Vol. 4, No. 2, February 2008
RSS Feeds
Running the Room
South Point’s poker room manager Joe DiGiacomo deals a winning hand
He’s certainly in the right place.
South Point’s poker room manager devises an array of tournaments. It’s practically all-action, all the time in his poker room.
“We run one every day at 10 a.m.,” DiGiacomo says. “We also have an evening tournament Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. People are signing up constantly. We had a fairly good 2006, a great 2007 and now we’ve raised the bar for 2008. You always want it to be better than last year.”
More than 20,000 patrons played in South Coast poker tournaments last year. DiGiacomo mixes the tried-and-true no limit Texas hold ‘em with wild variations. Some involve $2-4 hold ’em, in which cash replaces chips. The blinds are one and two dollars, and players can wager $2 on the flop and $4 on the turn and river cards. Buy-ins are $20. Some tournaments feature a $4 and $8 version, for a $40 buy-in.
DiGiacomo assembles a poker equivalent of football’s prop plays. Some games reward players for eliminating an opponent’s bankroll. Others pay any four-of-a-kind. DiGiacomo conducts special, free-entry tournaments for higher-volume players. A recent version around Christmas netted $5,800 for the top places.
Bing, bang, boom. The poker-room guru constantly stirs the pot of new ideas. He understands the promotional sizzle, the gambling steak and the bottom-line interests of his employers. DiGiacomo estimates that South Coast caters to 60 percent locals, 40 percent tourists.
Bowling, movies and bingo target South Point as a unique locals establishment, while poker entices both locals and visitors.
“When we first opened, we had eight tables,” DiGiacomo says. “We didn’t even have a room, we had an area. Now we’re up to 11 tables and hoping to get around 20 the next time there is an expansion. We keep getting the customers in and making them happy. We cross a fine line between giving them something for nothing, like jackets, and always getting something back, in terms of the play.”
DiGiacomo learned gaming’s finance laws in an unexpected second career. The former Rhode Island surveyor came out here with his wife Emily to enjoy the Golden Years. Or was that the Golden Months?
“Retirement lasted one summer,” DiGiacomo says, laughing about the surprise expense and time gaps that accompany no work. “Here we were, 50 years old, coming to Las Vegas and thinking all our worries would be over, that here was the good life. By the fall, I was working. I went to poker school and started in the casinos. Fortunately, I’ve always gotten along with my bosses through the years.”
DiGiacomo has been in the Stations, Boyd and Gaughan families for his entire tenure. He maintains a sharp eye for industry trends and is a dependable innovator.
“You come up with different ideas to keep yourself alert,” he says. “You see what promotions and giveaways are going on and you make sure that you know what you are doing. I have friends who are poker-room managers. I steal from them, they steal from me,” he adds, laughing.
DiGiacomo has also contributed to South Point’s national publicity. It hosts Poker After Dark on NBC and High Stakes Poker on the Gaming Network. Both programs identify the property as a magnet for top players.
As for its poker operation, the casino’s top guy is an ace high.
