It’s no fluke that Alan Feiner, of the Bellagio poker room, sets a standard by running the most professional poker satellites in the world. Feiner is personable with the pros, makes new players comfortable within seconds, turns out more satellites than Starbucks does coffee and when asked a question he knows the answer. I had a chance to sit down with Feiner last week to discuss his long poker room career, what it’s like working at the Bellagio and how much he appreciates his job.
Michele Lewis: How long have you been in the gaming industry?
Alan Feiner: This November it will be 28 years.
ML: Did you start in Las Vegas?
AF: I started in downtown Las Vegas at the Western Casino and learned how to deal in a little two-table card room for a year or so and then came to the strip. Then I worked back downtown again from 1982 until 1990. And I’ve been with The Mirage Resort Company since 1990; it’s been almost 17 years. I was in the Mirage poker room for 8 years and in October I’ll have been here at the Bellagio poker room for 9 years. Since the first day we opened.
ML: Did you play a lot of poker before you worked in a poker room?
AF: I played a lot of poker back in Brooklyn New York. Matter of fact, the Rabbi’s son ran a poker game at the synagogue back in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. So, I used to play poker and check out the horses occasionally. After I got an accounting degree, I bummed around about 9 months then moved out to Vegas and the rest is history. I tell people I have a B.S. in poker [laughing]. A lot of B.S.
ML: Do you still play?
AF: I used to years ago but now there are too many time constraints and I’ve lost a lot of interest. I didn’t necessarily play for entertainment, I played to win and when I saw myself not playing my “A” game I gave it a rest. But after the first of the year I think I’m going to start playing and try and learn this no limit Holdem. You can lose money fast but you can win it a lot faster than you can playing limit.
I don’t play as many tournaments as I would like but the ones I have played, I’ve played well. [Smiling] I haven’t really won anything but I find myself learning something each time I play. I’m getting close, I’m going to win a tournament soon.
ML: What do you think of all the big tournaments at the Bellagio, like the WPT events?
AF: Well, we have three or four events a year, we just finished up with the Bellagio Cup in July. The next major tournament we’re having will be at the end of November into December, it’s the Five Diamond World Poker Classic with the Doyle Brunson tournament, which will be December 12-18. It’s a 15k event, last year we got over 500 players, I don’t see why we wouldn’t get that many this year. First prize should be a couple million.
ML: There’s no Festa al Lago tournament this year?
AF: There’s no Festa al Lago this year, hopefully it will be re-established next year. We ran into a difficulty with space and couldn’t get around it. But the tournament in December has always been a huge tournament so we don’t see why it won’t be as big, if not bigger than last year.
ML: What exactly is your position in the poker room now?
AF: Right now I’m the poker operations manager, I was the training manager but then I got involved with the tournaments. I help Jack McClelland (director of poker tournaments) organize the tournaments, I put the satellite program together and I’m pretty much Jack McClelland and Doug Dalton’s (director of poker operations) right hand man.
ML: Jack’s considered one of the best tournament director’s in the world. What’s it like working with him?
AF: I’ve known Jack for about 25 years. I’ve had the pleasure of working with him the past five years since he’s come to the Bellagio. I’ve learned an awful lot from Jack and we have become very close and I attribute a lot of my success to him. He gave me an opportunity, he knew that I was capable and it’s worked out well. The tournaments are going well.
ML: Do you prefer the daily tournaments in the poker room or the big events that move into The Fontana Lounge?
AF: I like the big events because it’s a lot more fast and furious. I enjoy organizing the throngs of people coming in. It’s a lot busier, time goes by quick, there’s a lot more excitement with a major event going on rather than the daily event. Yes, the major events are what I prefer.
I crank out them satellites. When the people are here we get them cranked out. Double the price, half the players, whatever we gotta do to make it work. I started satellites where it was one hand because we were out of time. Whatever it takes to produce. I enjoy the operations more than I did necessarily the human resources side of poker. I enjoy dealing more with the customers than I did the hiring. It was a greater learning experience (managing) but I prefer this much more.
ML: True but there’s a problem with that and the problem is…when anybody goes anywhere else to play a satellite they are spoiled from playing here. I hear complaints at all the other tournaments like “this would never happen at the Bellagio.”
AF: Its very flattering, very flattering. Matter of fact, Tony Kofman wrote a new book and on page 232 he wrote about me. He called me the king of satellites [laughing].
ML: Really?
AF: He just gave me a signed copy. It’s a very funny book with a lot of good anecdotes in there. I told Tony I appreciated the acknowledgment and recognition. I was so thrilled that I changed my license plate to “page 232.”
ML: You did?
AF: [Chuckling] Not true. But I did tell him that. Tony wrote that Kirk Kerkorian (who bought the Mirage Resorts in 2000) should have a picture of me on his nightstand.
ML: Do you have any favorite pros you look forward to seeing?
AF: I have a lot of customers from all over the world. I won’t mention any by name but I have become very good friends with a lot of them. I enjoy the interaction with the customers. It’s something I look forward to as much as running the satellites or tournaments. I like meeting and seeing the people maybe once or twice a year and the greeting I get from a lot of them. I remember a lot them by first name and they appreciate that.
ML: Do you ever play poker when visiting your son in Texas?
AF: He took me to a game he and his buddies were playing in and the house was taking 10% no max. After two or three hours I took him outside and told him “if you ever come back here I’ll shoot you.” Not literally. But at the end of the day this guy running the game is going to get all the money. I gave him a good example of how fast that money will disappear over the course of the night, you don’t have a chance. I think the game is gone because everyone went broke.
ML: What’s the craziest thing you ever seen in a poker room?
AF: I wouldn’t say crazy but there are some different personalities and characters in this business. Some of them scream at the top of their lungs and make spectacles of themselves. After 28 years I could write a book about all the people I’ve come across. When they win they’re the best players and when they lose it’s a bad beat.
A funny line I heard was…what’s the difference between Phil Hellmuth and God? God doesn’t think he’s Phil Hellmuth. Linda Johnson said that at one of the WPT tapings, I thought that was pretty funny. He’s a character and he’s done a lot for poker. He has eleven bracelets and that didn’t happen by accident.
ML: You’ve probably seen a lot, you should write a book.
AF: Not only a book but a television show, between the employees and the customers it would be the funniest show. Especially with poker so popular, it could be funnier than Seinfeld. Did you watch Seinfeld?
ML: Of course.
AF: Here’s a true story. Jason Alexander was playing and I introduced myself as a huge fan of the show. Later when he was cashing out at the cage he only had a few chips and I said, “Jason, looks like your chips are suffering from significant shrinkage.” I made Jason Alexander laugh after all the years he made me laugh.
ML: Do you ever find yourself stopping in the Fontana Lounge to watch the fountains?
AF: [Passionately] I do that all the time. I walk out there sometimes…it is by far the greatest poker room in the world second to none.
As far as the view, people have the ability to go out for some fresh air or to smoke, we don’t allow smoking in the Fontana Lounge, which is good. I find myself all the time, I mean… being here everyday I am just amazed at this establishment. I love just looking and seeing…I appreciate working here.
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