To Mr. D.W. Barrick, CEO - Barrick Gaming
REF - Plaza Hotel and Casino Card Room

I am sending you this letter to advise you of the wonderful time my wife and I had at one of your properties. We spent a week in Las Vegas and stayed at the Golden Nugget Hotel. My wife and I had come primarily to relax and play poker. Having stayed on the strip several times we decided to come downtown. It was in our plans to play about 50% of the time at the Nugget, Binion's and the Plaza and to split the other 50% of our time among card rooms along the strip. As it turned out, we never left downtown.

The reason for this was directly attributable the pleasant atmosphere and the very attentive, personable, and dedicated staff of the Plaza Hotel and Casino card room. I would especially like to commend the card room Manager Ken Bennett, Brian McCann, Jack, Jason, Ema, Sylvia and Rob. Unfortunately I failed to get every name that I should have, suffice it to say that each and every member of the staff we came into contact with did their best to make our visits not only enjoyable but also memorable. For this they deserve a very hearty “Atta boy” and encouragement to keep up this outstanding work.

I am fully aware that Barrick Gaming will probably not be involved with the management of The Plaza in the future and it is my hope that you will please take the time to pass this letter along to those who will.

By itself the Plaza card room does not really stand out. We stopped by because we saw it on the Ultimate Poker Challenge. The first thing we noticed was a negative - that the playing surfaces on the poker tables appeared worn. Then several other positive things took us: these were the size, location, and general feel of the place. It felt “homey”. The direct and close access of RESTROOMS and the cashier were a big plus. Unlike most other card rooms where one or both are set off in the “hinterlands”, they were both right there.

My first contact was with Rob who was acting as the floor for this session. From then on we were hooked. From the card room cashiers to the newbie dealers we felt we had found a home. It was the people that made our experience so worthwhile. Sometime later we met the card room Manager, Ken Bennett, who went out of his way to make us feel at home and, more than that, like part of the Plaza “family”. Brian McCann, one of your dealers of about six months, was so outgoing, funny, and affable that we wished he could have been ours most of the time. The boy actually teared up on our last day wishing us goodbye. And we are still laughing from the absolutly hilarios dealer, Jack.

You have to know that my wife and I are not high rollers by any stretch. I am a police officer and my wife is a surgery nurse. But I will tell you that we were made to feel very special and welcome at the Plaza and, because of that, we plan to return in about six months and, because of this experience, stay at the Plaza while we are there. We definitely will recommend downtown and the Plaza to our friends going to Vegas who are looking for a wonderful time and value for their dollar.

I would like to go on but I will cut it short. The Plaza card room’s strengths are its people and its feel. It really needs to be promoted as “Your Las Vegas Home Game”. It had that comfortable “home game” feel to it. Not loose or sloppy, just comfortable. That’s what pulled people in – and brought them back. Lastly, on three different occasions I was playing in the Nugget card room when someone, who I had only just met on this trip, would suggest we switch games and go over to the Plaza. At least three people did - every time.

Kindest regards,
Me