* Jim Wise, VP of Marketing at Firekeepers Casino

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:17):
A dreaming of a why Christmas, just like the ones
I used to know.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Where the tree tops. Listen and chill Dren listen to
Leslie Bells in the snow.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Jim Wise is in the house. He is well, he's
the master of the house. He's always in the house.
Vice President of Marketing at fire Keepers Casino, Tony Cuthbert
is here. It's Michael Patrick Shields with you on the
money Keeper's main stage. Thank you for being here and
more to point, thanks for having us.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
Hey, it's always our This is the perfect day to
have you here because a we can talk about all
the things upcoming at fire Keepers between Christmas and New Year's. Plus,
today's a special day for everybody here at fire Keepers
because our owners, the not alycepi here On Band of
the Potawotomy, are celebrating their thirtieth anniversary of federal recognition.

(01:20):
So this day, today, and tomorrow is going to be
a special weekend for the tribe. They have a number
of events here at the casino to celebrate that, and
we're so excited for them that they're going to have
this special weekend and this celebration. So these are exciting
days at fire Keepers. Not only because of all the

(01:41):
things we have, but because of what our owners have
been able to do and accomplish, and the fact that
they deliver not only a great resort, but they pay
two thousand employees, contribute millions to state and local and
they do so many good things for tribal members as
far as things like healthcare and education, etc.

Speaker 5 (02:00):
Et cetera. MiG witch absolutely, how that's very good. You
are well prepared as always.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
Fife asked me how I learned Italian, and I'm like,
I'm not sure I've actually learned it, but I trot
it out when I can, and they're appreciate that. Now
I've got good news for you, all right, I like it.
We have a convert among us at this table right now. Okay,
last night Tony Cuthbert and the orchestra actually tried two
new things, well three. He went to your new Embers.

Speaker 5 (02:27):
Bar up front, which we all love it.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
It's like a jewel right in front of the place.
And then he and his wife Christy went to the
noodle bar.

Speaker 5 (02:36):
Oh, they did.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
What's the real name for it? Is it a fortunate
fortunate noodle bar? And he's going to give a restaurant
if you now his mother is in the culinary business.

Speaker 4 (02:44):
Oh okay, can you handle it if he gives you
I can.

Speaker 5 (02:47):
Yes.

Speaker 6 (02:47):
So let me just say, my wife is a very
picky eater, and she's also one gluten free.

Speaker 5 (02:53):
Oh mind you.

Speaker 6 (02:55):
So when we walked in there, she was able to
spot an item on the menu with zero fear whatsoever
for her allergy.

Speaker 5 (03:02):
Let's say.

Speaker 6 (03:03):
And she had her meal, loved it. What it was,
Oh my gosh, it heads it was noodles. It was
a rice noodles, for example. So she's safe to eat that.
All good, loaded with veggies and chicken. It was top notch.
I had the I don't even know how to pronounce
it bb map bbe mop. I don't know what it was.

(03:23):
I've had it before from some other places. This was
far superior. Loved it, two thumbs up for sure on it.

Speaker 5 (03:30):
Yes, that's great.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
The intriguing thing to me is he's he was going
to go to Needy and he said, do you want
to meet us at Needby? I said, have your honeymoon
night a little bit and I'll come. I'll float intoward dessert.
And then he said, change of plans. We're going to
the noodle bar.

Speaker 6 (03:46):
Okay, it was the rice noodles. When she spotted that
on the menu, She's like, we can do this. This
is comfortable. I'm all about it as well.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
And it was fast.

Speaker 6 (03:55):
It was very very quick, and we were able to
dine just outside and sitting next to tables. People were
having a good time. It was like a party atmosphere.

Speaker 5 (04:03):
I loved it. It was great.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
That's awesome, Yeah, he was, Well, that's because part of
Noodle Bar feels like it's actually the gaming floor.

Speaker 4 (04:09):
And it came in when we put in those additional
mini baccarad tables. So I know you're saying, you know,
it's a little hard to see sometimes. So I understand that,
you know, to find Fortune eight can be a little
bit tricky if.

Speaker 5 (04:22):
You're not walking in exactly the right direction.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
That's where the old Nebe was.

Speaker 5 (04:26):
It's where the old Niebe used to be correct perfectly right.

Speaker 4 (04:29):
So it's right there with those miniboc games, and we
encourage people to come.

Speaker 5 (04:33):
Check it out for that reason.

Speaker 4 (04:35):
Not only is the food good, but man, you can
get your food and get on your way, and you know,
a lot of trips when you're not staying in the
hotel or based on time. Hey, I got here at
five o'clock, but I know I got to be out
at whatever.

