Jacks or Better casino questions captain’s job on Facebook

The unique casino cruise ship which sits just nine miles offshore from Texas is at the centre of a social media scandal.

While casino gambling in Texas is illegal, Jacks or Better has found a loophole by running a cruise on federal waters where it is legal.

But on Monday the Jacks or Better (JOB) casino posted a Facebook post questioning whether it should fire its captain David Kendrick since he was in charge on April 15 – the day the yacht struck a buoy.

“HIRE OR FIRE?” the post said.

“Jacks or Better Casino must make a decision before we reopen on April 28. Should we reinstate Captain David Kendrick or should we fire him?”

Jacks or Better Casino’s General Manager (GM), Rocky Herrin, said they checked with Kendrick before the post went up.

“We posted it with his approval, but the verbiage was not right,” Herrin said. “It backfired — being social media — the backfire being that people thought we’ve hung him out to dry.”

What Herrin is talking about is the backlash the original post received.

“Dog poop was actually thrown on the GM’s front door,” the company said.

“Further, there is talk of a boycott against JOB when we sail again on April 28th.

“JOB made the decision to delete the thread because of the vitriolic criticism and the animosity that followed.”

Herrin added many posts threatened employees and their family members.

Herrin said management didn’t mean make it sound as if they were throwing Kendrick under the bus, instead, it was meant to show him support.

“It wasn’t going to sway myself or the owners one way or the other,” he said.

“It was just to show that everybody is behind the captain.”

The original Facebook post was replaced by a second one detailing why it was removed.

“The thread received hundreds of comments in less than 30 minutes, many of them denigrating the writer and management of JOB for posting it,” the post said.

“Condemnation was aimed personally at our employees who received telephonic hate threats against themselves and families.

“We did not anticipate the misunderstanding that the thread would cause. For that, JOB offers its sincere apology; not for content, but for verbiage.”

The casino will decide whether they want to keep Kendrick on board or not on Wednesday when repairs to the yacht, including a six-foot gash on the port side plus minor structural damage, will be completed.

The fully booked ship is set to sail on Friday, but according to reports, bad weather could delay departure.