Is there anybody who could probably run the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino worse than hapless Morgans Hotel Group? We may soon find out as Navegante Group has been announced as operator-to-be by NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. The latter, as you know, is trying to foreclose on the property, for fear that senior lenders would get paid but NorthStar will be shafted for its $96 million. The Las Vegas Sun reports that the Hard Rock is on a collision course with a Feb. 9 deadline for making good on $1.25 billion in debt, with no rescue plan announced — although a frantic sell-off of MHGC assets would suggest that the company is earnestly trying to avoid default. No wonder it can’t find a CEO. Who wants to accept captaincy of the Titanic?
Now, if NorthStar had nominated Fine Point Group (which temporarily improved Greektown Casino‘s performance while the property was in Chapter 11) or perhaps Golden Gaming, which briefly operated the HRH while Morgans was getting its gaming license, it’d be a happy day. Navegante, however, has come a long way down from the days when it was helping Galaxy Entertainment get its footing in Macao. Since then, Navegante has signed on with bottom-feeders like Tamares Group and Sam Nazarian. Just trot on over to the Sahara if you want to see what a post-Navegante casino looks like. Now that the Riviera has new ownership, a capital infusion and a much improved debt structure, it’s the Sahara that has the aura of imminent mortality.
Who was that masked man anyway? According to Las Vegas Metro, it’s Anthony Carleo who stuck up Suncoast and — more notoriously — Bellagio recently. After a helmet-wearing bandit robbed Steve Wynn‘s old place, casino pundits warned that those chips would be damned difficult to fence. Evidently the robber (and his accomplices, if any) didn’t listen because Carleo got busted trying to peddle casino chips to undercover Metro officers, according to KTNV-TV. The accused stickup man has “juice” of his own, says the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which reports that he’s the son of local judge George Assad, a former casino dealer himself. Looks like Dear Old Dad’s April reelection bid just rolled snake eyes.
You could grow a long beard waiting for the Nevada Gaming Control Board to weigh in on Bellagio’s feeble security. The casino allowed the robber to leave his motorcycle in the valet-parking area (the hog was still waiting for him when he came scampering out with the stolen chips and roared off into the dawn) and stroll through the gaming floor looking like Darth Vader, thereby foiling the “eye in the sky.” All that biometric facial-recognition software for naught!
Gotterdammerung for Stanley Ho. The shenanigans on the shores of the South China Sea have even made the pages of Time. The article soft-pedals Stanley Ho‘s World War II coziness with the Japanese but otherwise makes a good primer on the story so far. (If this were a five-act play, I’d say the curtain has just come down on Act I.) Now that Sociedade de Jogos de Macau is publicly traded, Time reports, the Macanese government may feel impelled to intervene before the family strife diminishes investor value any further.
Sign of the Times. Eight of Herbst Gaming‘s next 15 events at Star of the Desert Arena in Primm (including two announced today) feature Latino entertainers or ensembles. Somebody — a lot of somebodies — in Las Vegas missed a market opening here and the newly restructured Herbst is eating their lunch.
Hard Rock is a mess..Good for Herbst!
First of all, you are right about Hard Rock. The only company than can effectively operate this property is Hard Rock Intl. I was in there today and it was EMPTY! One day before Super Bowl weekend.
On the other hand, you are wrong about Navegante. They can only do what they are directed to do and FUNDED to do. As I’m sure you are aware, they are a bridge between a losing operation and a stable one. If you don’t have money to promote, all you can do is keep it at the level that is reasonable, and that’s Navegante balilwick.
Great observation about Primm… that’s a market that is wide open in the Southwest….
The Bellagio robbery is a living example of the dangers of problem gambling IMHO. This young man was lulled into thinking making a living as a gambler was easy and rewarding, when the truth is it is not. Telivised tournament poker has glamorized the game without covering the other side of the coin IMHO. Lets all take this lesson seriously: you can’t truly make a living at the tables or machines, only the casino owners and employees can. Not to knock Mr. Dancer or Ms. Frugal, they give good advice that I follow, but alot of the advantage they tout is tied into the trinket and comp department, and the dicipline required to play at all times like a robot is daunting. Just take gambling money into a casino, not rent money. Don’t ever do ATM’s inside a casino!!! Think about all factors, consider the health implications of sitting at a table for hours playing hands, it’s terrible for you IMHO. Be smart, and play smart, use your noggin. They are not building those fountains to serenade you as you take cash out, they are designed to lure you in!
Dave, your point re Navegante is well taken. The Woolfs could sooner get water from a stone than money from tightwad Tamares (or Sam Nazarian, for that matter). However, Navegante’s resumé strongly suggests that NorthStar is looking for somebody to run the posh HRH on the cheap. Since Blake Sartini’s Golden Gaming already had experience running the HRH’s casino without a hitch, why not give it another crack at the place? Unless Sartini was asked but turned NorthStar down, it makes no sense to me.
Two Things:
I was playing poker the other day, and apparently there had been a robbery the night before. A small fire was started in the sportsbook as a diversion, then an individual went to the poker tables and took $1,000 in cash off of a poker table (note it was the poker player that got robbed, not the casino).
As far as no one capitalizing on the Hispanic market: I drive by South Point regularly, the headliner sign announced on five screens in a row, five different Hispanic Bands. So there’s that.
Thanks, Ray. And good on South Point. Of the major LV operators, Michael Gaughan is the least constrained by conventional wisdom.