Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort announced on Tuesday, March 12 that Ron Hager is this year’s winner of Caesars Entertainment’s Midsouth Regional Chairman’s Award. Hager, table games director at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, was charged with implementing traditional table games after live gaming was approved in June 2012. By mid-August, Harrah’s Cherokee had hired over 700 dealers and went live with 12 traditional table games; by years’ end, the resort had over 100 traditional table games on the casino floor. The resort plans to increase this number to 155 by summer.
Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort director of table games Ron Hager, center, won the Caesar’s Entertainment Midsouth region Chairman’s Award for the category of innovation. Hager was nominated for the high honor by senior leadership including Brooks Robinson (left), Harrah’s Cherokee senior vice president and general manager, and Lumpy Lambert, assistant general manager of casino operations. (Harrah’s Cherokee photo)
“When we were approved for traditional gaming, we knew we had to have an aggressive plan of attack for table games,” said Lumpy Lambert, Harrah’s Cherokee assistant general manager of operations. “Ron proactively approached regulators and vendors to get the rules set and the games certified. He also worked closely with our recruiting team to identify staffing needs.”
Hager said, “Looking back on the whole transition, the most challenging part was keeping our existing digital tables running while also introducing a large amount of live games. It’s truly an honor to be recognized because my department and I have been working hard to make this a success.”
Brooks Robinson, Harrah’s Cherokee senior vice president and general manager, related, “Ron took on a huge task of opening up traditional gaming, but his calm nature never wavered. He brought his department together, and now Harrah’s Cherokee is moving up the Caesars rankings for table games revenue.”
Caesars Entertainment’s Chairman’s Award program celebrates and rewards the success of top performing employees in the areas of Leadership, Superior Guest Service, Superior Internal Service, Innovation and Community Service. Winners are selected at the property level, then advance to the regional level, then to the company level. Company winners will be announced later this spring.
– Harrah’s Cherokee
