CASINOS & EDUCATION WITH PETE TSOLIS | E008 PODCAST
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ABOUT THE GUEST
Panagiote Tsolis sits down with George Stroumboulis in Athens, Greece on the Invigorate Your Business Podcast to talk about all things casinos, gambling, higher education, universities and finances.
Panagiote Tsolis is the Director of the Business Programs and Assistant Professor of the Hellenic American University (HAU) in Athens, Greece. Prior to moving into academia he worked for over 20 years in the casino gaming space for MGM Resorts International Corporate, The Mirage Casino-Hotel, Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, and VizExplorer.
Panagiote earned his undergraduate degree in Marketing and an MBA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas - Lee Business School. Currently, he is a Doctor of Philosophy in Global Leadership and Change candidate at Pepperdine University - Graduate School of Education and Psychology.
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/ptsolis/?hl=en
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ptsolis/
“I STARTED IN THE CASINO INDUSTRY BY PICKING UP TOWELS AT THE POOL, WORKING MY WAY UP THE LADDER.”
MEDIA RELATED TO THE EPISODE
Panagiote Tsolis sits down with George Stroumboulis in Athens, Greece at the Hotel Grande Bretagne on the Invigorate Your Business Podcast to talk about all things casinos, gambling, higher education, universities and finances.
George Stroumboulis sits down with Panagiote Tsolis in Athens, Greece at the Grande Bretagne Hotel in Syntagma Square to talk about all things casinos, gambling, higher education, universities and finances.
Panagiote Tsolis is a seasoned professional in the world of Casinos - coming up the ranks in Las Vegas, Nevada. Having words across several verticals and functions. He now heads up the business program at the Hellenic American University in Athens, Greece.
George Stroumboulis chatting with Panagiote Tsolis at the Grande Bretagne Hotel in Athens, Greece on a brief business trip.
ABOUT THE “INVIGORATE YOUR BUSINESS” PODCAST
The Invigorate Your Business with George Stroumboulis podcast features casual conversations and personal interviews with business leaders in their respective fields of expertise. Crossing several industry types and personal backgrounds, George sits down with inspiring people to discuss their business, how they got into that business, their path to the top of their game and the trials and tribulations experienced along the way. We want you to get inspired, motivated, and then apply any advice to your personal and professional lives. If there is at least one piece of advice that resonates with you after listening, then this podcast is a success. New episodes weekly. Stream our show on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, Amazon and all other platforms.
ABOUT GEORGE STROUMBOULIS
George Stroumboulis is an entrepreneur to the core, having launched several ventures across multiple industries and international markets. He has held senior-level positions at progressive companies and government institutions, both domestically and internationally, building an extensive portfolio of business know-how over the years and driving profit-generating results. George’s ability to drive real change has landed him in several media outlets, including the front page of the Wall Street Journal. George was born in Toronto, Canada to his Greek immigrant parents. Family first. Flying over 300,000 miles a year around the world puts into perspective how important family is to George’s mental and emotional development. With all this travel to global destinations, the longest he stays even in the most far-out destination is 3 days or less - a personal rule he lives by to make sure he is present and involved in family life with his wife and three daughters. To read about George’s global travels, stay connected with his blog section.
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FULL SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Panagiote Tsolis: That generation, they're influenced by Instagram and TikTok. It's a little bit of an open market. Do you know how TikTok is managed in China?
George Stroumboulis: Totally different.
Panagiote Tsolis: Totally different. And if you take research on Chinese students at that age group, they want to be astronauts, scientists and researchers. US students, Western students let's say, even all throughout Europe too, they want to be influencers and like singers, like they want this said, what's our society going to look like?
George Stroumboulis: Absolutely. And to that point, even this morning, we were interviewing for marketing and related positions for the office here in Athens. And again, no disrespect to some of the applicants, but it's for marketing strategy, high level. And some of these backgrounds are, “oh, I do, I'm a social media expert and I manage the Instagram for this account.” And you get a lot of that. And people think that's marketing and marketing strategy. That is posting worst marketing strategy.
All right. Today, I sit down with an individual. His name is Pete Tsolis, and he is an expert when it comes to casinos, gaming and consulting to their C-level individuals. He's also the director of programs at the Hellenic American University here in Athens. And he's responsible for the entire business program, getting top-notch educators and students from around the world to come and study, get their degrees and experience everything here in Athens, Greece, which is incredible. Enjoy this episode of Invigorate Your Business with George Stroumboulis. Let's get it started. Oh, and make sure, please subscribe, share, comment, would really appreciate it, whatever platform you're watching it on. If you're watching it on YouTube, please subscribe to the channel. If you are listening to it on Spotify or Apple or Amazon or Google Music, please just subscribe, share; it would really help us out.
My name is George Stroumboulis, and I'm extremely passionate about traveling the world, meeting new people, and learning about new businesses. Join me as I sit down with other entrepreneurs to learn about their journeys. This episode of ‘Invigorate Your Business’ starts now.
So, today we're sitting down with Panayoti Tsolis. He's an American citizen.
Panagiote Tsolis: Greek citizen.
George Stroumboulis: Greek citizen. Not Canadian.
Panagiote Tsolis: Not Canadian. Even though my uncle lives in Canada.
George Stroumboulis: He lives in Canada, so you have that connection.
Panagiote Tsolis: And I have the Anglo name of Pete, just to make it easier for people.
George Stroumboulis: So, Pete. Yes, that's easier. Okay, let's do that. So, your background, we're going to talk about a lot of stuff, but the one that really resonates and we'll jump into right now is just like the business of gaming, of casinos. You have 20 plus years in the industry.
Panagiote Tsolis: Just about 20 years.
George Stroumboulis: Just about 20. So you started when you were 12, right? So you started in that industry, and where you started, obviously in Las Vegas from the bottom floor, like literally, and then where you are now, and then transitioning into the higher education space as well, just talk to us about your background when it comes to, you know, why did you get into the casino space?
Panagiote Tsolis: It's kind of like why you Greeks get into shipping, or why did some people in LA get into the Hollywood type of scene; it was the industry. It was the industry. And I was 16, 17, and there was a friend of my mom's, I was a cashier at a pool and said, they're hiring for a pool attendant to come pick up towels. And then I was working. I wanted to be a coach for high school, and then I saw some marketing guys and I was like, “they look like they're having fun. How do I get a cocktail in the middle of the afternoon?”
George Stroumboulis: Right. Wait, so this is at 16?
Panagiote Tsolis: It’s 17, yeah.
George Stroumboulis: So at 17, like blood flowing everywhere, you’re thrown into a Las Vegas pool.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah.
George Stroumboulis: Right. Not a bad place to be for a 16-year-old.
Panagiote Tsolis: Oh no, it was like, there's a lot of stories I would talk about.
George Stroumboulis: Right. Well, actually those will be the clips that we want.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. A good thing, there were no iPhones back then.
George Stroumboulis: Oh my God.
Panagiote Tsolis: But yeah, like I saw this guy and he was a casino host, and I saw him having cocktails by the pool at the Cabanas, and I said, “What’s this guy doing?” Like he works here, why can't I do his job? He works in marketing. So then I researched it, I switched over my major to marketing, worked, picked up towels, lifeguard; it was supervisor of the pool before I was 21.
George Stroumboulis: What property? What Hotel?
Panagiote Tsolis: Mirage.
George Stroumboulis: Mirage, okay.
