Winning hand

By Jeff Simpson

August 16, 2000 Web posted at: 2:38 PM EDT (1838 GMT)

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada (Las Vegas Review Journal) -- Cathi Wood, poker room manager at Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas since 1999, has a simple explanation for her rise to the top job at the most famous venue in poker.

"If you show up every day, if you do a good job, if you get along with people -- you'll get promoted," she said.

Wood manages the Horseshoe poker room's 70-person staff. She adds dozens of additional employees to that staff every spring when she manages poker's most important event, the World Series of Poker.

She says about half of the poker room's employees have been at the Horseshoe for more than five years, attributing the longevity to the casino's work environment.

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"People like working here," Wood said. "It's a friendly room, and we're relaxed. Most of our employees are on a first-name basis with our customers."

Located in the heart of downtown, the Horseshoe held the biggest poker games in the city until The Mirage opened in 1989. The Mirage was supplanted by Bellagio after its 1998 opening as the home of the highest-stakes games, but the Horseshoe holds its own against the many casinos that offer low- and middle-stakes games.

"Poker's grown tremendously since I started in the business in 1982," Wood noted.

She says the dramatic growth in the business has helped her poker room compete, not just against the Bellagio and Mirage on the Strip, but also against Station Casinos, Sam's Town and The Orleans, all that have significant poker operations.

Wood estimates that 60 percent of her customers are Las Vegans, many of them long-time regular players at the Horseshoe.

Asked why local players come downtown rather than to local casinos closer to many residential areas, Wood said the Horseshoe's atmosphere and good food keep customers loyal. Complimentary buffets are given to players who play for at least a few hours, she added.

Wood believes tourists, who make up about 40 percent of the poker room's customers, come to the Horseshoe because of the casino's history and reputation.

Home to the World Series of Poker for 31 straight years, she said players from around the country -- and around the globe -- want to play where the most famous names in the game have played.

"Often they'll come and play after checking out our Poker Hall of Fame or our Gallery of Champions, where pictures of the winners of the World Series' championship event are displayed," she said.

Wood's father, Bob Thompson, is a noted poker figure as well. Manager of the Stardust poker room for many years, Thompson serves as the host of the World Series and announces the play of the hands at the championship event's final table.

Wood says her poker pedigree did not make it automatic that she would follow her father into the business.

"In fact, when I was growing up, I thought I'd never work in a casino," she noted.

After recuperating from a serious automobile accident in the early '80s, Wood said she reconsidered her early reluctance to work in a casino.

"As a dealer I was able to sit down on the job," she said.

Wood said she learned the business by working all of the poker room jobs.

"When I became a brush, or when I was promoted to be a shift supervisor or poker room manager, I was nervous at first, but learned on the job and eventually gained confidence," she explained.

Wood was selected to take over the Horseshoe poker room after the casino's owner, Becky Behnen, assumed control from her brother Jack Binion.

Taking charge of the poker room also meant she'd be directing the World Series, a prospect Wood admits was daunting. Players have high expectations for the annual event held from mid-April to mid-May, and she said this year's event was the most successful ever.

"We had over 500 entrants in the championship tournament, a $10,000 buy-in, no-limit hold'em event, far more than ever before," she noted.

Wood thinks the success of the most recent World Series has translated into increased action in her poker room this summer.

"We have about 200 players on an average day, and offer hold'em, seven-card stud, Omaha high and Omaha hi-lo split games at a variety of limits," she said.

"This has been the best summer we've seen for a number of years," she added.

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