June 2003 Getting Connected Richard Wilk, Senior Casino Host, Mandalay Bay By Rob Wiser Casino Player Magazine

For players who want the star treatment, Richard Wilk is your best bet in Vegas

If you want to experience the very finest Las Vegas has to offer, then Richard Wilk is a name you want to know. As a senior executive host at Mandalay Bay, his business, as he describes it, is to "take care of people." Whether that means arranging private jets and penthouse suites for high rollers and movie stars, or helping the average customer have the smoothest, most enjoyable vacation possible, Wilk is a dynamo who seems capable of moving heaven and earth with a single cell phone call. At only 35 years of age, he epitomizes the new breed of casino hosts–young, razor-sharp, and completely wired into the pulse of Las Vegas. His customers consider him a friend, and in his old school Italian way, he considers them "family."


His background is as colorful as the city where he plies his trade. Born in Canada, he began as a nightclub bouncer and movie stuntman. A longtime student of the martial arts, he trained with the Special Forces and then went into the bodyguard business. Wilk eventually headed up his own executive protection team, which earned a rep as Toronto’s finest, guarding the US’s top politicians, executives and entertainers when they came to town.

Soon Wilk would be taking care of VIP’s in a different sense. He migrated to Atlantic City to take a host position with the Sands casino, then moved to Las Vegas to work for the Monte Carlo. Next came a stint at the Hard Rock, where he took care of scores of celebrities and earned a reputation as one of the city’s most connected hosts.

Wilk recently moved to Mandalay Bay, which he calls a "homecoming" since it reunites him with the Ensign and Richardson families, the casino owners who gave him his first Vegas gig at the Monte Carlo. In one of his rare moments away from the action, Wilk sat down with Casino Player to explain the demands and rewards of being a host at one of the Strip’s hottest properties, and more importantly, what he can do for you.

Describe the job of a casino host

We make the players comfortable. We judge their play and qualify them accordingly to see how much they deserve in comps. If you play in our casino, we’ll make sure you get whatever you deserve. But it doesn’t stop there. Players look to us for dinner reservations, tickets to shows and fights, who you know at the nightclubs so you can get them in, and so on. It never stops. You’re there to make them comfortable and take care of them to the full extent.

How do you form relationships with new customers?

New customers usually come by word of mouth. Sure, you can do some sneaky things to get new players, but I like references from people that have experienced first-hand what I can do for them. It all starts with a phone call if you haven’t played with us. You’re sitting at a table [gambling], and I might get a call or I might see you playing. I’ll check and see if you’ve got a host; if you don’t, I’m going to go up and meet you, give you my card, and tell you "if there’s anything I can do for you, please feel free to call me. If you’re not staying here, try calling me and let me take care of you next time. And when you’re ready to leave, call me–we’ll get you sent out in a limo, back to wherever you’re going." That’s how it starts in the table games business.

Sounds like an offer that’s hard to refuse

By the end of the conversation, they’re usually telling me they’d like to come stay a couple of days before they leave. (laughs) They see that I’m genuine; I’m actually offering them something in anticipation of their play. They may have only been [at the table] forty minutes, but they’re betting black chips, and I can see they’re going to be sitting there for awhile. Or maybe they had a buy-in of $500 or $1,000 right off the bat without staying at the property. That tells me a lot, what you’re willing to risk. Comps will depend on the rate of your play. If you’ve never been to the property, then call me. It’s just a call away, and I can find out how you played anywhere else, and I’ll comp you the same. (smiling) But I’ll take care of you better.

With Vegas being a 24/7 town, and VIP’s showing up at all hours, are you ever really off duty?

The 5am, 6am phone calls I get…it seems like I should live at the property. But as long as you’re armed with a cell phone or two, and the ability to organize, you’ll get by just fine. The nice thing about Mandalay Bay is that everybody here is part of a team. Because of that team, it makes the place run a lot smoother. It makes me not have to be here 24 hours a day; I can rely on my teammates. But sometimes [a player] wants the one person that they can always go to. The other night I had a guy come in from (another Strip property), who said he had seven people trying to get the same job done for him. By the time he got through all of them, he was tired. He wants to come in and have it be hassle-free. So I told him to call me directly for everything. I give everyone my cell number.

When you want to show some customers a good time, where do you send them?

Being at Mandalay Bay, I find I don’t really need to send them anywhere. We’ve got award-winning restaurants and nightclubs. Or I can send them over to Ra, the nightclub at our sister property, the Luxor. The occasional bachelor party needs to go to a gentleman’s club, so I send them to the best–the back VIP entrance of the Crazy Horse Too.

Then of course there are the celebrities…

There’s not a lot of celebrities who gamble; a lot of them love to just come out and relax. I’ve been fortunate to take care of Mike Piazza, Joe Pesci…I became friends with a lot of the cast from the Sopranos, who come out once in awhile just to hang out. Great bunch of people. I’ve had Eminem come over after a concert and I threw an afterparty for him. Matt Damon, almost five years ago, stopped by and had dinner at the Monte Carlo. I took him over to the Hard Rock. Now I’m looking at introducing him to Mandalay Bay. Beautiful actresses like Susan Ward, Kelly Hu…a lot of pro athletes…there’s too many to list.

Any brushes with fame that really stand out in your mind?