Panagiote Tsolis: Which, unfortunately, like it's good Hard Rock bought them out. So the Mirage is going to be a Hard Rock property soon.
George Stroumboulis: Wow.
Panagiote Tsolis: But it was the first integrated resort. It was Steve Winn's baby. And like, if you actually look at a lot of gaming professional background, a lot of them had some type of touch by the Mirage.
George Stroumboulis: So we have listeners in over 20 countries around the world. So, for someone who's never been to Vegas, describe what that… it's one of the top three properties in Vegas.
Panagiote Tsolis: I mean that's perspective, right? The Mirage was the original. So the Mirage was the first big property that still went opened. It was the first one that was kind of away from the mob money. It had a volcano in the front, if you ever see any visuals of Vegas, it is the volcano in the front. And then from there he opened up Bellagio, Treasure Island, then the wind. And it really created a lot of the footprint of what an integrated resort is, is what you see in Macau, what you see opening up soon in Cyprus at the… forgot what.
George Stroumboulis: It's the dream.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. Dream, it's dream.
George Stroumboulis: Dream casino, something. Yeah.
Panagiote Tsolis: Mediterranean, dream. Yeah. It's by…
George Stroumboulis: We quoted that from a lighting standpoint and we lost it. So I forbid to myself to visit it.
Panagiote Tsolis: Oh, okay.
George Stroumboulis: No. But yeah, that's opening up soon, no?
Panagiote Tsolis: It's opening up next year.
George Stroumboulis: No. Okay.
Panagiote Tsolis: And then the Hard Rock, who bought the Mirage, is opening up a casino at the Hellinikon.
George Stroumboulis: Yes. And that's a three-year-old project?
Panagiote Tsolis: Well, I mean, construction of a property like that should take about four years. I'm pretty sure. I don't know. It's not something I'm working on, but they're probably in the development stage of it right now. I did open the Cosmo and that took, that was a different instance because that was originally supposed to be a condominium that during the recession in 2010, 2008, was taken back by Deutsche Bank. And they decided, “Well, we can't sell these apartments, so let's turn into a casino.”
George Stroumboulis: So wait, take me from picking up towels at the pool, and then you see the marketing person, you get motivated, you change your major, you focus in, fast forward to 20 years, right? And then we'll go back, Executive consulting when it comes to the marketing of casinos, the gaming industry, how did you make that next step? Because you had no contacts there; there was no uncle, no best friend pulling you in. How did you climb that ladder In Las Vegas, which is the casino capital of the world, essentially?
Panagiote Tsolis: Picked up towels one year, went inside to serve people at the cafe, went back out to be a lifeguard, went back into be a Bellman, so I used to bring bags up to the room, went back out to be a supervisor of the pool, because it's a fun job to run a pool. And then went in to go work at a restaurant, fine dining restaurant as a server; worked there for two years, got my associate's degree around that time. And just as I was getting into my major from a community college to UNLV, I ran into the director of marketing at the hotel, which was a customer. And I just saw them on the way to the parking garage and said, “Hey, I'd like to talk to you about these management development programs, these internship stuff.” And he goes, “well, if I hire you for the internship, I can't hire, like if you go for the internship, I can't hire you.” I was like, “well, if you hire me, I don't care about the ownership.”
George Stroumboulis: So it was that conversation.
Panagiote Tsolis: It was like one of those conversations. He goes, he gives me his business card. I submit an application. I end up coming to Greece for that summer, and I had a job when I came back.
George Stroumboulis: So you had the balls to know who he is.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. You see his picture everywhere in casinos. They don't hide who they are. It's like a shrine of who's boss.
George Stroumboulis: Right. So this guy comes to your restaurant, you capitalize on that.
Panagiote Tsolis: On the way to the parking garage is when I see him, because we park in the same structure and I go, “Hey, Mr. Director.”
George Stroumboulis: Yeah. That could get you fired in some restaurants, and you just laid it out, like that's amazing.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. Well, I came to him and this is anything I suggest. People don't ask people for stuff other than information. And all I asked was, there's the MAP program at MGM Resorts; it's an internship program for graduates out of, you're right out of college and you can work in multiple aspects of the casino, and then you get a job. So, a lot of people, like a lot of presidents went through that program. And I asked him about it and he goes, “well, if I hire you for that program, I can't hire you in a real time job.” But I'd already established that I kind of knew what I was talking about. I'm already a student, I'm already working. I work in the same building.
George Stroumboulis: You showed initiative, even going out there like that must have resonated with him.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. And then I was, the crisis really hurt because I came in with a full-time job, was then put on part-time after being let go for like a few months, you know, Vegas is gearing back up. It's 2008, 2009. I ended up becoming a supervisor and I got my bachelor's degree the same year. This is 2008, 2010. And Cosmo was opening up.
George Stroumboulis: Cosmopolitan, for the listener, like hottest, cool, young property kind of replaced what the Palms and the Hard Rock used to be.
Panagiote Tsolis: It was that strip Palms property. Party property, I remember we opened with 50 cent at the nightclub marquee.
George Stroumboulis: You had full access to all that.
Panagiote Tsolis: I had. Yeah. I had quite a bit of access to a lot of things, comps and everything. The way the property built is, you know, usually a company opens. You open a new facility, you'd probably take people from your previous place and you build this infrastructure around them.
George Stroumboulis: Yes.
Panagiote Tsolis: Right? The Cosmo was taken by Deutsche Bank. And so they put in management and all those management brought people that they knew but they were all from different entities. So, for an example Casino came from Mirage or MGM; Hotel came from Harrah’s, Caesars; Venetian is the people that, the finance came from Venetian. So, everybody had different operations as well. So, there's a lot of this what do we do. Well, that's not what I do, this is how I do where I'm from. So, a lot of struggle in the beginning. And I was there for about three years. Then I went back to get my MBA, at UNLV as well I was in the Executive MBA program. I tried to do everything else because I was like, well, I've only known casinos, I want to get out, and then I realized I hated everything else. And so I went back in. I worked for MGM Resorts in corporate, working on a project to consolidate all the marketing efforts because MGM Resorts is a multi-property owner and every casino is in essence its own entity. COO, CFO, there's three thousand employees. So, you're your own business in the portfolio as well. And because MGM grew with a bunch of acquisitions, there was a lot of inefficiencies when it came to the marketing efforts. And so me and my director, who is a great friend now, we worked on proving that a more strategic corporate approach for at least a majority of the population was effective and could actually bring in more revenue. So, I did that for a while. And then a consultant that I had at Cosmo called me and said I'm working for the startup. That's actually owned by William Morris which is Ari Emmanuel.
George Stroumboulis: Oh, yeah.
Panagiote Tsolis: And I was a big fan of Entourage. And I was like sign me up.
George Stroumboulis: Okay. The Cosmo, Cosmopolitan, from a brand standpoint that was it at the time, I had my bachelor party there 10 years ago. Okay? And it was a great property….
Panagiote Tsolis: If depending on some friends that we have, I might have helped you book it.
George Stroumboulis: Maybe you helped us, we had friends fly in from France, and it was just amazing. And six months ago I go to back and we stay there and we got upgraded because it's a Marriott property.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yes. Well, they have a part. It's not a Marriott property, its MGM Resource Property now.
George Stroumboulis: Okay.
Panagiote Tsolis: MGM bought it after they sold, managed now MGM just bought it, I had some friends that worked for MGM that just took over certain aspects of the mark of the operations.
George Stroumboulis: Okay. So, I booked it via Marriott.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. They have this, it's a data acquisition program.
