Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Plenty of good seats are available

Aimed to attract high rollers, private gaming salons flop

International gaming salons were supposed to provide areas for high rollers to play, but the three on the Strip, including this one at MGM Grand, have drawn little private action of late. REVIEW-JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Not one high-rolling gambler played in the Strip's three private casinos between March 1 and Nov. 30, the Gaming Control Board reported Monday.

The private casinos, called "international gaming salons" by state regulators, have won only $3.5 million since the first one opened at the MGM Grand in August 2002.

Pitched as a way to drive new business to the state by attracting international gamblers who want to bet in privacy, Nevada lawmakers and regulators changed state laws and rules in 2001 and 2002 to allow private casino gambling in the salons.

The winnings came from five customer visits to the rooms at the MGM Grand, Caesars Palace and Mandalay Bay, and all of those visits took place in December 2002 and January and February 2003.

The rooms' operators told board officials that the gaming salons were being used, but not with the doors closed and the public excluded, control board statistical analyst Frank Streshley said.

Most of the action in the rooms has been on the baccarat tables, Streshley said.

The state's international gaming salon numbers report only gambling done in private, when state rules requiring casinos to log in players, provide real-time video surveillance feeds to control board headquarters and mandating minimum $500 bets are in force.

"The casinos expected these numbers to be better, but the biggest days are still to come," Las Vegas Advisor publisher and casino gambling expert Anthony Curtis said Monday. "Overall, it's still good for the casinos that they can offer private gaming, even though it's been a big old flop to date."

Curtis said the strict Nevada rules undoubtedly limit play in the rooms, compared to private casinos offered at tribal casinos in Connecticut or California.

The Barona Valley Ranch casino near San Diego, for example, has two private casinos, each with private garages, that attracted hundreds of visits in the past year.

"It's probably the red tape that's to blame," Curtis surmised. "You have to figure the casinos discourage play (in the rooms) except under the most optimal circumstances. Here, they have to jump through hoops."

MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said the private casino areas are not dedicated rooms that exist only as international gaming salons.

"These spaces are used frequently and often," Feldman said. "This, in the end, was about closing doors on an existing room. It's a good, and needed, amenity to have."

Feldman said the calendar plays a part in the long span since gamblers have wagered in the salons, noting the early-in-the-year appearance of New Year's and Chinese New Year's holidays.

The state law enacted in 1931 allowing gambling mandated that gaming be "wide open" to the public. But legislators in 2001 passed Senate Bill 283, a bill allowing regulators to craft rules enabling casinos to have private gaming areas, and Gov. Kenny Guinn signed the measure.

The Nevada Gaming Commission approved rules allowing international gaming salons in January 2002; they require salon patrons to have $500,000 in cash, credit line or a combination of the two. The minimum table game bet in the salons is $500, as is the minimum slot machine denomination.

All three casinos gained approval for the salons in 2002. MGM Grand's came in July, Caesars Palace's in September and Mandalay Bay's in December 2002.