Allen has worked in the casino, hotel, and gaming industries since 1979. His career began as a cook at Bally's Park Place in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he has been credited with helping successfully implement data tracking software to balance profit and food costs. Via Bally's, he entered a management training program around 1980. In 1985, he joined Atlantic City Hilton as a purchasing manager. Allen worked at The Trump Organization, which had taken over the Atlantic City Hilton, until 1993. He became part of the senior management team for three Trump properties in Atlantic City, before being promoted to vice president of operations. Allen next worked for real estate developerChristopher Hemmeter, serving as general manager for four Colorado casinos and helping to open another in New Orleans. He was then hired by South African business magnate Sol Kerzner to serve as the Mohegan Sun's senior vice president of property operations and help develop Atlantis Paradise Island. Allen was Kerzner's third hire, starting in 1995 and departing in 2001. He was promoted to senior vice president of property operations in Kerzner's company, Sun International, which included Mohegan Sun, Atlantis Paradise Island, and the Ocean Club and the former Desert Inn, Las Vegas.
Seminole Gaming and Hard Rock International
Allen serves as chairman of Hard Rock International and CEO of Seminole Gaming. Allen, who is not of Seminole origin, has led the Seminole Tribe of Florida's gaming operations since 2001. He was initially hired to operate five casinos on the Brighton, Coconut Creek, Hollywood, Immokalee, and Tampa reservations, and to develop the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood and Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa. Allen is credited with driving the 2003 development of bingo-based "Class II" gaming machines that are similar to slot machines. He has also been credited with leading the tribe's acquisition of Hard Rock International during 2006–2007 and for overseeing its brand, customer experience, image, memorabilia collection, and management practices. Allen received a casino marketing lifetime achievement award in July 2016, at the Casino Marketing and Technology Conference, which was hosted by Casino Journal and its parent company BNP Media. The award was established in 2004 to recognize individuals who have made "outstanding contributions in the area of casino marketing, promotions and customer service". In March 2017, Allen led the Hard Rock International purchase of the Trump Taj Mahal from investor Carl Icahn.
Personal life
Allen resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Allen and his wife, Isabel Allen, also have a home in Linwood, New Jersey. where she serves on Gilda's Club South Jersey's board of directors. The couple have hosted fundraiser events for the cancer support and education organization, which is an affiliate of the Cancer Support Community. In 2005, to commemorate Seminole Gaming's twenty-fifth anniversary, Allen directed a beautification of the tribe's Council Oak, the site of many Seminole Tribe ceremonial events. He serves on the American Gaming Association's board of directors and the advisory board of the Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade. He is also a board member of the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation.