George Stroumboulis: Okay. And it was just amazing seeing 10 years ago what we did and we got literally the same suite, everything for free, they upgraded us. And now 10 years later, I'm sitting there in dirty diapers, kids are running. It was just like total contrast from bachelor party to Dad life in the same room and I'm like, oh my God, it was just on another level seeing that.
Panagiote Tsolis: We were probably the last Vegas property, as in like the last property where it was a little bit more gray. Then as opposed to, now the very corporate structure of course.
George Stroumboulis: I got you.
Panagiote Tsolis: For an example like, you know, I ran all the high-end events for concerts. I had all the tickets in my pocket. You would call me and I'd have to look at their play and say, yeah, we can get. It was a little bit more gray, but we were also without a database, we also didn't have a corporate backing, we had Deutsche Bank that said make me money. And so we had to come up with very creative aspects of running a business where, you know, let's say you open up a property like they're going to do in Cyprus or in Greece and they already have the database, they already have some population, like the one in Cyprus they had five different, I think it's five different mini casinos for the last few years while they're building it. That's a data acquisition strategy. Now when you open up the big Resort, you have people to pull from.
George Stroumboulis: So, you're saying that you didn't have that at that time, there was no database that you're pulling from, just marketing and foot traffic, you were relying on that.
Panagiote Tsolis: I rely on mayor out people stay for free.
George Stroumboulis: Let's get out of here.
Panagiote Tsolis: So then you're in the system now because it's a soft cost. The hard cost of a hotel room is what it takes in essence for repairs and cleaning. Because it's a tangible asset. At this hotel room we're in now, if it doesn't go book tomorrow, you lost the revenue, you can't put this hotel room on a shelf for tomorrow. So, in essence like, let's say if it costs 10 euros to clean this room, you could rent it for 20 euros and still make slight profit, even though let's say it's a couple hundred euros. That's really the hard cost. And so we would also fluctuate with that to just try to get people to come in, try what our inventory is and then hopefully start building up our database.
George Stroumboulis: So, you bring up an interesting point. That's why people that spend money at the casinos, right? Everything's calmed, right? Or this person spends dinners calm, shows get calm…
Panagiote Tsolis: Sometimes, it depends on their play,
George Stroumboulis: Depending on the play.
Panagiote Tsolis: I charge people.
George Stroumboulis: So, you charge people. What are some crazy stories that you've seen? Because you've had access to all the talent that would come in, the players the high-end gamblers. Like, what are some crazy stories that you've seen where people have just blown everything or like is there anything that just comes to mind.
Panagiote Tsolis: I have a couple good quotes. There's a guy that he was up like four or five mil…
George Stroumboulis: Million.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah.
George Stroumboulis: What game was he playing?
Panagiote Tsolis: Probably Blackjack. I can't remember. And then he just had a swing and he lost, he was down by two.
George Stroumboulis: Oh my gosh.
Panagiote Tsolis: So it was, you know, and he wasn't even like a good guest. He was just rude.
George Stroumboulis: He was rude.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. He was rude. I just remembered that stuck with me. We actually mostly cheer for our players because in essence like, I'm incentive for you to play longer, you're going to play longer if you're winning. So, me as your Casino Host or me as your VIP host, it's in my best interest for you to play longer. Because I get paid off a time, not loss. Because in essence, like, if you're paid off a loss, then that's predatory.
George Stroumboulis: I got you.
Panagiote Tsolis: So, I agree to that. And if you think about it, the mathematics of the game is already favored to the casino. So, some are going to win, some are going to lose. And so in the holistic view of it, you're kind of rooting your player to hopefully get the upper advantage of the math as opposed to your colleagues’ players that are getting the lower end.
George Stroumboulis: So that's at your level, the casino as a whole I just listened to this yesterday I think. Dana White got banned from.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. He was a big player.
George Stroumboulis: He was a big player. And he's apparently very good and always wins.
Panagiote Tsolis: And he wasn't very good, he would play specifically because he had a big bankroll, he could play in a specific way that like, he would edge the math.
George Stroumboulis: Okay. And then the palms apparently banned him, whatever the new brand of the Palms is.
Panagiote Tsolis: Red Rock Resorts.
George Stroumboulis: Is it a Red Rock, okay. They banned him and he pulled all his UFC.
Panagiote Tsolis: No, it's not red rock. It's the company that owns the casino towards La. It's the big group, is the native owned.
George Stroumboulis: Okay.
Panagiote Tsolis: You know what I'm talking about? It's the guy, they got big signs by Redwood City.
George Stroumboulis: Yes. Yeah.
Panagiote Tsolis: I'm always bad with names.
George Stroumboulis: Yeah. I was just, I was amazed though that they banned him because he was always winning millions of dollars at the time. And he's officially banned from whatever this, whatever the Palms used to be.
Panagiote Tsolis: Let's use his math. Like, okay, one way to edge a casino is by doubling your bet on roulette. So, if I put five - I lose, I put 10 - I lose, I put 20 - I win. So, now I got 20, but what did I actually put down? 15. There's ways of doing that at a very high level to where you've edged the casino. In essence the game is managed by the casino and so you can deny right to anybody. Yeah. And I don't manage the property, I can't speak to what other people do. I don't know him personally. I have just known him that he was a customer at certain places.
George Stroumboulis: Right. Well, so let me ask you that, talking about winnings and losing. So, part of the marketing strategy of a casino you'll always see the gamblers, addiction hotline or whatever. Hey, if you've got a problem. How active, like, what would you see because people are going there, it's not just the glitz and glamor. Like, Vegas can be a very dark place, right? People losing. Would you guys have marketing programs in place to support that or was it more interesting?
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. Oh, no, I have reprimanded people for breaking people.
George Stroumboulis: Oh really?
Panagiote Tsolis: You do not break player.
George Stroumboulis: So what do you define as break?
Panagiote Tsolis: Bankrupt them. Like, literally send them home on a bus. I've seen that before and I was like, this is unacceptable.
George Stroumboulis: So what do you do to, like, do you cut someone off when they're so down or what does someone do.
Panagiote Tsolis: So, in essence, okay, so there's multiple levels of the type of player. If you're coming in and you're like the big high roller, I like the, the big players usually come in with a credit line. Nobody walks into a bag like with a bag of a hundred thousand Euro, dollars or a million dollars and then goes to the casino, they get approve the credit line. The credit line to work is we've assessed your finances and we've established that you're okay to take out this loan. Now that could be a percentage of your income. So, in essence it's not going to break you. And we manage that relationship at the high level. Now when we start going to the lower level. We really don't know who you are. We just have a relationship with you and you're playing and you're playing and then you're going up and this. And we try to manage the relationship. We avoid getting people to that point. And at the end they become your friends. Like, I have players that I still talk to that they have the, it means it's their disposable income. Just like how you would go to a club and spend an outrageous amount for a bottle of alcohol that costs 30 bucks, you spend a thousand on it. What's the difference in essence in the casino? You get that bottle for free. Like, if you look at the math in the casino, the high-end player actually only pays like, let's say a 20 percent service fee in gambling. So, you get all the perks...
George Stroumboulis: To get all the perks. Okay. That’s interesting.
Panagiote Tsolis: You don’t have to like pay for that cost in the market, it's only like 20 percent more than what you would have just gambling. Like, gambling you'd get like the 20 percent, you just pay an extra 20 percent. But you could win too..
