Sunday, October 13, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

GAMING CHIPS: Battle for the bands at hand

Don't expect the Hard Rock Hotel and Palms to call a truce any time soon in their high-priced duel for the title of "hippest casino in Las Vegas," executives said recently.

The properties are spending millions of dollars to lure high-priced entertainers. The Palms hosted acts such as No Doubt and Ozzy Ozbourne; the Hard Rock booked the Rolling Stones, the Who and Aerosmith.

Neither Rain in the Desert at the Palms nor the Joint at the Hard Rock are big venues with enough seats to break even on ticket sales for many of the acts, but George Maloof said his property plans to stay in the high-priced competition.

"It's expensive signing these acts," said Palms owner George Maloof. "But it's important to what we're trying to do."

Hard Rock CEO Don Marrandino was similarly disinclined to stop spending big bucks to garner big buzz.

"That's our market," Marrandino said. "We don't make money on the concert, but hopefully we'll reach out to players. We don't offer a $5.99 buffet as a loss leader. These concerts are our loss leaders."

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TRIVIA TIME: What no-longer-standing Las Vegas hotel-casino called itself: "The miracle in the desert"?

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BACK, JACK? Recent financial problems at Binion's Horseshoe prompted much speculation about a possible return of Jack Binion. The brother of Horseshoe owner Becky Binion Behnen, Binion used to run the property but sold most of his stake in the casino to his sister in 1998. He owns a single ownership share of the property as well as his separately owned Horseshoe Gaming riverboat casino company.

Guy Chipparoni, Jack Binion's spokesman, said Binion has no interest in his sister's casino.

"He wishes her well, but has no other interest in the property at this time," Chipparoni said.

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CAPTAIN CASH: Park Place Entertainment CEO Tom Gallagher spotted a bargain last week. With his company's stock at a 52-week low, Gallagher spent his own money to buy 50,000 shares. He bought his shares for about 50 percent less than they cost in April.

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TRIVIA ANSWER: The Dunes, imploded in 1993 to make way for Bellagio, pitched itself as the miracle in the desert.

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QUOTABLE: "He's saying: 'Macau, you need me more than I need you.' Wynn may be trying to give himself some wiggle room on whether or not to build in Macau. He may just decide to focus on Le Reve." -- University of Nevada, Las Vegas professor and casino industry expert Bill Thompson, commenting on a recent government filing by Wynn Resorts that noted its Macau subsidiary would not build a casino if the government doesn't adopt new rules.

Gaming Wire staff compiles Gaming Chips.