Lee Rice has a personal dislike for two four-letter words: free time. The long-time Las Vegas gaming executive, now the director of player development for the Morongo Casino in Cabazon, remembers honoring a non-compete clause for Bally’s in 2001.

“I bravely told my wife that I would be entering retirement,” Rice said. “After two weeks, she wanted to throw me out of the house. After two months, I wanted to jump off a building!”

Aware he was designed to stay in motion, the Hailey, Idaho native moved to California, first to the Spa casino and now the Morongo Casino, 20 minutes west of Palm Springs.

As director of player development, Rice enjoys the business that nurtured him since the late 1960s. He spent nearly 35 years working in Las Vegas at the Golden Nugget, Caesars Palace, the Mirage, Bellagio and Park Place. From cashier to vice president of marketing, and perhaps a dozen jobs in between, he grew along with Las Vegas.

Rice honed a multi-faceted vantage point. He watched the desert evolve from an informal, effective destination into a corporate giant. Rice witnessed the best of two worlds.

“This has been some business to be in,” Rice said. “Looking back, I’m glad I did not miss the chance to be schooled by some of the ‘wise guys’ or old-timers, tough guys, the mob guys, whatever you want to call them. I learned a lot from them. A lot of their basic ideas we still live with, especially the idea of really knowing how to take care of a customer. What really impressed me was that they were very good with their players. If a customer was in there playing, he was treated as an individual, not a commodity. In the gaming world today, so many people are treated as a product.

“I’m happy for what the old-time guys taught me, but at the same time, they could not have made Las Vegas what it is today. They didn’t understand anything other than tables. It took Atlantic City, actually, to show us the potential in slots.”

Rice learned from his mentors and was able to grow during a relatively informal time.  It was an ideal era to climb the gaming ladder. He was a credit expert during the utopian days when Caesars Palace ruled the gaming world. It was the most noted special-events destination in the world, and the first to realize the relationship between events like boxing and the potential to bring in high-rollers. Whether he was approving credit lines or dabbling in the unofficial world of hosting, Rice was at the heart of multi-million dollar action.

The jobs in credit helped him identify what players could handle and provided an foundation of ethics he retains now.

“It might be strange to say the old tough guys had a lot of integrity, but they did,” Rice recalled. “Let’s say you’re a customer from back east and I’m the host at Caesars Palace. I know that you have another host at the Dunes, and let’s say they brought you out to Las Vegas. I would never consider going over to the Dunes (which was only next door at the time; now it’s the site of the Mirage) and trying to take the business away. The Dunes had an investment in you and I’m not going to jump in.

“Today, it’s totally different. Now, not only will a host call on a player in another property, but will walk right in and hand out business cards. To me, that’s just not right.”

Hosting became a natural extension for Rice, because he grew into a position that had not existed before. The skill became invaluable to him as the gaming landscape changed.

“I was the first one ever at Caesars Palace,” he said, laughing. “Just prior to Atlantic City opening up, it really was the place in the gaming world. The excitement was incredible.”

Rice put it all together as the vice president of casino marketing for Caesars. Credit, special events, hosts and other departments reported to him, creating a staff of about 50 team members.

“My management style was to get somewhat personal with everybody,” he said. “No matter what a person’s level, he can talk to me at any time. I’ve never been one to manage by fear. You always take the view that there is a company to take care of and we are all going to be taking care of it. Let’s have that mutual understanding of doing what’s best for the company.”

Rice markets Morongo with the same open, unpretentious air of a man from a small town.

“Hailey (just below Sun Valley) doesn’t have too many people,” he said, chuckling about his hometown. “I was in the biggest high school graduating class they ever had. Forty-nine students.”

With small-town charm, Rice has enjoyed gaming’s big cities.

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.