For Becky Green, a single mom living with her grandparents, Jeff Young, a contractor without any houses to build, and Susan Case, who yearns to return to bartending, the Red Hawk Casino is an employment jackpot waiting to pay out.
Monday, all three were among 500 people at the second day of the casino's job fair in El Dorado Hills seeking work as waiters and waitresses, housekeepers, slot technicians and other positions.
So far, more than 14,000 people have applied for 1,750 jobs at the Shingle Springs Indian casino scheduled to open in December.
As many of those waiting in line outside the Red Hawk job center remarked, in an economy rife with layoffs and unemployment, a business offering job security and benefits is worth checking out.
"I'm looking for something that pays more than minimum wage. There's no way I can make it as a single parent living on that," said Green.
She said she and her 5-year-old daughter are living with her grandparents in Folsom while she searches for work.
Department stores are hiring for the Christmas holiday season, she said, but the jobs are part-time, pay minimum wage and offer no security.
Green hopes to land a job at Red Hawk as a waitress, something she did at a Payson Casino in Arizona.
"People tip great at casinos, especially if they've been winning," she said.
Young arrived at the employment center at 7:30 a.m. Monday and discovered he needed to fill out some additional paperwork.
By 2 p.m. he was inside the building, where fellow job hunters were scouring computers for job listings, completing applications and being interviewed for positions.
"I want a more steady, secure job with retirement," said Young, a 50-year-old general contractor from Placerville.
With four culinary arts certificates, Young applied for a position as a baker's apprentice. Red Hawk will open with six restaurants, including a steakhouse, a sushi bar and a buffet.
Young said that while he has very little contracting work lined up, he does have mortgage payments and three kids and a wife to support.
Although many applying at Red Hawk have never worked in a casino, others, like Case, who lives in rural southern El Dorado County, are savvy veterans of the gambling industry.
"I love people and I need to get back in the business," she said. For more than 20 years Case was a bartender and cocktail waitress in Nevada casinos, helping to open Harrah's Laughlin in 1988.
All that experience, she said, taught her the importance of catering to customers. Which, of course, helps generate tips.
During the two-day job fair, Red Hawk officials said, more than 800 people showed up to fill out job applications. An estimated 200 were offered jobs on the spot.
"This has been wildly successful," said Peter Fordham, the casino's general manager. "Everybody's obviously cognizant of the challenges of the economy today."
The vast majority of applicants, Fordham said, live within 20 miles of the casino under construction off Highway 50.
Of the 14,000 total applicants, for example, nearly 1,500 are from Placerville, a city with an estimated 10,000 people.
But job seekers have also come from as far away as Las Vegas and Reno, with 50 applicants from South Lake Tahoe.
Fordham said the most popular jobs are tip-producing positions such as table game dealers, bartenders and food servers. However, dealing positions were filled earlier this summer and a dealing school began this week.
When it opens, the 270,000-square-foot casino, owned by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, will have 75 table games and about 2,000 slot machines and gambling devices.
Among the hundreds applying Monday were those like 24-year-old Ryan Linton of Placerville. He isn't particular about what job he's offered.
"I'll take anything," he said.
Call The Bee's Walter Yost, (916) 608-7449.
