Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming November 2015 20 Inside Asian Gaming: Jim, let’s start at the beginning. Please tell us a little of your history. Jim Preston: I was born in Melbourne where I lived all my life until I came to Macau this year. My ancestry is English and has been traced back to the original First Fleet that settled in Australia way back in 1788. My ancestors were convicts, Nathaniel Lucas’ crime was that he allegedly stole some linen, although he said he was innocent and his wife-to-be Olivia Gascoigne stole some money. They eventually would have 13 children. Today there are something like 30,000 descendants from Nathaniel and Olivia which is quite amazing. IAG: You spent many years at Crown Melbourne. How did your career develop there? JP: I started as a Blackjack dealer at Crown Melbourne when it opened in 1994. I eventually dealt all the major games and then worked my way to Supervisor and then Pit Boss. I had various roles in the 20 years at Crown but my last role was Vice President of Customer and Commercial Development, which was a fantastic job and had me travelling the globe marketing the Aussie Millions. IAG: What about your time in poker? JP: When the Poker Room opened I started as a Seating Coordinator, known in the States as “the Brush” and was responsible for getting the poker games going and managing the list. The room opened with 21 tables but this doubled quickly when the poker boom took hold and the game grew massively in popularity. As the room got bigger, Crown decided they needed a dedicated Poker Room Manager. I applied and got the job working in this role for a year and was then promoted to VIP Player Manager, responsible for looking after three VIP rooms. I loved this role as I had a great team working for me and our goal was to ensure the players had fun. This is where my passion for customer service really developed, which lead to me being responsible for all the VIP players that visited Crown for the Aussie Millions Poker Tournament. I did this again in 2012 and Industry profile was subsequently offered the role of Director of Poker, responsible for the entire poker operation. In this time the room continued to grow and the Aussie Millions got bigger and better. In my time in this role I also managed to secure and deliver two World Series of Poker Asia Pacific series, something that I was very proud to be a part of. IAG: There are a lot of famous names in poker. Who have you met through your time in poker? JP: I have had the privilege of meeting all the biggest stars in poker like Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Helmuth and a lot of celebrities too. I consider myself very fortunate and some of these people I now regard as close friends. IAG: Any memorable stories you would like to share? JP: My favorite story is meeting the US Presidents Cup team. I am a golf tragic and to have the opportunity to meet Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples and the rest of the US team was one of the greatest Jim Every edition IAG profiles one the Asian gaming industry’s key players. Jim Preston is relatively new to Macau having arrived early this year, but he is no stranger to the gaming industry having plied his trade at Crown Melbourne for decades. Jim took some time out for a Q & A with IAG.