George Stroumboulis: But you could win. So, you have the gambling side, the biggest thing I saw. So, I'm not a gambler. I'm the guy you guys hate. I'll come in. I'll spend money at the club.
Panagiote Tsolis: No, I love you too. You should spend money at places.
George Stroumboulis: I’m not a gambler, but I'll go play, if everyone's playing craps. I'll go throw down a few hundred, get some drinks for a few hours for you and that's it. Like, other than that, even if I lose a few hundred bucks, I just, I get angry that. Why did I just give it away? I'm not that guy, right?
Panagiote Tsolis: No, that like, I'm the same way. The joy I have in winning isn't as joyful as the pain of losing.
George Stroumboulis: Say that once again because that’s yeah.
Panagiote Tsolis: I lost 100 bucks. Yeah, that losing hurts me more.
George Stroumboulis: Absolutely.
Panagiote Tsolis: Which that's how my mind works. My thing is I want more people like you because as a casino player the value of the land-based offerings is that you're surrounded by people, would it be more fun, like let's say if you had 100 Grand and you, who's one of your singers you like.
George Stroumboulis: Singers?
Panagiote Tsolis: Let's just pick a band.
George Stroumboulis: Let's Go U2.
Panagiote Tsolis: You Too. Okay. Let's say for $100,000 you got U2 singing at your house, is that going to be as much fun as if you had VIP tickets You Too with like 20 000 person Arena? So, in essence even though you're not gambling by eating or you're allowing your energy to be involved in the atmosphere of the property and so you're paying four aspects of the offering and that's where Vegas casinos and the integrators are because you see them all over the place. The tribal casinos have grown exponentially when it comes to what their offerings are, you know, they're one of the biggest casinos in Oklahoma just outside of Dallas. There's the Choctaw tribe, there's all the tribes in Oklahoma, there's the Seminole tribe that is actually the owners of the Hard Rock. So, if you go to Florida, they have these massive Resorts. And they're funded in fun destinations. And the point is, as a casino, like we talk, if you go to a conference for casinos, all we do is talk about is like problem gambling. We are self-regulating. We pay all of our taxes because we are given licenses from the government. So, in essence we have to contribute to society in that respect. And you don't want to destroy that balance. If you become a predatory place, you lose your license, you know, that happened in other jurisdictions outside of the U.S. I want my players to have fun.
George Stroumboulis: Okay. So, talk to me about Macau then because you're talking about fun environments versus not. Not sure if you've ever been there.
Panagiote Tsolis: No. Not personally.
George Stroumboulis: Okay. So, I've been there probably 10 years ago, nine years ago, maybe more. And we were in Hong Kong, a bunch of friends, right? Fast forward, I'm there a lot now for work, but we go with all our friends. And we're like, you know what? Let's go, it's Casino town, it's going to be fun. They say its like Vegas, fine, take the boat hour and a half, we get there, the Wynn Tower that's in Vegas, exact replica there. Then they have all these other ones. We're like, oh cool, we go into the casino. Like, you could hear a pin drop because these guys are serious gamblers. The entertainment aspect almost didn't exist….
Panagiote Tsolis: Which is something that they're looking to bring in.
George Stroumboulis: Yeah. It was boring and we were planning on staying there a couple nights. Like, we literally left the next morning because there was just no action and we're not gamblers. So, we ended up doing Bungie. We were trying to fill up something else but Macau, there was some crazy stat and someone needs to fact check it but my cow does more in revenue.
Panagiote Tsolis: It's like 40 to 9. 40 billion to 99 a year.
George Stroumboulis: Versus the 9 billion here.
Panagiote Tsolis: In Vegas.
George Stroumboulis: Vegas. Okay. Yeah.
Panagiote Tsolis: It's insane. Something nine, seven, like, you know, the numbers. There's a very big difference. But, if you think about it like, a, it's illegal to promote casinos in China. Like, I can't call you and say come gamble, there's legality purposes, there's Australian groups that lost licenses because of that. And it's the Chinese populist had a very exponential socio-economic leap in the last 20 30 years. People were starving 30 years ago, when now there's a middle class and there's a lot of privilege that came about by however it got there right there, could have been partnerships or whatever through the government, you know, there's their economic model. But there's just so many people. There's just so many people that can go to Macau and then there's also regionally. Japan's not too far, we're direct flying in and so it's very….
George Stroumboulis: There's a new bridge by the way now.
Panagiote Tsolis: Through Hong Kong.
George Stroumboulis: Through Hong Kong you could drive there where before it was just fairy. It's accessible.
Panagiote Tsolis: It's very accessible. And, yeah, it has at a very high level. But it could be cultural too. In the U.S we have a lot more casual approach, where in China when it comes to gambling it's a very formal, very business. And if you think about it, there's like a couple articles when it just even comes to the Chinese mindset when it comes to like negotiating, you know, like the Art of War is a very influential book and how they see things. In The Art of War is a book that talks about different strategic War tactics. And in essence like the Chinese mindset is more or less like everything is a small negotiation, everything's a small battle and so on. And they bring that into negotiating too. And so you have that cultural background that goes into even the gaming aspect where they're very superstitious as a community, more so than let's say in the U.S. You know, our Superstition could be like, oh, I'm going to wear the same socks for like four Innings because I play baseball, you know.
George Stroumboulis: Yeah. And I won't shave and work.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. There's some things but they're like, for an example, if somebody's playing in their Chinese, you don't touch their back because you can take their luck away. There's multiple different cultural norms that you have to respect when it comes to that culture.
George Stroumboulis: And they're serious. So, you touched upon it before, so there's land-based and then the online, right? So, the revenue, I'm seeing it everywhere on social media now, everybody's posting like Drake and he's doing this online gambling and they got the virtual. How is that changing the industry because it's a big difference, right? You're paying all this money, you're creating these venues and concerts and whatever to get someone to come in and spend. And now you have this online that you're essentially competing with….
Panagiote Tsolis: Or it could be. So, to make it like more relative to the common person's thought. Like, yes, online shopping dish closed down a lot of stores, but people sometimes window shop and then buy online or they look at what they want online, they go and buy. There's a very complimentary type of shift in even retail. Not every store is closed, if because of online. So, it's a historical thing. The U.S allowed Vegas for Nevada first to have gambling, then New Jersey was allowed and then the tribes were allowed. And now online gaming is being welcomed all over the country by region, by States. And so this is an increase in market. Now I think for the online you're open, right? It's open for business do, you just grab customers. For the land base, there could be a benefit ad, there's a value add because now let's say I don't know how to play craps and I don't want to gamble twenty dollars, a hundred dollars, forty dollars, I can just go online, put 10 cents down and like learn how to play craps in a live, still somewhat.
George Stroumboulis: Not intimidating.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Because you've sat at a table and like you double down or you split some cards in the guy next year's like you took my card.
George Stroumboulis: A 100 percent. Yeah. And it just creates this environment where you're like oh.
Panagiote Tsolis: And you're like, here's 10 bucks for your bet later.
George Stroumboulis: Exactly. And I get intimidated even in the games because I'm not passionate about it, right? I don't care to learn. So, I see that aspect of it, you know, so what else are you seeing in the online space. Like, is that do you see a trend moving more towards online gambling versus physical or they'll both coexist.