One of the biggest people I’ve gotten to meet was Jimi Hendrix’s dad. On his last birthday (before he passed away) he came to the Hard Rock with his daughter and her husband. I had him playing craps for two hours. We brought a chair over to the table–he was in a wheelchair–and he rolled craps for almost two hours. I believe he was eighty-two years old. And you know what? He had fun and he won some money. That was an honor.

You’ve said that you consider your regular customers "family"

I’m very old school when it comes to taking care of people; I guess it’s the Italian in me. I believe in respect and keeping to my word, and that goes both ways between myself and the players. It’s never a hustle when I try to get them in, it’s genuine. I want to see them. I want them to come join me for a getaway from their daily lives, or even just have dinner with me. Being friends just confirms the strength of the relationship. With me, they can always say they have a friend at Mandalay Bay, and that goes a long way.

And the fact that you’re "their guy in Vegas" often makes you family to them as well

Once you gain their trust, they’ll rely on you to take care of their most important occasions. Maybe an anniversary, or their parents are coming out…something that’s so important to them that they count on you to take care of it to the fullest extent. You know what? That’s a privilege. And that’s what friends do.

On today’s Las Vegas Strip, the competition for high rollers must be fierce. How do you keep your customers coming back to Mandalay Bay?

Have you seen this property? (smiles) The best Las Vegas has to offer is right here. Mandalay Bay is a city within a city with the comforts of home. It’s a place you never have to leave; we have everything. The levels of service are above and beyond anywhere else in town. All of it makes it so much easier for me when I invite you in. When you call me, I personally handle every detail of your visit. I’m available 24 hours, seven days a week, always at the convenience of my guests. With me, you’ll always experience service as it is meant to be–that’s a saying that I’ve used for a number of years.

At what level of play should someone start dealing with a host?

I’d say if you play slots or tables at a level that allows you to be comped something, then you definitely need a host. But I’ll deal with anyone in the casino, and I’ll help first-timers learn what it takes to get comped. Hosts sometimes forget that every player started with that first bet somewhere, and grew into great players or even whales. It’s all called player development.

How do you decide when, and how much, to comp players?

It’s all a formula. When you play tables, it’s your average bet and time that calculates what you qualify for. The higher the average and the longer the time, the more benefits we can give. For slot players, it’s the amount of coin in and time you put into the machine that gives you the comps and great cashback opportunities. Unfortunately, and it does happen, some people lose really quick, and casinos won’t give them back anything in comps. But not here. We understand that, and take it into consideration when looking at your bill or your comps.

Then there are the really huge players–the whales–where the sky is the limit

If you’re a big enough player, we’ll pay for your jet fuel to get here. We’ll take care of your plane ride, put you in our best suites that have a private elevator down to the private gaming salon. We’ll send the wife on a shopping spree. When you’re that big, comps are unlimited–we’ll accommodate you the best way we can.

Mandalay Bay seems especially well equipped for that level of action

The Crystal Room is our high-limit pit, which has private rooms for gaming in the back. It’s for the big players who want privacy. Mandalay Bay has some of the finest suites available, and there’s the fact that you can ride a private elevator, by key access only, down to your own casino.

What if one of your customers wants to visit another property, to do some gambling or check out a nightclub? Do you try to discourage them from leaving the property?

It’s an unwritten rule in the casino industry: Keep the player underneath your roof for the duration of their stay. With a property like Mandalay Bay you never really have to leave, and that’s great. But sometimes it’s inevitable, so I’m pragmatic about it. I’ll send them to another host that’s a friend of mine, and make sure he makes me look good. It’s all about being confident in your property, and in your ability to give the very best service. With Mandalay Bay as my foundation, I have no fear of any other casino.

Why’d you make the move from the Hard Rock to Mandalay Bay?

The Hard Rock was a good stepping stone, but my respect and loyalties have always been with the Ensign and Richardson families. They gave me my start five years ago in Vegas at the Monte Carlo. Back then, they threw caution to the wind and moved me out here from Atlantic City, so I owe a lot to them. The rest is history in the making. It was time to move up to the very best Vegas has to offer, and here I am. Senior host at Mandalay Bay. It’s great.

What would you say to someone who’s been coming out to Vegas for years, but hasn’t given Mandalay Bay a try?

You should ask yourself this: are you caught up staying at the same casino-hotel year after year, not knowing if you can get the same comps at another place? Somewhere that’s newer, more exciting, more fun? Or maybe you need to change your luck? Call me. I’ll show you what you’re missing.

What you do, it sounds like more than a job. It’s a lifestyle

Most definitely. If you enjoy what you do, it’s not really a job. I don’t call it a job. I create fun and excitement for people when they come to Vegas. I affect people’s lives in a positive way. I make sure when they get here it’s hassle-free, drama-free, so they can concentrate on winning a fortune. When they leave, they’ve had a great time. They go back and tell a bunch of people "I have this great guy in Vegas who took care of us." I’m talked about when you leave, and that makes me feel good. When they say thanks, that they had a great time, that means everything to me. So if that’s a job, then I’ve got the best job in the world.

Any parting words for the players out there you have yet to meet?

I’m here to help you enjoy your time in Vegas to the fullest. If you’re a player who’s ready to be taken care of in the manner that you deserve, just call Mandalay Bay and ask for me by name, or email me, or stop by and say hello. Your best bet in Vegas is on me.

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