Saul Wesley grew up in Las Vegas and attended the Las Vegas Business College before getting into the gaming industry in an accounting role at the original MGM Grand, even after it became Bally’s. Wesley later worked in slot operations as both a manager and director at the Monte Carlo and is currently vice president of slot operations at Luxor Hotel & Casino. The interview with Wesley begins with a discussion of his background and the distinction between the roles of a director and of a vice president in slot management. He also describes how the slot department works with other departments in the casino, and he mentions specific mentors who have helped him in his career. The interview transitions to a discussion on what makes both a good and bad slot manager, particularly in the context of proper leadership with employees. Wesley then provides his perspectives on what customers are looking for in slots and what makes a good and appealing slot floor. He later describes the process of dealing with vendors and discusses how both free play and ticket-in, ticket-out have changed the slot industry. The interview then shifts to a Wesley’s views on how slot management has changed over the years and how the slot industry, mainly in the sense of technology, will likely continue to change. Wesley also briefly mentions his personal extent of gambling and finalizes the interview with his advice to young people who want to go into the slot industry.
World War II Naval officer, outdoors man, viola player John Watkins arrived in Las Vegas in 1955 fresh from his fellowship at UCLA, as the town’s first urologist. In this interview made two years before his 2011 death, Watkins talks about his schooling, his medical career, and medicine and medical practitioners in Las Vegas from the mid-1950s. He recalls how he met his wife, Frances (née) O’Rourke, and the Las Vegas places he, Frances, and their sons John and Brian lived. In particular, he describes their Desert Inn Country Club neighbors and neighborhood, where he and his family lived for fourteen years near the third tee. Watkins talks about his musical education and playing the viola in Antonio Morelli’s Christmas concerts. He also shares his experiences as a mountain climber who climbed Mount Charleston several times before deciding in his seventies to climb the highest peak in each of the fifty states. By the time of this interview, he and his son Brian had conquered forty-three state peaks. According to his obituary, he completed one more climb before he died at ninety years of age, for a total of forty-four highest state peaks. In an Appendix, Watkins shares his detailed wartime journal covering nine “terrible days” on a U.S. Naval ship in an undisclosed battle zone in the Pacific Theatre, 28 December 1944 – 6 January 1945.