Jaime Irizarry says there’s a phrase Puerto Ricans live by: “gracias con gracias.”
“It means ‘We take our bad news kindly,’” said Irizarry, who has been in the casino business for 27 years and is now Director of Games of Chance in Puerto Rico.
If you have turned on the TV anytime since Hurricane Maria ravaged the Puerto Rico on Sept. 16, 2017, you’ll see plenty of bad news. Many inhabitants of the U.S. territory were without power and other basic needs for days, weeks or months. The recovery process has been slow.
And, although it likely would be at best a secondary thought in most peoples’ minds, an industry such as casinos on the island would be crippled, one would logically reason.
Nope.
Irizarry told attendees at the Juegos Miami conference in Coral Gables, Fla., last week that Puerto Rico’s casinos have been surprisingly active. In fact, revenues are up 12 percent in April 2018 compared to April 2017.
The reasons: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workers and others involved in the relief effort are staying in the hotels and have found their way to the casino in off-hours. Also, the island’s robust illegal slot machine market has lacked electricity, forcing slot players to visit the regulated casinos.
“Our business is almost back to normal,” said Pedro Ortiz, who operates four casinos on the island. “If you walked into our casino even at 10 a.m. today you would see people playing.”
His three casinos are Holiday Inn and Tropical Casino Ponce, Hyatt Place Bayamon Hotel and Casino, and Mayaguez Holiday Inn and Tropical Casino. All are among the top five in revenues.
Jesus Couvertier, director of the Wyndham Rio Max, oversaw a bigger challenge. His hotel didn’t reopen until March 1. Of the 400 rooms, 315 were damaged, as well as two golf courses. The hotel and golf courses are now back in operation.
“But we had workers staying in our hotel, and they spent their free time here,” he said. “July is actually our big season, and we are ready for it.”
The casinos are much smaller than those in the United States, averaging about 300 slot machines and 10 tables. Each side of typical gaming floor in Puerto Rico makes between $1 million and $2 million per month.
The island has 18 casinos, 16 of which are now operating (The tourism marketing group reports about 130 hotels total open.) The Palmas Dal Mar and the Ritz-Carlton hope to open by early 2019.
Five casinos opened within the first week after the storm hit, but security issues and curfews curtailed action, Irizarry said.
Twelve of casinos were open by the end of November. Also, cruise ships and airlines have slowly returned service. Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas, the Windstar Pride, Silverseas Silver Wind and Viking Sea are among the bigger names of what is expected to be 1.7 million tourists visiting the island, although not necessarily the casinos.
Irizarry noted that also that tourism isn’t as vital to the casino recovery as people might expect; 94 percent of the business is from locals.
Ortiz said that when the power went out, the estimated 28,000 illegal machines – about five times the number that are regulated – lacked generators.
“And it stayed that way for four to six months,” he said. “People have found us and are enjoying us.”
And what about all those images Americans are seeing on television? Well, Irizarry and Ortiz have differing views.
Irizarry: “We all know good news doesn’t sell. It was a big hit, and it hurt, sure, and we appreciate their showing the situation. But we were in the San Juan Marriott, with people gambling and people inside dancing – dancing! – and CNN staged their live shot on one piece of a wall that was destroyed and unrepaired.”
Ortiz: “It was accurate. That’s what happened. It was the reality. As we speak, there are towns without electricity. Today it’s already eight months and the new hurricane season has started (June 1). It’s painful.”
He added that many people lost personal items and others saw their regular jobs disappear. But he also noted that the casinos helped provide a basic need for many residents.
“I really think our business increased some just because we had air conditioning,” he said. “People wanted a cool place to hang out.”
