When the going gets tough, Sam Nazarian gets the hell out of Dodge, although he’ll try to take some of the revenue stream with him. That’s the moral to be drawn from his withdrawal from any operational role at SLS Las Vegas, a property already 
besieged with rumbles of financial trouble. Nazarian had already been through a rough hearing before the Nevada Gaming Control Board and approval by the Nevada Gaming Commission is no slam dunk. The best Nazarian can hope for, it appears, is a provisional, probationary, one-year license. Hardly a ringing vote of confidence in this oft-proclaimed “visionary.”
“With the extremely talented executive team led by Scott Kreeger and our dedicated work force at the resort, I feel my professional efforts are more productively focused on the long-term growth of SBE brands throughout North America,” waved Nazarian, disappearing in a cloud of dust … or was it cocaine? The Naz also leaves hanging questions about what felons like Derrick “Smokey” Armstrong and Suge Knight 
had on him that they were able to attempt — sometimes successfully — to shake him down. It was often said that when the closet of Nazarian’s Los Angeles nightclub background was finally opened, the skeletons would come tumbling forth and they did with a vengeance.
Stockbridge Capital CEO Terry Fancher rapped his wayward front man over the knuckles: “Following a recent hearing by members of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, we have made a collective decision to change the operating structure for the property, which Sam and I agree is in the best interests of the SLS Las Vegas.” In other words, thank you and don’t let the gilded door hit you in the keester on the way out.
Thus, for all meaningful purposes, ends the casino career of a mesmerizing huckster whose sbe entertainment was essentially all hat, no capital. To his credit, he brought back the former Sahara when nobody thought he would or could. Others may have provided the money but Nazarian was the idea man, the one who put an impressive creative team together and let them do their thing (perhaps to chaotic effect, but that’s a matter of taste). Unfortunately, he wasn’t cut out to exist in a regulated casino industry and his further adventures will unfold in the hotel business. Las Vegas is no longer a place where snorting blow and consorting with felons are job requirements.
* Geoff Freeman‘s new-look American Gaming Association continues to reinvent itself. Its “Get to Know Gaming” campaign has now morphed into an online resource center where you can find facts like economic-impact figures, regulatory rules and licensing requirements in user-friendly format. (A pity Sam Nazarian didn’t have access to this.) For example, how much does it cost to have a slot machine in New Jersey? I don’t bookmark many gaming sites but I did this one. The look is pretty rough at the moment, with graphics that look like some dumped a PowerPoint presentation all over the site, but it’s a work in progress. Heck, it just debuted today.
* Steve Wynn’s Showstoppers is not to be confused with the Desert Inn‘s 1991 Showstoppers and producer Jeff Kutash would like us to know it. A former Wynn protege, 
Kutash says “Steve is a very clever guy, a daring guy who wants to do it bigger and better than anyone else,” but doesn’t think new-look Showstoppers is bigger-er or better-er enough. Then again, who would expect a Steve Wynn production show to feature “a giant Godzilla that came up through the stage and a girl came out on a giant King Kong hand”? Or an ice rink. Well, maybe the ice skating (or a one-off pirate battle), but the rest of that stuff belongs in Jubilee!, down at Bally’s. Kutash says Wynn is hewing closely to the spirit of the music, while his 1991 effort was “the essence of the production sequence.” By the way, Le Reve has evidently been put through yet another iteration, so if you need a new excuse to see it, consider yourself validated.