Panagiote Tsolis: Well, like in the U.S online didn't exist. So, they're still building properties, you know, casinos are still going to be built as markets come up because it's a monopoly in the sense. You have the gaming license for a specific region. There is a need, you know, people do it. So, you're meeting that market need. If there's not a casino, then you are going to probably go into some sort of black market. And that happened in the online space. People were just going to third party online and it's not backed by any type of Regulation. You're putting yourself at risk. And I'm not promoting for everybody to go gamble, but if you are going to do any type of Vice, it should be in a safe regulated place. Just like if you go to a bar, your bartender should know to cut you off after a bit.
George Stroumboulis: Absolutely.
Panagiote Tsolis: So, you don't go and crash into somebody else on your way home.
George Stroumboulis: Absolutely.
Panagiote Tsolis: And the same thing when it comes, and the good thing about the online space is that because now you have algorithms and people are gambling at such a higher rate, you can start seeing fluctuations within how they play and then you can start seeing if there's really some problem gambling happening. So, let's say you're always playing 10 bucks, 10 bucks, 10 bucks and after a while now you're doing exponential growth and how much you're playing. Well, is everything okay?
George Stroumboulis: Right. But do you have that human aspect in online?
Panagiote Tsolis: Oh yeah. Oh no, online is the one that holds that type of like customer….
George Stroumboulis: Customer algorithms, you could see everything.
Panagiote Tsolis: Europe has been online for a while. The land base is more or less a smaller type of properties, now integrated resorts are coming to Europe, where online is going to the US. But there's a lot of, you can, like MGM Resorts just bought out this company called Leo Vegas which is from a northern European country, Finland one of them. And why? Because I think they're finding out that there's a lot of synergies, you know, they buy the technology from them, they can bring it into the online space here maybe that can get them footing to open up a big Resort here. In essence only 20 percent of Vegas is actually sponsored by gambling, the rest is sponsored by spent.
George Stroumboulis: The spent. Okay. So, culturally we talked about Asian culture and Macau. Greece, everybody has a casino culturally because we are Greek we could say it, Greeks gamble a lot. They like to bet a lot. There's a new massive Casino coming down in Eileenikon, right? It's a huge property. Everyone's talking about it across Europe, it's going to be great. Do you think that's good for Greece?
Panagiote Tsolis: Yes.
George Stroumboulis: You do. Okay. You didn't even hesitate, why.
Panagiote Tsolis: Well, okay, so here's a couple things. I'm not against the Airbnb World, Greece is changing laws because of the whole Airbnb and Taxation and everything. I'm not going to touch onto that too much. And so the aspect of these remote workers. You and I come, let's say our disposable income is a thousand bucks a day. Okay? But the water's a dollar, how much you're going to spend on water? So, you're already fixed based off the market. And now you're buying up inventory and you're raising up prices. This is happening in Mexico. So, like, a lot of these little cheap places, as they're bringing in these Tech workers, are raising up the value for the people that actually live there and make it that attractive place to live. A casino what it does is, yes, it does bring in other people but because the value out is the gambling aspect. There's fluctuation on a perception of how much you want to gamble. So, the market is determining the price.
George Stroumboulis: I got you.
Panagiote Tsolis: Does that make sense? Like, I can gamble 10 because that's what I'm willing to pay for that entertainment. You have a lot more money and you're willing to pay over a hundred thousand Euros for that entertainment. In essence we're getting the same entertainment but we're actually letting equilibrium decide what's going to be played. So, for society like Greece that can bring in people from the Middle East, unfortunately not Russia anymore. Other parts of Europe; North Africa, anywhere where they have a lot of disposable income, these are select people. We're talking about 3000 rooms. You can get 20 people from an hour, you know, a five hour flight from Greece. We're direct flight Steven India, I think, there's a lot of people in between to New York. So, those people are going to play whatever they want. And gaming tax increases I think in the 20s or 30s. So, out of every 100 euro spent, 20 or 30 percent go straight to the government for taxation purposes and so that can go to schools, that can go to rows, that can go to pensions, that can go to so many things to where I bought this water for one Euro, that's where it stays. And so as a society, now what I don't like is, you know, the multiple aspects of gaming on every corner. I don't want it to be that accessible, which could be in certain places, but then again when it's online you have that too like this is a casino on your phone. So, it's a very tricky thing, but if we're just looking at the integrated Resort, the very high level gambler I think is very good because also they want a tip. So, you know, you're gambling, now you're going to give a little bit to this guy, you're going to give a little bit of that guy. Las Vegas is a city of two million people that's ran by casinos. Percentage-wise when it comes to problem gambling, it's pretty on par with the rest of the country. It might be slightly higher.
George Stroumboulis: Is there a percentage typically in the industry?
Panagiote Tsolis: It's like one or two percent of human population is… yeah, I think that's what, I'm not a psychologist but I think I've read on psychology, like, it's like alcoholism, there's a certain percentage that falls under that.
George Stroumboulis: So, I just heard this the other day they say, it's usually broken up into threes, right? So, 33 percent have highly addictive personalities, whether it's alcohol, gambling set, like whatever it is…
Panagiote Tsolis: Of the whole population.
George Stroumboulis: Of the whole population. Yeah. So, in Vegas though, so if a hundred people come through the casino, is there it's got to be a higher percentage that.
Panagiote Tsolis: I was using the city population, not the people that are because if you're already going to the casino, you already have like a skewed sample size.
George Stroumboulis: That's true, you're there to….
Panagiote Tsolis: It's like saying like 100 percent of people that like chocolate, go to chocolate or go to Hershey's, you know.
George Stroumboulis: Right. So that could either be 100 percent problem or not? Okay. I got you. That's a great way of looking at. It just segue now. So, your background is interesting, right? Like, you grew up in the restaurant industry, similar backgrounds. Right?
Panagiote Tsolis: The Greek style.
George Stroumboulis: The Greek style. You moved to Vegas from California. You start from the bottom, you become a consultant, you're speaking at International shows, now you're being published now about the gaming industry, and people are seeking your advice. Incredible. Right? And that's going to continue.
Panagiote Tsolis: I appreciate that.
George Stroumboulis: Absolutely. Just stating facts now, right? Yeah. No. It's incredible. But then also from a higher education standpoint, you've been thrown into this Arena poll, not pulled – pushed…
Panagiote Tsolis: Offered.
George Stroumboulis: Offered. Yeah. Which is a great thing! So, now you're working on your PhD, you're bettering yourself, you're still a young guy, you're bettering yourself. You're now have an opportunity to bring people to this country to expose the culture while getting a higher education. And you're the head of, you're the director of business programs at the Hellenic American University. Talk to us about that because that's pretty spectacular.
Panagiote Tsolis: So, like to finish off the part about like my career after work for the software company. Then I went in for my PhD because I wanted my PhD to help better the Consulting aspect that I did through the software company. COVID hit, did my own consulting which is kind of where I'm at now and started teaching some college class because now I already had my MBA and I'm a PhD candidate or a PhD student.
George Stroumboulis: Teaching back in the United States.
Panagiote Tsolis: US.
George Stroumboulis: Yep.
Panagiote Tsolis: And I applied to a job posting I saw on LinkedIn to teach at a college in Greece. And I was like, well, I'd love to come to Greece, it's every Greek's goal until they get here and they're like, man, why can't I park where I live. Then you start finding out like, there's all these comforts that we have in the US that do not exist here, but it's okay if you're okay with it.
