Cocktail server happy to tend to customers’ needs

Sarah Hemphill is proud to say she's a fan of Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson.

As the casino celebrates its 10th anniversary, Hemphill doesn't plan on working anywhere else. She began her career with Station Casinos LLC 30 years ago as a cocktail server when Palace Station was still Bingo Palace.

Since 2001, Hemphill can be found on the gaming floor at Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson working as a cocktail server, or psychologist, depending on the ever-changing moods of her customers.

"My job is simple, keep my guests happy so they stay," Hemphill said. "When you got people who are spending money, you have to keep them happy. And you want them to come back."

To do make sure they're happy, she'll listen to their problems, help them get a comp to a restaurant, or even be a sympathetic friend after they drop $400 at poker.

It's also Hemphill's business to know her regulars by name, as well as their wants and needs, because for Green Valley Ranch Resort, happy gamblers make for a better bottom line. During a recent shift, Hemphill greeted two of her regulars with a glass of pinot grigio and a bottle of Amstel Light even as they sat down at a blackjack table.

"Bingo Palace was a wonderful place to start my career, because I got to know everyone," she said. "It was their social life. Many of them came in every day."

At Green Valley Ranch, it's a different clientele.

"At Palace Station, my customers were mostly seniors with a lot of them on fixed incomes," Hemphill said. "It's a whole different clientele here with mostly businesspeople and professionals."

These days, guests and local customers have changed with many of them preferring to wear shorts and T-shirts to gamble or see a show. She's been in Las Vegas long enough to remember when guests would have to dress up for a night on the town.

"A man brought me to Las Vegas for the first time when I was 24," she said. "I came back here from Southern California every weekend. I fell in love with the city."

Hemphill said she's always loved the glamour of Las Vegas, and in the end she dumped that boyfriend to settle down here.

Her first job offer came more than 30 years ago before lunch at the Stardust, when a manger in the casino cage asked if she wanted a job. She joined Station Casinos on Jan. 16, 1982, as a cocktail waitress at Bingo Palace.

"I was ignorant in the beginning," she said. "I was a young girl serving cocktails and the place was always busy. But we were a tight-knit family that took care of each other."

While she declined to identify her ex-boyfriend, Hemphill has been married for 25 years to her husband, Sonny Charles, a singer with the Steve Miller Band. Her 21-year-old son Trevor recently celebrated his second anniversary with Green Valley Ranch Resort.

"Now he knows what I've been doing all these years," she said.

Hemphill said it's her son's decision whether or not to make Station Casinos his career.

"It's not a bad profession," she said. "It's one of the few jobs that if you don't have a college degree, you can earn a decent salary."

Hemphill said it was hard to believe Green Valley Ranch Resort is now 10 years old. The resort opened on Dec. 18, 2001, shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when travel to Las Vegas was still shaky and uncertain.

In the last decade, the property has undergone three expansions totaling $225 million. Station Casinos purchased control of Green Valley Ranch Resort for $500 million during the company's bankruptcy proceedings.

After 30 years of working for Station Casinos, Hemphill doesn't have any plans to retire.

"My grandmother had a saying: 'If you rest, you'll rest,' " she said. "As long as the job is fun and I can do it, I'll continue working."

Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at
csieroty@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.