One Is The Loneliest Number

By Sun, Nov 27, 2016

The mystical power of the number one in the gaming industry is only surmounted by the impossibility of the number zero. Yet for many gaming companies, there are only one or even no women on their boards.

The gaming industry is all about numbers, and many of them contain an almost mystical power within and around the industry. Aficionadosof craps are brought to cheers in the casino when the numbers seven and 11 are called, and tears surface with the calling of the numbers two, three and 12. In the game of baccarat the number 9 is everything, and in blackjack it is all about 21. Try and find a 13th floor in a Las Vegas casino resort, and you will probably waste a lot of your vacation. Gamble in Macau and other Asian environs and beware of the numbers four and five, whereas six and eight are truly auspicious digits. With all of these numbers floating around, I have really been noting one particular number showing up a lot in the casino industry, and that number is one.

Allow me to illustrate:

  • If a person looks at the number of females of the 10-member board for the Las Vegas Sands Corporation they will find one.
  • If a person looks at the number of females of the 10-member Wynn Resorts Ltd. Board of Directors they will find one.
  • If a person looks at the number of females of the seven-member board of directors of MGM Growth Properties they will find one.
  • If a person looks at the number of females of the 12-member IGT PLC board they will find one.
  • If a person looks at the picture identified on Scientific Games website as “Senior Leadership,” of the 13 pictures, one is of a female.
  • If a person looks at the number of females that have served on the three-member Nevada Gaming Control Board since 1955, they will find one.
  • If a person looks at the Konami website and views the pictures of their 21 executives, they will see the picture of one woman.
  • If a person looks at the number of women on the seven-member Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, one is a woman.
  • If a person looks at the eight photos in executive bios of the Boyd Gaming site, they will see one woman (the sister of the chairman)

I suspect there is a worse number than one, and that would be zero. Again, to illustrate:

  • Zero is the number of women on the Caesars Entertainment Board of Directors.
  • Zero is the number of women on the state of Nevada’s 12-person Gaming Policy Committee
  • Zero is the number of women listed as management on the Las Vegas Sands Corporation website.
  • Zero is the number of women on the Missouri Gaming Commission.
  • Zero is the number of women on the TCS John Huxley Board of Directors.
  • Zero is the number…oh wait, the editors asked that I keep this around 400 words. It would take thousands more to finish this section.

One is the loneliest number –– and zero is an embarrassment.

Articles by Author: Richard Schuetz

Richard Schuetz started dealing blackjack for Bill Harrah 47 years ago, and has traveled the world as a casino executive, educator and regulator. He is sincerely appreciative of the help he received from his friends and colleagues throughout the gaming world in developing this article, understanding that any and all errors are his own.