Pala folds feng shui into $100M renovation
North County Times 1.24.10
In
the time it takes to read this paragraph, you could win or lose a $5,000 bet in
the high-limit table games room at the Pala Casino. Either way, the casino is
devoting considerable effort and expense to make sure you feel calm, centered
and in sync with the universe.
Pala
Casino, which is on the Pala reservation near the border of San Diego and
Riverside counties, recently completed a $100 million renovation, which included
the addition of a room for high-limit table games, where gamblers can bet up to
$5,000 on blackjack and $5,000 on baccarat.
Included
in that overall renovation was $50,000 in consulting, designing and additions
that incorporate the Chinese concepts of feng shui, which stress an alignment of
forces and harmony with nature. Those principles are being carefully applied in
the high-limit rooms, where more sophisticated gamblers often play.
About
40 percent of guests at the resort are of Asian descent ---- mostly Chinese,
Korean and Vietnamese ---- and feng shui is important enough to them that Pala
hired Chi Duong, a feng shui master from Los Angeles. Duong studied the casino
and came up with a list of recommendations, which Pala is in the process of
following.
Live
evergreen trees and green flooring soon will be installed at the main casino
entrance, which Duong said will help "bring wealth into the casino." Green tile
and two trees on each side of the doors will be installed by Feb. 1, said Jack
Taylor, a Pala spokesman. Two is a lucky number in most Asian cultures; the
green represents life.
Inside
the high-limit area, feng shui touches will be subtle, but pervasive.
For
example, feng shui concepts generally prescribe harmony in odd numbers. So a
fifth ceiling lamp soon will join the four already illuminating the center of
the high-limit gaming area. A pit supervisor stand will be added to groupings of
four tables.
"We
wanted it to be a comfortable place, where people feel positive energy," said
Greg Leung, Pala's director of Asian marketing. And in the scheme of things, the
feng shui investments are small. Even on a weekday morning, Pala's
200,232-square-foot casino is humming with gamblers and slot-machine
pullers.
When
the Pechanga Resort & Casino near Temecula refurbished its high-stakes room
about five years ago, it also added feng shui touches.
The
Pala Band of Mission Indians, which owns the Pala hotel, spa and casino,
declines to release annual revenue but said its 507-room hotel averaged 86
percent occupancy this past year.
Guests
seem to like the feng shui touches, although many can't necessarily identify
them.
"We
love this place," said Phiet Bui, a retired biotech scientist from Irvine. He
often comes to Pala by bus for the day with his wife, Yen, a chemical engineer.
He said he has played casinos around the world, but that Pala is "by far the
best casino."
Yen
agrees. "It feels good, we feel at home here," she said, munching breakfast with
Phiet on Wednesday in the high-limit cafe and lounge, right next to wall
decorations arranged in triples ---- three planters, three vases, three round
art pieces. Only the liquor bottles on the bar shelf ignore the triplicate
guideline.
Dealers
like working in the high-limit, feng-shui-ordered room. "It's classy and calm in
here," said blackjack dealer Jenny Thavixay.
Feng
shui principles also call for certain colors in certain places.
So
the carpet at the casino cashier, called the "cage" in gambling parlance, is
black, which represents wealth.
Soon,
Pala will get more feng shui touches. Metal decorations will be hung on the
north and south sides of the pole in the middle of the high-limit slot machine
room. Their job: to neutralize negative energy.
Sometimes
though, even the best feng shui is inadequate to console a big loser in the
high-limit room. Players sometimes come unraveled, dealers say, when they lose
large amounts of money.
That's
often when pit supervisor Steven Suenaga is summoned to duty. "We try to be
understanding, to show empathy," he said.
Alas,
as Leung, the Asian marketing director points out, feng shui has nothing to do
with winning and losing.
Call
staff writer Jeff Rowe at 760-740-5417.