George Stroumboulis: Yes, vacationing in Greece, right? We talked about this earlier. You'll meet a girl who goes to Greece in the summer, like, I love Mykonos, this and that. Well, yeah, vacation, you can vacation anywhere in the world, you're going to enjoy it, right? So, like that's the one aspect. Coming here to live full-time and I've done that in the past, it's a different animal. Like, just going to get your driver's license or this or dealing with the system, it really opens your eyes. And if you still want to be here after experiencing that, then that's the magical moment, right?
Panagiote Tsolis: And look, there's nothing wrong with the Greek. Well, that's a bad statement. The Greek system is different.
George Stroumboulis: It's a better way of putting it.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. The Greek system is different. It will happen. You just have to have more patience and kind of understand that everybody works on like, there's not like standard operating procedures. So, you go to somebody they might give you the wrong information, then you got to go and you just have to have be less frustrated and just work through it.
George Stroumboulis: You got to be tenacious to get the right answer because you ask five people, you get six different answers.
Panagiote Tsolis: Exactly. And whenever people ask me about my experience here I say look, based off of my experience, this is what I lived through. I played online last year, a year or two years ago, they emailed me and they go, would you like to teach an analytics course in sales? Okay, cool. Then as I'm in that, right before I start teaching, like do you want to teach an MBA course and strategy. I go yeah. And so I'm teaching that course. And I had some really talented students. The kind of students were like, you know, you have this American idea of, well it's Greece like, you know, it's Greece like. Okay. This isn't UCLA, you know, this isn't Harvard. Like, you start thinking that, but then I meet all the students that we had and I go, man, I would have liked to have been in class with these. Like, for their market they're very skilled individuals.
George Stroumboulis: And I could attest to that out fairly.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah, you know, I mean, it was a bias that I probably had coming from the US. From also like, our parents came to the US or Canada, from Greece, they already were below the social economic, like they're below the poverty line here anyways. And so our families weren't rich, when we come back to see our families too so, there's a whole lot of perspective that was not right. And I met these students, I was like these are great. And then I was asked to teach an undergraduate course. Again, I came out here to do my dissertation because my dissertation through Pepperdine University in La is on sustainable tourism model framework for Greece. So, like what does that mean, you know, I want to interview the national government and Regional governments to see where the gaps are to identify any holes within the strategy. So that way as we build a more sustainable tourism environment here, we can take those into consideration. So, this is where I'm at right now in my research hopefully by the end of the year, next year I'll be done.
George Stroumboulis: And that will be for your PhD.
Panagiote Tsolis: It'll be for my PhD and then the school here was like, well, you're here. Do you want to be the director?
George Stroumboulis: Kind of a big deal.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah.
George Stroumboulis: Like, it's huge.
Panagiote Tsolis: Big honor.
George Stroumboulis: And great reputation, even my managing director for my office here, when I mentioned it, he's like I'm very familiar with that institution and you guys are doing some special stuff. And what you're doing, so my nephew, a little side tangent. He's 19. Second Year University in Canada. And I talk all the time with him and I'm just excited because he's studying business. He wants to get into marketing, fine. And, you know, this generation now, they're very big on like the Gary Vaynerchuk of fuck School, just started…
Panagiote Tsolis: Influencer.
George Stroumboulis: Be an influencer…
Panagiote Tsolis: Who's going to pay me to drink soda?
George Stroumboulis: Yeah. There's a lot of that. And again, I'm not saying my nephew's doing this but they're like, well, where he's not wrong is my professor is just a student his whole life or her life and they've never had real life experience and that resonates because, yeah, the same with me, you're going to teach me on strategy when you've never worked in this environment or have proven yourself. What you're doing here is you're bringing real business people, corporations from around the world to support this to speak to kind of prop this up and give access to these students to see real life examples, maybe intern with them, set it up which again sounds, like it should be standard around the world but it's really not.
Panagiote Tsolis: So a couple things like, because you had a couple points that I wanted to touch on. That generation they're influenced by Instagram and Tick Tock. Okay? It's a little bit of an open market. Do you know how Tick Tock is managed in China?
George Stroumboulis: Totally different.
Panagiote Tsolis: Totally different. And if you take research on Chinese students at that age group, they want to be astronauts, scientists and researchers. U.S students, North America, Western students, let's say even all throughout Europe too, they want to be influencers and like singers, like they want this value-add type of career which is very unobtainable. And it's an interesting what our society is going to look like.
George Stroumboulis: Absolutely. And to that point, even this morning we were interviewing, so I landed last night, got to the hotel 1 a.m. this morning we're interviewing for marketing and related positions for the office here in Athens. And again no disrespect to some of the applicants but it's for marketing strategy high level and some of these backgrounds are, oh, I do, I'm a social media expert. And I manage the Instagram for this account. And you get a lot of that and people think that's marketing and marketing strategy. That is a fraction of the whole umbrella of just posting…
Panagiote Tsolis: Worst marketing strategy.
George Stroumboulis: It's the worst marketing. Now, if that's to complement your social strategy which is under the communication strategy which is under the marketing with, fine, needed, great.
Panagiote Tsolis: And depending on the company too.
George Stroumboulis: Absolutely. But it just, it blew my mind and I'm like, okay, but like we need strategy first, the execution. So, a lot of people think by just posting, getting it out there, I'm in marketing, I'm an expert. So, it's just kind of blew my mind where it's like, no, you're not. There is a need for this but that's not what we're trying to do. So what are you bringing to this program with an American mindset, right? It's even in the name, for these students.
Panagiote Tsolis: Well, so I'm only 36 but I've been working for, you know, since for 20 years now. And even picking up towels is, some you guess relations, there's customer service as well, you know, even the first job was a real job. Okay. So, there's a couple things; the first thing is I'm trying to reposition our offering so that way it's much more recent business focus as opposed to the theoretical aspect that is in most universities and institutions. And we already have the framework, a lot of our instructors are c-level Executives in Greece, they're managing their own companies, they’re owners of their own companies and our students are getting a lot of that right now. From these real life people, like, they approached me because of my business background. And so I'd like to take that and keep promoting that and keep finding people to fill in those slots if I ever have an adjunct position gone. But then like what I'm doing is I'm kind of like see, I'm creating a coalition of business people to give me advice. I'm getting the advice of my instructors. What does the market want, because in essence that is, if education can be an aspect of the market and if we're going to think of capitalistic ideology; well then the market should decide what education also or at least influence it in some way. And so I'm taking that approach. All my lessons are in the evening. I tell every student that talks to me, go get a job. I don't, like I have one student that wants to be in retail. I go okay, fine, go fix socks at your department store. Well, look, I started, I moved up to being a consultant in the gaming space because I picked up towels at a casino. Even if you pick up trash, start somewhere. Your CV will be a lot better than the kid that just has the academic experience. And you're already in house. So, I always tell students find your industry, find what you love. What do you like, you're not going to be in love with your job, nobody loves their job, a very few people are like, forget everything else in life, I just want to work but it's an aspect of your life and might as well find the most value in that. And so a lot of our class are in the evenings. And as a Greek American and living here and I've been here now for seven months, I went to the Army here five months ago, that was fun.
George Stroumboulis: Oh man, I'm too old now to go. I think I still have a few years.
Panagiote Tsolis: 44, 45 is the cutoff.
George Stroumboulis: Okay. I'm 41.
Panagiote Tsolis: So, yeah, two more years.
George Stroumboulis: I just can't stay longer than six months.
Panagiote Tsolis: Six months. That's what I was until I was asked to stay.
George Stroumboulis: Oh man.
