Casino Profiles

Lucky Chances Casino
By Jan Fisher

Interview With Scott Fiedler

Lucky Chances Casino in Colma, California (Bay area) has much to feel lucky about. For one thing, their cardroom manager is Scott Fiedler. Another thing is Rene Medina, their hands-on owner.

Scott has worked at this property since its grand opening in June of 1998. Lucky Chances has 22 poker tables and 21 Asian games and spreads a wide variety of games at limits from $2-$4 seven-card stud to no-limit hold'em.

Bringing to this casino a wealth of experience in all aspects of gaming as well as a desire to make it a top-notch property, Fiedler has shown what a good teamwork approach can do for poker. Owner Medina has an open-door policy that makes him and all of the other management personnel totally approachable and willing to listen to customers and employees alike. Lucky Chances also has a zero-abuse policy and they enforce it to everyone's pleasure. Be good or be gone!

Scott began his casino career back in 1976 at Harrah's in Reno, Nevada, where he worked in valet. He played a lot of poker at the Hilton (downtown property) at the time. One day while playing, he was approached by Charlie Skidmore, another longtime poker executive and cardroom manager, who asked if he wanted to learn to deal. After about ten minutes of training, he was given an audition, passed, went to work there, and got into poker.

The rest is a success story and one that shows the love of the game and a passion for good employee relations. When hold'em became legal in California, Fiedler moved to the Bay area and went to work at Artichoke Joe's, The Outpost, and was on the opening team at San Pablo. He has been in management for longer than he cares to remember and considers himself a lifer at poker. I asked him what else he had done, and he didn't remember ever doing anything else besides working in poker! That is passion.

Fiedler's take on poker and it recent population explosion are that of selling a good product. He believes that poker is great entertainment and should be sold as such. It has all the attributes of other social events while being able to hold one's attention for many hours at a time. What else can folks do to be entertained for a whole day at a time? There is competition, skill, camaraderie, socialization, and an opportunity to meet, new people all the time. It is a game played on a level playing field with no difference due to sex, age, or race, and can be played for a long while or a few minutes. What a great product!

He also has realistic opinions about Internet gaming. He is all for it! He believes that players who choose to play online are not taking anything away from the live game industry, as this is all player development and will only bring new players to the game. After all, hard-core players can never replace the green felt with a computer screen. New players are able to learn to play in the privacy of their own homes without the intimidation many feel goes along with live action. Hence, players can learn to play and venture out to the cardrooms when they feel competent. I applaud this sentiment and agree with it wholeheartedly. The more poker players there are, regardless of where they are and what they are playing, the better it is for the industry.

Back to the property. Lucky Chances employs about 600 people... 250 in poker. Promotions are from within when at all possible, and there is very little turnover due to the pleasant working conditions. Rene Medina is on the property 16 hours a day and will entertain an audience with anyone. Fiedler says that this is true of the entire facility and personnel.

There is an onsite training facility where any of the employees may go for training for another job or to improve in their current position. There are many benefits for the employees including things such as valet parking and generous Christmas bonuses. Employees are the key and they are treated with respect and are valued at Lucky Chances.

The management team is young but with a wealth of experience. When meetings are held, there is often more than 150 years of expertise at the table. Professionalism is key, as is approachability to all. None of this staff seems to have forgotten from where they came, and they all worked their way up through the ranks. Walking through the cardroom, it is not uncommon to see a "suit" bend down and pick up some trash. Everyone is on a first-name basis and it's a bit like Cheers, where everyone knows your name. That includes departments and shifts.

I asked Scott what he would do differently if he had it all to do over again. He told me, "Absolutely nothing." I guess this pretty much sums it up. When you have the opportunity to visit this property, go up to Scott or Rene and introduce yourself. You may just be surprised by the welcome response that you get!

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