When bad things happen to bad people … plus Cher

Two of the three casinos that say they were stiffed for $822,000 by ex-Boston Celtic Antoine Walker are now owned by Harrah’s Entertainment. The unlucky third is Red Rock Resort. Back “in the olden days” (a Sue Lowden-ism that’s quite catchy) — which S&G would define as anything preceded the Harrah’s and Station Casinos LBOs — “whales” were often the beneficiaries of rebates on losses. The casino would write part of a marker off as bad debt, in the interests of luring a large player back and further vacuuming the dollars from his wallet. Now with Harrah’s and Station not only looking under the sofa cushions but overturning the furniture in search of loose change, those days of “george” treatment are gone. Walker, like Terrance Watanabe, might have been forgiven in the wayback but Great Recession-era casino companies are breaking out the brass knuckles.

As you may recall, you can forget about betting on Celtics games if you’re in a Harrah’s property because the company forfeited that sports book action so that CEO Gary Loveman could own a piece of the team. (This is what I mean when I refer to Harrah’s old “pet rock” board.) Since Mr. Walker was a former employee of “his” team, seems the least Loveman could do is write a check to cover his Planet Hollywood and Caesars Palace losses. In any event, Harrah’s is doubly out: both of Walker’s money and that of NBA bettors who can’t lay down their bucks on a Celtics game at a Harrah’s casino anymore. (Harrah’s also won’t take your NBA bet if it “doesn’t like the lines” you bet into or if it deems it too late in the season to take wagers or some of the other B.S. excuses that our Jeff Haney ran into at the House of Loveman.)

It was quite a shock when douchebag real estate mogul Luke Brugnara was bidding on bankrupt Fontainebleau. Given Brugnara’s history, I’m surprised the bankruptcy judge didn’t fall over laughing. This was a guy who had to go to lender-of-last-resort Vestin Mortgage (we’re talking double-digit interest rates, people) to buy the old Silver City site. Brugnara, who was known for doing business in a track suit, had curious notions of how to go about getting a Nevada gaming license — like yelling at the Gaming Control Board. Anyway, as a doubly convicted felon, the “obnoxious blowhard” can forget about ever owning a casino other than running a crap game in the prison quadrangle. (Yeah, maybe the R-J will sue me for that link, but for John L. Smith‘s prose it’s worth the risk.)

Steve Wynn may rail about “frivolous lawsuits” (probably because of the recent Philip Bloom silliness) but he’s filed one or two of them in his time. However, I don’t think anyone would blame him for going after ultra-sleazy Wynn Resorts patron and “oily little pimp” Joe Francis for alleging El Steve made death threats. To paraphrase a saying about Chuck Norris, Steve Wynn doesn’t make threats — he tells you how it’s going to be. Besides, given how wound up Wynn gets about stuff, if he said, “McKee, I’m gonna hit you in the back of the head with a shovel and bury you in the desert,” I’d figure he was blowing steam, as he is often wont to do. (Just ask Steve Friess, frequent recipient of “screaming” Wynn phone calls.)

Actually, since Wynn was purportedly threatening to do the head-bashing and body-burying himself, it all sounds far more funny than ominous. On second thought, maybe El Steve should rescind the lawsuit and just let the story add to his mystique.

Nothing new on the (to turn the conversation to good people) Lance Burton front, according to the Sun. (And does John Katsilometes really want to admit to seeing Sex and the City 2?) The outgoing Monte Carlo headliner hasn’t announced where he’ll set up shop next, although I hear Planet Hollywood may have a large vacancy sometime in the September-January range. Besides, I’m still in shock at the recent revelation that Burton is only 50 (i.e., two years my senior), as his cosmetic procedures suggest otherwise. After seeing his show, I was guessing he was closer to 60. Yikes!

Cher. The show still sucks, just in different ways now. Two years at Caesars already? Boy, time sure flies when you’re wriggling into 14 different Bob Mackie costumes in 75 minutes or so.

Adelson is everywhere. The tycoon’s political front, NPRI, has laid out a detailed proposal for overhauling Nevada‘s godawful tax structure. With its reliance on gambling, retail and tourism (a tripod that now has three broken legs) it was, as Las Vegas CityLife Editor Steve Sebelius once wrote, “designed to fail in bad times.” While the Legislature’s default response to shortfalls is to jam up Nevadans and tourists with another sales-tax increase, NPRI suggests rolling back that regressive form of “revenue enhancement” (my words, not theirs). The fine hand of Adelson may perhaps be detected in the absence of any call for a gaming-tax increase … and Nevada’s may soon reach parity with New Jersey‘s. In any event, NPRI’s manifesto is playing to mostly favorable early reviews.