Panagiote Tsolis: But as living here, even if you're here for three months and you're right like an Airbnb in Athens or in the city, you start understanding more of how Society functions, more so than just going to your village or whatever it may be, and we're going to make, Mykonos was not a Greek island, Mykonos is an Arabic/Russian/oligarch Island that we can pay to go hang out on. It's not Greek, in the sense of like Greece is in the traditional aspects of it. So, if you really want to understand what Society is here as a Greek of dysphoria which our dysphoria is almost as much as our population in the country, come live here, come study. We're accredited by, you know, Niche which is the New England system of higher education. The same accreditation that is given to Yale and Harvard. We had our accreditation meeting and I was talking with a representative from Harvard just a month ago. And so we are accredited, come here take a semester, come here study. Actually like mathematically speaking, if you're not going to like the top 20, 30 percent or even the top school in your region and you're going to like a secondary school, let's say like a Cal State School, could be like what 20, 30 a semester or for 23rd semester you've gotten your full degree for me and you probably paid for half your apartment.
George Stroumboulis: So you're saying 20, 30 grand?
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah.
George Stroumboulis: Okay. Again, listeners from around the world to study, first of all I come from Canada, when I studied at Brock University, I think every year with living whatever it was no more than 10 grand, right? Like, no more, it was maybe $7,000 here in Greece, right? Same thing, it's compensated by the government.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. It is compensated by the government but because you are placed based off your exams, if you get place in place you don't want to go, you have to pay for rent. Like, there's Regional Schools in places. So, you have to pay for the rent there.
George Stroumboulis: Right. But from an education, so then you go to the states and this is where it's crazy. I studied in France, I did a year abroad in France. Okay? Study there, the Americans sitting with me then were talking almost 20 years ago, exactly 20 years ago, they're paying 50 Grand semester for school, like just insane amount of money, so they're graduating now with like 2-300 Grand, either in debt or the parents paid for or whatever, right? It's just, it's incredible, and that’s a whole other segment and podcasts to discuss. But you're saying you could come here and especially if you're a Greek parent and you're losing that connection degrees, send your kid here first semester, living here is different, get educated like top tier school here, right? Like, great reputation, you know, what's your pitch when you're talking and trying to attract Talent. Like, what are you telling them.
Panagiote Tsolis: Well, first when, in any pitch you have to understand what they want and then you see what you have to offer what they want. So, if you're of Greek dysphoria or just someone who loves Greece and really wants to embed yourself in society, you get your student visa and you come out here and you study, you can do a whole four years, you can do your masters with us or you can just do a semester abroad, you're interacting with, we have students from all over the world because we're European. And so you're getting that value-add. Now let's say if you want to save money. Well, okay, if you're going to a state school in California you're probably going to pay less by coming here writing apartment in Athens. You're living in downtown Athens where my school is 15 minutes away from the Acropolis by foot.
George Stroumboulis: So what's living expenses like for a student who's come here. Like, what could someone expect? So, tuition, let's talk about that a year on average to….
Panagiote Tsolis: I think I can't get quoted and I probably will get fired for not knowing that.
George Stroumboulis: Yeah, it’s less than eight thousand a year or whatever…
Panagiote Tsolis: It's four or less than 8000 a year.
George Stroumboulis: Right.
Panagiote Tsolis: So, a living expense an apartment in Athens, even though rents have gone up just like they have all over the world, you could probably find like a basement apartment for like 300 bucks a month.
George Stroumboulis: Yeah. And if you want to go a little higher, 500 bucks a month.
Panagiote Tsolis: Depending on the neighborhood. And look, you know, in Greece there might be quote-unquote bad neighborhoods like every major city, but it's not violent crimes, you're not going to get a drive-by and like.
George Stroumboulis: Right. There's a lot of petty like…
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. And there's probably, then there, but really good neighbors could be 500 bucks a month. Like, we're talking about 100 euro change and you've moved from like, you know, oh, no, like Inglewood, for like a very blue-collar neighborhood in the LA area to Beverly Hills. By like a 200 dollar change.
George Stroumboulis: We're there that's several…
Panagiote Tsolis: Thousand. And, yeah, we're in Greece, that's 20 percent income. Like, the average income here is six, seven hundred bucks. So, you're in that markets, but you're also an introduced to the EU, you're introduced to a lot of different aspects. So, when it comes to the students that could come here, as a Greek American, as someone who was born in our perception of what it is to be Greek which isn't wrong, like we have much more traditional value than even people in Greece do when it comes to folk dance or specific cultural aspects that like an urban person wouldn't have. But there's also a lot of things that modern day Greeks do and having perceptions of life and that are great too and so for somebody that is of a Greek descent, come live here for a few months.
George Stroumboulis: Absolutely. You said International students, a lot of European students are coming down here.
Panagiote Tsolis: We do have some. We do have, you know, depending on how they get here. We do have a pretty good South Asian, Southeast Asian community that studies with us, African Community as well. Now I don't know exactly how and when they all got here. Like, some could be ones that have been born in Greece. So, it could be ones that have come through diplomats. It's a very diverse campus.
George Stroumboulis: Yeah. So, I would love to set up something where, you know, we're tapping into talent for our office locally to support what we're doing. I think that that would be great for that program. And then just attracting it to other countries as well.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. Like, one of the things that I'm trying to work towards is just getting to know more. I don't have a networking Greece that. Well, I'm not from here. Like, I'm from here but I'm not right. And so as I started meeting business people as a second to know what the market wants, then I can start working on what my programs are to offer to them as in like, if an industry needs some type of soft skill, let's focus on that; let's expose students to guest speakers; let's expose students to what industries are out there. Life is full of exposure. Why did I pick casinos? Because I lived in Vegas. Why didn't I go in a different route? I probably could have gone to like, you know, another school, in another market and had a completely different life just by exposure. I don't know any of that. My dad cooked at a restaurant, my mom cleaned hotel rooms. That was the only option for me. And this isn't that expensive even for Greek standards. Like, for a Greek that pays a lot of money that goes into the private tutelage to be able to pass entry exams. You could probably pay for a lot of our education just out of that. So, we're very obtainable from middle class Greeks. And to that point, do they even have the influence of what markets are out there, like you're in lighting, never would have thought of that. Never would have thought of that as an option, never would have thought of…
George Stroumboulis: You better now.
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah.
George Stroumboulis: At the end of the day it's lighting, it's widgets, it's whatever it is, it's still trying to connect on a human level with someone to try to sell them something that they either know they need or they don't know they need and just make sure you service the heck out of them. We're in the business of customer and client satisfaction, right?
Panagiote Tsolis: And that's universal.
George Stroumboulis: And that's universal in anything, right down to the burger we're serving, right up to the lighting to the education. So, your school, you guys bring in top tier Educators from the local market, c-level managers, people who have business experience, so the whole Gary Vaynerchuk drop out of school F-school. Like, we're changing that with this University, right? You're bringing students from around the world, you're working on attracting more talent and the price points are incredible. Like, the experience and again, we'll say it because we're in Greece, but going to study abroad anywhere in the world is a good thing. Go open your eyes for three months, four months, you know, even if you go to a Sweden or Africa or whatever it is, like, go open and take advantage of that situation you'll learn, you'll come home, you'll learn something.
Panagiote Tsolis: Exactly. And you'll make contacts.
George Stroumboulis: Absolutely.
Panagiote Tsolis: You know, I have, there are students that were internationally at UNLV and, you know, I talk to them still, one's in Sri Lanka on LinkedIn how's it going. We don't really have a relationship other than maybe a couple Instagram, how are you doing? Is everything okay? But maybe I go to Sri Lanka one day, we can have coffee. You know what I mean? You have that theory. Yeah.
