Vol. 4, No. 1, January 2008
RSS Feeds
Betting on the bettors
Carol Boyd built her career catering to the guests at Sam’s Town’s race and sports book
Boyd, who is Sam’s Town director of race and sports/keno, made an unusual gaming entry. She was recovering from a bad car accident when she took a part-time position at Sam’s Town in 1990. She began in the race and sports to pass time, make money and prepare the next career step.
But she got addicted.
“Once you get race and sports in your blood, it’s there forever,” Boyd says. “It’s very fast-paced. You love the customers, the games, the horse racing, and the whole package. We have one of the most exciting jobs in the entire casino. It’s never the same job, day to day.”
The occupation became even more exciting for Boyd in the last year. The company tabbed her to direct Sam’s Town’s $20 million sports-book expansion. It produced a new book, 15,000 square feet of floor space, 203 televisions, two projection screens and an upgraded Billy Joe’s Bar, lounge and deli. The new area, Sam’s Town’s first race-and-sports-book enhancement in 24 years, opened to rave reviews three months ago.
“The ‘Wow!’ factor is there,” Boyd said. “We get plenty of comments about how great this is from the players. We are wall-to-wall every Sunday for football and we’ve also done a great deal to take care of the race players.
“You come to work every day and think about how beautiful this all is. I am extremely proud that Boyd Gaming made me a part of this process. I think we have the number one book out there right now.”
Boyd works for… well… Boyd. That’s just coincidence. There is no family resemblance between this California native and the gaming giant that employs her. Yet Boyd knows all about family businesses. She ran one in Las Vegas with her husband and grew up helping one in California.
“My father was a tool and dye maker,” Boyd indicates. “He was a plastic injectionist. I like to joke that I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth, instead of a silver spoon.
“You learn a lot from being in a business environment. It teaches you, even today, to run everything as though it was your own business.”
Carol Boyd was a rare female race and sports book director 15 years ago. The female executive concept has grown enough to almost become a footnote. Boyd has about 40 people reporting to her and leads by example.
“Since we’ve opened the new book, the lines are very long,” Boyd says. “If it’s important for me to direct traffic, go out there and make the lines flow more smoothly, that’s what will be done. Whether you are talking about paperwork, contracts, dealing with customers and employees, the day-to-day operations ensure that you will do everything.
“That’s fine with me. I absolutely love my job. After 18 years, there still is no burnout factor.”
The company gave Boyd more ammunition to love it. Technological advancements give the Sam’s Town book two 10-foot projection screens, 15 103-inch plasma screen televisions, 12 of the 65-70 inch varieties, 161 individual race carousels, and, the mother of all advancements, self-betting terminals. There are Interactive Player Terminals (IPTs) that allow players to wager without leaving their seats.
For the bettor, it’s utopia. For Boyd, it’s another reward for a smart career choice.
