LuAnn Pappas
5 QUESTIONS
LuAnn Pappas
President and CEO , Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort
LuAnn Pappas spent 30 years with the Harrah ’ s / Caesars organizations , working in many jurisdictions . But when the owners of the Scarlet Pearl in D ’ Iberville , Mississippi , Bob and Dolores Granieri , came calling , she made the jump . It was right after she had suffered a major heart attack , but she was ready for the challenge . Today , the Scarlet Pearl is one of the most successful casinos on the Gulf Coast . She sat down with
GGB Publisher Roger Gros in the newly created players ’ lounge in the property in September . To hear and see a full GGB Podcast of this interview , visit GGBMagazine . com .
1
GGB : Explain what this property was like when you first got here .
Pappas : When I first got here , I was in a hard hat on an outside elevator . It was under construction when I came down to see it after the family told me they were building in Mississippi , which intrigued me because I had been here after Katrina to help reopen the Grand casino . At that time , I had lived in New Orleans , lived here , went back to Atlantic City , and then ultimately took this job .
2
You ’ ve had lots of experience in the industry , mostly with Caesars / Harrah ’ s Entertainment .
What ’ s it like to come to a property where it ’ s owned by one family and you don ’ t have all that corporate oversight ? It ’ s been an amazing experience . As you know , I worked for Caesars 30 years . I started in the gift shop on the graveyard shift . This has been a big change and a welcome change . It ’ s very , very different because it is a single family-owned casino , their one and only casino venture . It ’ s just been an unbelievable ride ever since .
3
You had to develop a corporate culture here because it was a brand new property . What did you bring from Caesars and what did you institute on your own ? Well , it ’ s actually the opposite . We didn ’ t want a corporate culture . We wanted to really hit home that this is a family-owned business , that we care about you , we care about the community , and we care about our customers . We opened up saying we have three missions — clean , friendly and safe . What we do for you , the associates , what we do for our customers , and most importantly , what we do for the community . And what did I bring from Caesars ? It really was the original Harrah ’ s days , when it was Phil Satre , Mike Rose and seven properties .
4
Let ’ s talk about the Southern Mississippi market . What is your market in terms of where your players come from ? It is very different than what I was used to , because at Harrah ’ s , it was more regional and national . We are probably 80 percent local . Customers come on average 14 times a month , predominantly female and obviously predominantly slots . Now , the big operators like Caesars and MGM , meaning the Beau Rivage , do fly in a pretty significant amount of charter planes . So we do get customers that visit from other markets . We see that when we pull the database .
But remember , when we opened , it was without a database . We might be the only casino I know in the country that started with nothing . So it was a struggle . As we sit here today and look back , there were times where we didn ’ t think we were going to make it . The first two years were rough when we were getting used to the dynamics of marketing to an ultra-high-frequent local customer .
5
What is your best season at Scarlet Pearl ?
Typically the first quarter is the best quarter , which is the opposite of the other markets I ’ ve worked in . But remember , you ’ ve got Mardi Gras , President ’ s weekend , Valentine ’ s Day … Up north , you always had snow storms , so you suffered there . We don ’ t have to worry about that . We have hurricane season , yes , but the first quarter ’ s the best quarter , and actually the seasons here are all pretty even except that pop you do get in the first quarter .
“ They Said It ”
“ We ’ re working actively on this right now and working quickly to get this out as high priority . We expect Dragon Train to continue to be a franchise in our portfolio for many years to come .”
— Matt Wilson , CEO of Light & Wonder , in a video statement addressing the IP and copyright suit from Aristocrat that has halted the sale of L & W ’ s Dragon Train series .
CALENDAR
November 11-14 : SiGMA Europe , Mediterranean Maritime Hub , Xatt il-Mollijiet , Marsa , Malta . Produced by SiGMA Group . For more information , visit sigma . world / europe .
November 27-28 : Eastern European Gaming Summit , Inter Expo Center , Sofia , Bulgaria . Produced by the Association of Gaming Industry in Bulgaria . For more information , visit eegamingsummit . com .
November 27-28 : GAT Caribe Cancun , Cancun International Convention Center , Cancun , Mexico . Produced by 3A Producciones . For more information , visit gatevents . net / gat-cancun-2024
December 2-4 : Thai Entertainment Complex Summit , Bangkok Marriott Hotel The Surawongse , Bangkok , Thailand . Produced by Winna Media . For more information , visit winnamedia . com .
December 4 : Global Regulatory Awards , Grand Connaught Rooms , London , U . K . Produced by Vixio . For more information , visit gamblingcomplianceawards . com .
December 3-5 : Certificate in Gaming Leadership , River Spirit Casino , Tulsa , Oklahoma . Produced by the OSU Spears School of Business . For more information , visit business . okstate . edu .
December 9-11 : Global Symposium on Racing , Loews Ventana Canyon Resort , Tucson , Arizona . Produced by the University of Arizona . For more information , visit rtip . arizona . edu .
January 20-22 : ICE Barcelona , Fira Barcelona Gran Via , Barcelona , Spain . Produced by Clarion Gaming . For more information , visit icegaming . com .
February 23-25 : SiGMA Eurasia , Dubai Festival City , Dubai , United Arab Emirates . Produced by SiGMA Group . For more information , visit sigma . world / eurasia .
February 25-27 : SBC Summit Rio , Riocentro , Rio de Janeiro , Brazil . Produced by SBC Events . For more information , visit sbcevents . com / sbc-summit-rio .
8 Global Gaming Business NOVEMBER 2024