ON A ROLL: Playing a winning hand

Casino hedges its bets on providing cozy ambiance

Thirty years ago, the Poker Palace casino had nine employees, one blackjack table, eight slot machines and two pool tables. At 700 square feet, it was the size of a small Las Vegas apartment.

Today, the casino at 2757 Las Vegas Boulevard North employs more than 200 people and has expanded to 30,000 square feet. It still is owned by the man who bought it in 1974: Mickey Coleman, and his wife, Laura.

Though Mickey Coleman is a shy man who, according to his wife, doesn't do interviews, Laura was more than happy to brag about her husband and Poker Palace's longevity.

"There's nothing Mickey doesn't know about the gaming business," she said. "He started as a 21 dealer. He was very frugal and saved his money. He saw a classified ad with a bar for sale that had been grandfathered in so it could have gaming tables but not a hotel. He would have two people working -- one would deal and the other would grab drinks. It was a different time."

A few years later, Laura Coleman was a recent dealer-school graduate looking for work. Mickey's then-girlfriend hired her as one of Poker Palace's advertised "live girl dealers."

"It was a (Nellis) Air Force base bar," Laura Coleman said. "Girl dealers was a big deal."

Laura was hired in August that year, she said, and Mickey's girlfriend was gone by November. The Colemans now have been married 27 years.

Laura worked as a 21 dealer at the casino for about six years. She made roast-beef sandwiches at home to sell to gamblers. It was a homey, casual environment. When the Colemans' daughter Jessica Bahel was a baby, she napped beneath the craps table.

"I worked nights," Laura said. "We had a blanket, pillow and a little TV set up for Jessica. She grew up here."

Now Bahel has a son of her own, the Colemans' first grandchild, 3-year-old Madison Bahel. Poker Palace's cafe, Maddy's Paddys, is named after him, and the child's picture is on the menu's cover. Bahel's husband, Joe Bahel, works as the casino's director of operations. The family tries to maintain the comfortable atmosphere of 30 years ago.

"This is a family business and we all care about it a lot," Joe Bahel said. "We know everyone by name. That's pretty cool."

"Some of our customers have been here all along," Laura Coleman said. "Seventy percent of our customers are locals. It's a home place for a lot of us."

Several of the casino's improvements over the years have been with the customers' comfort in mind, Coleman said. In 1994, a non-smoking slot-machine section was opened. It included a separate ventilation system.

"That's important for those who are allergic to smoke," Coleman said. "That air is very clean air."

Casino workers still push a cart full of little sandwiches around for gamblers, and when the Colemans decided to build a bingo room, they included large-bottomed chairs to "fit the customers' bottoms."

Many casino owners who began investing in property decades ago moved on to bigger, more expensive projects. But not the Colemans.

"Mickey's not interested in being Steve Wynn," Laura Coleman said. "He plays golf. We are not looking to be big, we just want to keep our customers comfortable."

Poker Palace is one of three North Las Vegas casinos -- all within about a mile of each other -- to celebrate a significant anniversary this year. The casino's neighbors, Jerry's Nugget and the Silver Nugget, each turned 40 this year.


<<--[back]