Ask most Las Vegas casino managers how much hands-on job training they got in college and they’ll say: None. Nada. Zilch.
Unless, that is, they went to NAU’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM). For aspiring gaming industry leaders, HRM offers an ace up the sleeve: a chance to learn how to deal cards, manage payment systems and organize and host a major public event from top to bottom…for college credit.
Students enrolled in Gaming and Casino Management, a unique class offered through HRM, work tirelessly with other HRM students through August and September to prepare for Casino Night, a beloved 31-year Family Weekend tradition at NAU. Bringing in an average of 1,000 visitors each year and raising nearly $1 million for scholarships and experiential learning in the last three decades, Casino Night is both an important school fundraiser and the ultimate high-stakes midterm.
“The students are pretty much running the show,” said assistant professor James Drake, who teaches the class. “They’re cashiering, dealing cards, running marketing campaigns, managing food and beverage sales, securing sponsorships, knocking on doors, making phone calls. It’s great for students to have this firsthand learning opportunity, for them to understand how it feels to want your customers to leave happy.”
Drake knows that feeling well. He spent years working at the famous Golden Nugget Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, starting his career in marketing and later moving to gaming analysis and financial analysis.
Drake often served people like “the George Clooney character in ‘Ocean’s Eleven,’ with his corral of players,” he said—and that makes him the ideal teacher for students who’d like to follow in his footsteps. Every week, Drake’s classroom becomes a practice casino, where he teaches Gaming and Casino Management and other HRM students how to deftly deal cards and chips for poker, roulette and Texas Hold ‘Em; how to manage raffle ticket and chip sales using tablet apps; and how to balance all the moving parts of a big event.
NAU junior Sydney Morrow is no card shark, but she’s passionate about event management.
A lifetime ago, Morrow was an architecture student at Arizona State University, until a major car accident derailed her school plans. Unsure of her next academic move, she found a job at an Amazon delivery station, eventually working her way up to a role in logistics coordination.
“When associates came in for the night shift, I’d give them their roles and measure the flow of their work,” Morrow said. “I was the one who trained new people and addressed any problems that came up. I loved being everywhere at once and operating in the chaos.”
The experience inspired Morrow to transfer to NAU and declare a major in hotel and restaurant management. That’s where she fell in love with the logistical puzzle of Casino Night.
“My dad worked in hospitality, and I lived in Las Vegas for two years, so I thought it was really cool that NAU had an entire class devoted to casinos,” she said. “Getting involved in Casino Night, having an opportunity to help bring an event to life—it was a no-brainer for me.”
This year, her second helping with the event, she’s taking the lead on event planning, along with seniors James Malito and Katelin Wiskirchen, who both aspire to careers in hospitality. Tables, linens, refreshments, volunteer training, marketing, security, even moving a pair of enormous decorative dice into the DüB—it all falls under her purview. She’s even polishing her blackjack skills in the unlikely event of a dealer shortage.
Morrow knows she’ll face several challenges before and during the event: Last year, she recalled with a grimace, guests sweated it out in the Pai Gow poker room as students battled problems with the air conditioning. But experience has taught her how not to panic when the chips are down.
“I feel that every time I organize an event, I learn something new and become that much more confident,” Morrow said. “That’s why this event is so cool: It gives all of us so much confidence by the time we’re ready for internships and jobs.”
Drake said that’s exactly why NAU’s Casino Night tradition endures.
“It’s a constant four hours of students interacting with the general public, possibly even dealing with some unhappy customers,” Drake said. “Their performance directly contributes to the overall success of the event. There are real stakes, real consequences. It’s experiential learning at its finest.”
Students, employees, families and members of the Flagstaff community are welcome to attend Casino Night, happening Friday, Sept. 27, from 7-10 p.m. in the du Bois Center. The event includes a live and silent auction featuring sports memorabilia, in-demand tickets and other prizes; gambling for “fun money;” a raffle; and more. Standard tickets are $25 and high roller tickets are $40, with discounts for NAU students and youth.
Jill Kimball | NAU Communications
(928) 523-2282 | jill.kimball@nau.edu