Cynthia Kiser Murphey
5 QUESTIONS
Cynthia Kiser Murphey
General Manager , The Palms
When the San Manuel Tribe of California decided to buy the Palms in Las Vegas , the first tribally owned casino in town , tribal leaders turned to a woman who knows Las Vegas like the back of her hand , Cynthia Kiser Murphey . Murphey spent two decades with MGM Resorts , running the human resources and later becoming general manager of New York-New York . With a small database of California gamblers , the Palms has built a loyal following by focusing on service and culture . Murphey spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros in a suite in the Palms in January . To hear a podcast of this interview , visit GGBMagazine . com .
1
What was the most difficult part of getting the Palms up and running after it had been closed for two years following the pandemic ? Murphey : That time was very much a challenge . We were extremely blessed that over 50 percent of the Palms employees agreed to return . That was what was so extraordinary and a very positive surprise for our team . Palms has a very , very special place in people ’ s hearts and in the community . We ’ ve continued to maintain an impressive number of day-one team members . And that was really the biggest challenge — getting the people back was very important .
2
How much of an advantage was it that this was a newly renovated property when you came in ? Station Casinos had invested half a billion dollars into this property . Well , the beauty of this property is a gift to the guests , to our team members and to the community . It ’ s really a beautiful property . Our tribe , our company , is very committed to the people . And the first investment the tribe made was to elevate the back of the house , the employee entrance , the lockers , the employee dining room and such . But like anything , a property that sits for two years has to be restarted . So we are very proud of this property and with the service we ’ re able to provide , because the property is the stage .
3
You didn ’ t have a great database when you started . You had the database from the San
Manuel casino , the Yaamava ’ casino , but still you didn ’ t have a large Vegas database . How did you build that ? The key difference with the Palms is that we are owned by the San Manuel . And the Yaamava ’ database is extremely loyal , and it ’ s been growing for 35 years . So to bring in new customers , we engage them with Club Serrano . And that ’ s really what our team ’ s been working on . Just because we open our doors doesn ’ t mean the customers immediately come . You have to speak to them , you have to reach them . There ’ s a lot of messaging about Las Vegas out there so we have to find our pathway to reach not only new customers , but to really activate that Yaamava ’ database , and we ’ ve done that .
4
Tell us about the demographics of the Palms customer . When the Maloofs opened this property it had the great reputation for locals during the day , and the night and the weekends were visitors from out of town . We ’ re about 60 percent local . And clearly the lion ’ s share of the non-locals come through Club Serrano and California . We find that if we give them a good reason , whether it ’ s come down for a concert or mini-gaming promotions as well as great food , they will come . We also run a really fine gifting program , which is aimed at locals . So in the end , we get really high-quality people .
5
It seems that the most important thing is most casino resorts is the culture . How did you put this culture together with the great culture San Manuel developed in California ? I think it ’ s one culture . Our tribe , our owners are people first — very focused on people , whether it be the team members , the community , or the stakeholders . That ’ s refreshing for a lot of people . To work for a company that is all about the people , the humanity , the give-back philosophy . It sounds easy , but it takes some work to really build a culture where you engage your management team and your frontline team members and everybody to serve .
“ They Said It ”
“ The combination will result in a stronger strategic positioning and significant value creation for the benefit of our shareholders and broader stakeholders .”
— Stéphane Pallez , chairman and chief executive officer of FDJ Group , on the group ’ s $ 2.83 billion takeover bid of Kindred Group
CALENDAR
April 8-11 : Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention , Anaheim Convention Center , Anaheim , California . Produced by the Indian Gaming Association . For more information , visit indiangamingtradeshow . com .
April 17-18 : East Coast Gaming Congress , Hard Rock Hotel & Casino , Atlantic City , New Jersey . Produced by Spectrum Gaming Group , Cooper Leveson and PlayDoIt . For more information , visit eastcoastgamingcongress . com .
May 7-9 : SBC Summit North America , Meadowlands Exposition Center , Secaucus , New Jersey . Produced by SBC Events . For more information , visit sbcevents . com .
May 21-23 : CasinoBeats Summit 2024 , InterContinental Malta , St . Julian ’ s , Malta . Produced by SBC Events . For more information , visit sbcevents . com .
June 3-5 : SiGMA Asia , SMX Convention Center , Manila , Philippines . Produced by SiGMA Group . For more information , visit sigma . world .
June 18-20 : Canadian Gaming Summit , Metro Toronto Convention Centre , Toronto , Canada . Produced by SBC Events . For more information , visit sbcevents . com .
August 12-14 : Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association ( OIGA ) Conference and Tradeshow , Oklahoma City Convention Center , Oklahoma City , Oklahoma . Produced by OIGA . For more information , visit oiga . org .
8 Global Gaming Business MARCH 2024