Andre Filosi thanks the blizzard that changed his life.

Mother Nature paved his Las Vegas entry by dumping an abominable amount of snow on his Rochester, N.Y., neighborhood in 1977.

“It snowed so hard that we could not even get back into our house for a couple days,” says Filosi, now the vice president and assistant general manager at Sam’s Town. “My family did not ever want to go through that again. We made a climate decision.”

For Filosi, warmth extended beyond the weather. He’s made scores of friends by way of a 23-year gaming career, mostly with Boyd. Filosi sandwiched three Sam’s Town stints around stops at Fremont and Main St. Station. He began in slot operations, obtained five promotions to become director of slots and then became rounded in finance, food and beverage, and management.

Filosi accomplished it all, essentially, under one roof. In a multi-billion dollar business ripe with advancement, Filosi prospered with one company.

“There are a lot of longtime Boyd employees,” Filosi says. “I’m here 22 years and in meetings, I’m still the new guy. If you have never worked in Boyd, you may not see the culture. This is not a political environment. It’s what’s best for you and what’s best for the company.

“It all starts with Bill Boyd. We are all on more of a first-name conversation basis in this company. It is one that is very comfortable. You feel like you make a difference in the job that you do.”

Filosi’s loyalty extends to the locals concept. He enjoys the personal nature of the market, even while more lucrative companies jockey on the Strip.

“The thing that is really good about working here, or at a property like Fremont or Main St. Station, is that you see a lot of the same people frequently,” Filosi says. “I don’t know if that happens on the Strip. I have customers who have become friends of mine. I take an interest in their family, they take an interest in mine. We exchange Christmas cards every year.

“We also attract a savvy gambler. We have slots that are looser than the norm, as we know that not all slots are created equal. We have loose pay tables. We have 20-times odds on craps.”

Filosi lists three keys for prosperity—common sense, respect for co-workers and respect for players. It’s the administrative equivalent of three 7s on the slot machine.

“When you interact with customers, it’s easy to be able to say yes,” Filosi says. “The real trick that separates those who can and can’t advance in the business is when you have a situation in which you can’t say 100 percent yes. How do you walk away and keep that customer within your organization? You have to make the customer feel that he has been listened to and respected.

The same applies to an employee, whom you may have to tell that something did not go right. If that person feels listened to and walks out of the meeting with head held high and still feels important, that’s what you want.”

Filosi salutes the technology that changes the business and the revolutions that propel it. The surge of slots, the emergence of hotel revenue and the presence of food as more than an ancillary benefit have kept things interesting.

So has the informality. It fits this personable, transplanted New Yorker.

By Dave Bontempo

Casino Connection Sports Editor Dave Bontempo is an award-winning sports writer and broadcaster who calls boxing matches all over the world. He has covered the Philadelphia Flyers in the playoffs, as well as numerous PGA, LPGA and Seniors Golf Tour events, and co-hosted the Casino Connection television program with Publisher Roger Gros.

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