Speaker 5 (04:47):
I got here.

Speaker 4 (04:48):
At six o'clock, but I got to be gone by eleven,
and I want to mix in my gaming and have
a beverage and get something to eat. So you know,
for some people, taking your time and having a more
traditional meal is great, and for some it's like, you
know what, I got to try to maximize my other time.

Speaker 5 (05:05):
So let's try to pick up the pace on the food.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
Can you eat noodles at the bakra table?

Speaker 4 (05:10):
Well, you know, we try to keep this so here's
kind of the rub. Now you think that's funny. You know,
we try to keep this four diamond resort look by
the same token. I mean, we're not stopping you, you know,
but it can get a little messy. If you're here
late at night, you will see people with like a

(05:32):
pizza from Chimani's, yes, and there'll be sneaking bites at
on a slot machine or a table game and kind
of keeping the box under their feet or down, you know,
down at their feet and then they're grabbing some pizza.

Speaker 5 (05:46):
So you know, you gotta do what you gotta do.
I guess I understand that.

Speaker 4 (05:49):
But you try to keep that fine line of we
want people coming and going, wow, this place is spotless,
and sometimes that's a little trickier when you got people
eating at the games.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
I think that's one of the fun things about the
noodle bars that when you're at a table on the outside,
you feel like you're sitting on the gaming player.

Speaker 5 (06:06):
You get some of that excitement from the minibak.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
Also, the same goes for Daisy Sportsbook. Right, you're not
removed from the casino atmosphere, so neybe you are, because
that's what it's designed to be.

Speaker 5 (06:17):
Right that it is it is.

Speaker 4 (06:18):
It's designed to be a complete getaway and an exclusive
experience and.

Speaker 3 (06:23):
Again deliver go there without going to the.

Speaker 4 (06:26):
Correct correct you can come in the hotel entrance. That
was always a challenge before.

Speaker 7 (06:30):
Oh we're having a uh you know, engagement party or
an anniversary party, your graduation or something, you know, and
we have a private dining area.

Speaker 5 (06:41):
There, so you could take that.

Speaker 4 (06:42):
If you had ten or twelve people and you want
to do something special, then we have a private dining area.
You're not even part of the rest of the restaurant,
So you know, there's a lot of options.

Speaker 5 (06:52):
There now that we never really had before.

Speaker 3 (06:55):
Now. The other conversion is for the first time Tony
Cuthbert sat down at a blackjack table yesterday. Oh really,
his first table game of anything, not even he didn't
even start with the ROULETTI it's such.

Speaker 5 (07:06):
A probably man, I'm surprised that this is down.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
And this was at around nine o'clock at night, okay,
and he just got.

Speaker 5 (07:14):
To the set this morning. They pulled him off at
that point.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
He's like, we've maybe created a monster.

Speaker 5 (07:20):
You must leave.

Speaker 6 (07:21):
So I must say, though, I had a base knowledge
for a lot of these games, but we've been doing
these different training sessions eats it every Monday with your
fantastic staff of course set up by Kinesha. Yeah, and
they're all available atmibig show dot com. That's where I
was able to gain the confidence and build it up
and have more of that build on the base knowledge.
So I sat at the table with some semblance of confidence.

Speaker 3 (07:43):
Don't say what happened yet, we'll do it as a
Cliffhank got it.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Next hour.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
We'll find out what happened in the maiden voyage of
Tony Cuthler at blackjack. Because isn't it an adage that
usually the first timers are.

Speaker 5 (07:55):
Lucky, especially at dice? Man, you get it.

Speaker 4 (07:58):
You get somebody who comes up and is like, what
do I do with these things? Or how far do
I throw them? You'll see people like reaching into their
pocket to get an extra twenty bucks to get down
on that bet. So, yes, you're a first time or
especially at dice, but I would assume black jack's the same.
We're assuming early luck in the process.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
It's early fief. Have you won any money here yet
this morning?

Speaker 5 (08:21):
Not yet? But she said yet. That's the thing. I
like that optimistic.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
I noticed quickly the table games are have black felt though.

Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah, some of that is simply some new and different designs. Now,
the great thing about the minibox is we will often
do completely new based on the year theme. So for example,
I think I think the new year and correct me
if I'm wrong. Is you're of the horse. I think
we had snake this year. So we did a design.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
Well, it's eye catching, and I've got some more questions
for you.

Speaker 5 (08:55):
I reserved the right to recall you.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
He's not sworn in, but he's.

Speaker 5 (08:59):
A true friend.

Speaker 8 (09:00):
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(09:22):
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Speaker 9 (09:29):
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Speaker 3 (10:00):
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(10:20):
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(10:43):
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