George Stroumboulis: So what else? We're going to share all the links to your social media to your LinkedIn, make sure if people want to get in contact. Is there anything else that we should cover, any plugs, anything you want to…?
Panagiote Tsolis: If anybody wants to sponsor students to come here and study or even students that can afford in Greece to come study because it's a private school, it's not like the government's subsidizing it. You know, we do have a U.S entity and it could be tax write-offs from there. If that's what your incentive is or if your incentive is to help provide the future with opportunities then, you know, we'd love to, I'd love to get one-to-one, and you can sponsor a student who I can find you a student in Greece that could use an education too.
George Stroumboulis: Amazing. And let's really get the numbers out there with, can I anchor it with a number? With like four, five thousand…
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah. It depends on what you want to study, you want to sponsor for a semester, it could be under a couple Grand, if you want to sponsor for the whole thing, it could be under 10 grand, 12 grand for the whole degree. There's multiple different points. I'm not in the admissions. I'm so focused on like my incentive of building up the program, but I can always get people in contact with that aspect of the institution.
George Stroumboulis: Amazing.
Panagiote Tsolis: And I've only been there for four months, that's full time, so like you could see why there might be some gaps in my knowledge.
George Stroumboulis: It doesn't matter but you're drive, your goal and your vision is rock solid, right? And that's where you're trying to push.
Panagiote Tsolis: And it's well received by the faculty. Like, I tell the professors that's what I want, this is what I want in this place. They're like, great, thank you. I tell the students, I had a student the other day, I was like, it's a marketing research class and they're finishing up their projects. We're in finals in a few weeks. I go, look, I've already taught you everything. I want you to come here and I want you to complain to me for about an hour. I want you, you're either, I'm the director of the program, I'm going to do marketing research, all of you tell me what you wish you would have studied while you're here or what you can study while you're here, just tell me. And now I have a little, a focus group of students. I have great relationship with them, you know, they… I love them, they love me. I can feel that there's a lot of like love in the institution from all aspects. And the student goes about time somebody cares. And I feel that that's something that I probably would have said in school too. You know what I mean? It's not that they don't care, it's just that, you just have to tell them that you do.
George Stroumboulis: Well, if you give a Greek an opportunity to complain, they're happy too…
Panagiote Tsolis: Yeah, if you don't, they still will.
George Stroumboulis: They still will, it's ingrained in the DNA. Yeah, that's exciting man. I appreciate you sitting down with us. I thought this was great. I think people definitely resonate with some of this information. So, appreciate it.
Panagiote Tsolis: I appreciate it too.
George Stroumboulis: Thank you my man.
Panagiote Tsolis: Anytime you want to have a chat, I'm always here.
George Stroumboulis: Perfect. Alright.
Panagiote Tsolis: Alright, thank you.
Thanks for listening to this episode of Invigorate Your Business with George Stroumboulis. Please hit subscribe and like button and follow me on all the main podcast streaming channels. Also, please share your comments when you can. I appreciate your help and expanding this network to a worldwide audience. Until next time stay invigorated.
CONTENTS OF THIS VIDEO
0:00 INTRO
2:22 CASINO BUSINESS
4:41 MIRAGE HOTEL LAS VEGAS
6:05 PICKING UP TOWELS TO EXECUTIVE
11:35 BACHELOR PARTY COSMO LAS VEGAS
14:38 GAMBLING $2M TO LOSING IT ALL
15:56 DANA WHITE BANNED FROM CASINOS
17:40 GAMBLING ADDICTION
22:35 MACAU IS A BORING LAS VEGAS
25:25 SUPERSTICIOUS CHINESE GAMBLERS
26:00 ONLINE VS. LAND BASED GAMBLING
31:42 GREEK CASINOS & GAMBLERS
35:15 AMERICAN HELLENIC UNIVERSITY
39:30 GARY VAYNERCHUCK INFLUENCE
40:30 TIK TOK CHINA VS. TIK TOCK HERE
46:25 UNIVERSITY COSTS IN CANADA
54:18 SPONSOR STUDENTS FOR ATHENS COLLEGE
MORE ON HOW TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL IN THE CASINO INDUSTRY
Becoming a professional in the casino gaming industry requires a combination of skills, knowledge, and experience. Here are some steps to help you on your path to becoming a professional in the casino gaming industry:
Research the Industry: Familiarize yourself with the various sectors of the casino gaming industry, including gaming operations, hospitality, marketing, regulatory compliance, and customer service. Understand the different job roles and career paths available.
Obtain Relevant Education: Consider pursuing a degree or certification program related to casino management, hospitality, or a specific area of interest within the industry. Many colleges and universities offer programs specifically tailored to the casino gaming industry.
Gain Experience: Seek entry-level positions or internships within a casino or gaming company to gain hands-on experience. This could include roles such as casino dealer, slot attendant, or guest services representative. Experience in the industry will help you understand the operations, rules, and customer dynamics.
Develop Interpersonal and Customer Service Skills: The casino gaming industry requires strong interpersonal and customer service skills. Work on developing excellent communication skills, problem-solving abilities, and the ability to work well under pressure. A positive and friendly demeanor is important for creating a welcoming atmosphere for guests.
Learn Casino Games and Rules: Familiarize yourself with a variety of casino games such as blackjack, poker, roulette, and slot machines. Understand the rules, strategies, and odds associated with each game. Practice your skills to become proficient in dealing or playing various games.
Pursue Specialized Training: Consider obtaining specialized training in areas such as casino operations, responsible gaming practices, surveillance and security, or gaming regulations. Many industry organizations and associations offer training programs and certifications that can enhance your expertise and marketability.
Stay Updated with Industry Trends: Continuously educate yourself about the latest trends, technologies, and innovations in the casino gaming industry. Attend industry conferences, read industry publications, and engage with industry professionals to stay informed and expand your knowledge.
Networking: Build a professional network within the casino gaming industry. Attend industry events, join relevant associations, and connect with professionals through online platforms. Networking can provide opportunities for career advancement, mentorship, and access to job openings.
Seek Advancement Opportunities: Once you have gained experience, look for opportunities to advance your career within the industry. This could involve applying for supervisory or management positions, specializing in a particular area of expertise, or pursuing leadership development programs.
Embrace Continuous Learning: The casino gaming industry is dynamic and constantly evolving. Stay open to learning new skills, technologies, and industry regulations. Seek professional development opportunities and be proactive in expanding your knowledge base.
Obtain Required Licenses and Certifications: Depending on your desired role, you may need to obtain specific licenses or certifications required by regulatory authorities. Familiarize yourself with the licensing requirements in your jurisdiction and ensure compliance.
Showcase Your Skills and Experience: Update your resume, create a professional online presence, and highlight your relevant skills and experience in the casino gaming industry. Tailor your application materials to each job opportunity to demonstrate your qualifications and passion for the industry.
Remember, building a successful career in the casino gaming industry requires dedication, hard work, and a commitment to providing excellent customer service. Continuously seek opportunities for growth, stay informed, and strive for professional excellence in all aspects of your work.
MORE EPISODES
Patricia Kara sits down with George Stroumboulis in Newport Beach, California on the Invigorate Your Business Podcast to talk about all things entertainment, acting, modeling, TV presenting, Deal or No Deal, new books and making a career in the entertainment industry.