In 1959, Gary Platt was on a business trip to Las Vegas for L&B West, a restaurant-furniture manufacturer based in Santa Monica, California. One night, he stopped at a casino to play blackjack.
The stool he sat on, Platt recalls, “was rickety and uncomfortable.”
“I was wondering why it was so uncomfortable, given that the idea is to get somebody in a comfortable seat and keep them there,” says Platt, now 95, during a Zoom call. “I could see it was an expensive stool, but it just wasn’t what it should be. As a salesman, my blood pressure went up.”
That single wobbling stool changed the rest of Platt’s life. And while he won’t be at next week’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas — age- and COVID-related concerns prevent his attendance — his effect on the gaming industry will be felt by not only the company that bears his name, but by almost every exhibitor at the convention.
Bob Yabroff and Gary Platt, undated photo
Platt not only advocated for comfortable chairs at blackjack tables, but he’s responsible for convincing casinos that slot machines would still be profitable if patrons were sitting down. His ability to forge relationships and endear himself to clients came into play when Leonard Einhorn, with whom he worked at L. B. West, and Bob Yabroff bought a spinoff company that became Gary Platt Manufacturing 20 years ago.
“They put a piece of paper in front of me and said everybody calls looking for you, you’re the one promoting everything, the new company is going to be called Gary Platt Manufacturing, here, sign this,” he says. “How could I say no? They made me famous.”
“At Gary Platt Manufacturing, we are proud of our history with the living legend, Mr. Gary Platt,” says CEO Joe Esposito. “Gary’s knowledge, energy, and drive helped to propel the business from the start of the company over 20 years ago and he continues to deliver that energy so many years later. He is a treasure to our organization.”
Even at 95, Platt remembers many details from the projects he worked on. He talks about the blackjack stools he sold that had to be 27 inches in height, three inches shorter than regular bar stools, and with straighter backs.
But one of his best stories involves how he convinced a casino to place chairs at slot machines. As unbelievable as it seems now, gamblers used to stand as they pumped quarters into one-armed bandits.
Again, Platt’s sensibility was simple: Wouldn’t slot players play longer if they were comfortable? But floor managers in the late ’50s and early ’60s were more concerned about cramming as many slot machines as possible on gaming floors. Working with Paul Endy of Paul-Son Gaming Supplies, Platt sketched a 12-inch-by-12-inch seat with straight legs on a yellow pad.
A gaming operator owed Endy money and Platt shipped 24 of the stools to the casino. Six decades or so later, Endy can’t remember its name, only that it was near the Flamingo in Las Vegas. Endy promised the operator that he’d pick up the slot stools in two weeks, at no cost, if he was unsatisfied.
“The morning after he received them, I got a call from Paul asking me how quickly I could get him more chairs,” Platt says. “The money (the slot machines took in) went up, not 5% or 10%, but astronomically. It was just huge.
“I don’t know if you know the terminology, but slot players wanted to sit on their tuchus,” Platt says, laughing, adding that it wasn’t long before other casinos started ordering chairs.
A few years ago, Platt was celebrated by company employees at G2E on his 91st birthday. The affection for him in the video is palpable, as is his gratitude.
But when asked about what would have happened if he didn’t stop to play blackjack that night many years ago, he pauses.
“That’s really the essence of my life,” he says. “I sat down and I guess my salesman’s passion for getting a new customer took over and I found a new avenue. And not just for myself, but also for a lot of other people. I’m sure all of these things would have any happened anyway. Somebody else would have come along.
“But I was just lucky enough to be the person who changed a few things.”
