Introduction to Just One More Hand: Life in the Casino Economy, by Ellen Mutari and Deborah M. Figart

The following is a lightly edited and abbreviated introduction to the book Just One More Hand:  Life in the Casino Economy, by Ellen Mutari and Deborah Figart, Stockton University, published in 2015 by Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD. 

This book examines the rise and consequences of state permitting gambling.  Ellen Mutari and Deb Figart, both of whom are labor economists and professors and PhDs at Stockton University, conclude that the good jobs and other economic benefits promised to local communities by corporate interests and state governments never materialized.

The book is structured along two intersecting pastures: first-person narratives from workers in major casino job categories, analysis of the economic effects of the casino business. Together, these themes lay the foundation for the authors’ analysis of whether the ‘casino economy’ has delivered on its promise of a good job, which the authors define as ‘one that helps you create a life and reinforce a positive sense of identity.’

All the jobs appear demanding and thankless. Non-automated jobs are characterized by close and constant monitoring of workers, who are often held to unattainably high output quotas.  Even the better ‘frontline service jobs in casino hotels and restaurants tend to be stratified by race, ethnicity, nationality and gender.’  And, as might be expected, management seeks to fill the ranks of employees with newer recruits who earn less than experienced staff who are jettisoned without any meaningful severance benefits.

Although the jobs are not quite Dickensian in their wretchedness, working conditions in casinos are at times dangerous and all too often degrading and demoralizing. Safety issues are especially prominent in kitchen and guestroom work, where exposure to cutting and slicing machines or to harmful cleaning chemicals is part of the job.  Only after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was called in did management supply gloves and masks, though of inferior quality.

Dealers speak of being the target of crass behavior: players spitting at them, screaming at them, fondling them, or shouting obscenities at them. And for all this, many casino jobs are poorly paid so that workers depend heavily on tips from customers. ‘Entry level dealers at the lower end,’ Mutari and Figart write, ‘do not earn the federal minimum wage as a base wage.…’ 

The result of all this is predictable: a greater disconnect between management and labor, with workers showing less commitment to the job. As one worker notes, ‘I kinda changed my attitude over the years. I don’t really want to take anything in this job too seriously.’ The casino economy, we learn, may have provided jobs, but hardly the ‘good jobs’ defined by the authors.

The other promise of the casino economy was to contribute to the communities in which they operate. Here, too, the compact falls short.

Legalized gaming has often been defended as a source of tax revenues for worthier activities like infrastructure improvements, education, and the creation of a local economic environment in which small businesses can prosper. The gaming industry was nurtured by state-funded development subsidies that diverted tax revenue from projects that more directly benefited taxpayers and their community. Funding was taken from public services and redirected to powerful corporate entities, with the expectation that casinos would ultimately generate public benefits in the form of decent jobs, economic renewal, and improved neighborhoods. All of this rings hollow to Mutari and Figart, who carefully document how the government-sponsored casino industry exemplifies predation. They find ‘no reason to believe that any added profit will be reinvested locally’ and point out that, in New Jersey, tax revenues from casino gambling have not met expectations.

One should also note that, with the proliferation of casinos and legalized gambling, the gaming centers no longer have a monopoly on generating revenue; the fragmentation of the industry across geographical lines means that an increasing number of locations are competing for a share of finite revenue. Once-booming gambling meccas like Atlantic City have seen many casinos close; the surrounding neighborhoods have become more run-down; and the industry’s workforce has been pushed into unimproved poverty zones outside the hermetically sealed casino walls. It is doubtful that economic benefits to communities have simply been delayed; there are no evident economic pressures to rebuild the impoverished neighborhoods located in proximity to the casinos.

This book is a clearly written and fascinating overview of the casino gaming business model, and of two key related issues: the worsening plight of service sector workers and the diversion of public resources in support of private interests on the basis of false promises.