As innings get pitched and races run, book manager helps lay down the lines

It took almost 18 years, but Carol Boyd turned a temporary, part-time job as a ticket writer into the leadership post of the Sam's Town race and sports book.

And her last name had nothing to do with the promotion.

Boyd is not related to the founding family of Sam's Town owner, Boyd Gaming Corp. But she is a member of a small sorority of women who oversee racing, sports wagering and keno for a major hotel-casino.

She started her gaming career at Sam's Town in 1990. After more than a decade at the company's downtown casinos, she returned to the Boulder Strip casino this year to oversee development of Sam's Town's $20 million race and sports book expansion.

With 15,000 square feet, upgrades to the bar, lounge and deli areas, 309 seats and more than 200 television screens, Boyd said managing the Sam's Town race and sports book is a different challenge from operating the downtown betting locations.

"The business trends are different," Boyd said. "Also, downtown is a much smaller-scale. I had a 42-seat book downtown."

Two decades ago, Boyd never imagined herself managing a race and sports operation. She and her husband operated family businesses. A car accident in 1989 put her out of commission for more than eight months. She took a part-time job at Sam's Town's smallish race and sports book because it was close to home and kept her from "going stir crazy."

The job soon expanded to full time, and Boyd found herself assuming additional duties. Eventually she was helping move the wagering lines on football and basketball games. Boyd Gaming then asked her to move downtown and manage the race and sports operation at the Fremont.

Question: What are some of the differences between a downtown casino and Sam's Town?

Answer: The biggest challenge for me was learning a different market. Downtown, you dealt with tourists and just a few locals who were your regular customers. At Sam's Town, our customers primarily come from a local base. You have to do things in the local market to compete, such as different promotions. That's why we built this beautiful, new book.

Question: How is the new race and sports book a marketing tool?

Answer: It's very trendy and stylish and appeals to the younger generation, which is an important audience we are trying to attract. It's a great place to sit and socialize while watching the games.

Question: What aspects of the construction project were you involved with?

Answer: Pretty much everything. I was fortunate because at the Fremont, I was involved in the redesign of that casino's race and sports book. We basically built a whole new book in a different section of the casino. Obviously, this was a much larger scale but it was similar because it was a turn-key operation. We closed the book one night and opened it the next day in a whole new location.

Question: What kind of challenge have you faced as a woman?

Answer: Race and sports was a very male-dominated industry, and we have been checking to see if I was the first female to operate both a race and sports book. There's a lot more of us (women) now in the industry and there has been acceptance on both sides of the counter. One thing I've noticed is that since we opened the new sports book, we've seen a lot more women customers at Sam's Town.

Question: What goes into setting the lines on sporting events?

Answer: Money moves the lines. You have to watch and see where the money comes in. All our lines are set at The Orleans, which is the hub for the Boyd Gaming books. We're a satellite property but we also have responsibility. When we take action, we need to make sure those numbers are moved correctly. If we see something that needs to be corrected, we'll call it in. It's all about protecting company assets.

Question: What's being done to drive up the interest in horse racing?

Answer: The horse racing customer is an older customer and we need to do things to get more young people involved. The younger generation likes fast action and they don't like to sit and handicap horses like the older generation. We offer some greyhound racing because there is not as much handicapping involved.

Nevada is bringing in more horse races and one of the things I do here is book about anything and everything. Mondays and Tuesdays are slow race days so I bring in filler tracks that a lot of other books don't carry. It's a draw that brings some people to Sam's Town.

Question: Overseeing keno is also part of your responsibilities. How is that game doing?

Answer: You have to continually be creative and innovative. It's very similar between keno and race customers. Since I came here, we started several promotions, such as Friday night keno tournaments for locals. We did it for eight weeks and we extended it another eight weeks. It seems to have done well. It also helps to give away $6.3 million. (Sam's Town was the location for the largest keno jackpot ever won in Nevada on Sept. 25 through Nevada Numbers).

Question: Is the race and sports book industry changing?

Answer: With Boyd, it's the strength in numbers. We're able to take higher limits and we're able to accommodate customers wanting to wager those limits because we have multiple books. It gives us a much more solid line. Sports betting is always going to be here and it's getting stronger. Nevada is still the only place where you can legally bet on sports.

Question: What's new in the way of sports wagering?

Answer: NASCAR is the fastest-growing sport. We need to make sure we have NASCAR on every screen when the races are running.

We'll do odds on the race, some match ups and the points championship.

Question: How many times have you been asked if you're a member of the Boyd family?

Answer: After 171/2 years, I'm still asked that every single day. I was born a Boyd and I married a Boyd and I work for Boyd Gaming. I'd say it was in my blood to be here.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or (702) 477-3871.