In Business Las Vegas, June 15th, 2007
Gaming regulators have approved a plan to keep Lake Las Vegas' Casino MonteLago open.
The state Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission met in back-to-back sessions on June 6 and agreed to allow two executives from PDS Gaming Holdings LLC to manage the standalone casino near the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the MonteLago Village.
Johan
Finley, chief executive
of PDS, and
President
Peter
Cleary
will buy out the contract for PDS.$1.6 million funded by
Without the actions, the casino, which has 10 table games, 635 slot machines and a small race and sports book, would have been closed by the end of the month, putting 180 employees out of work.
PDS is a
Las Vegas
-based finance and lease company.
Finley
and
Cleary
have applied to the Gaming Control Board to take over Casino MonteLago's operations from Cook Inlet Region Inc. Lakeside Gaming Investors LLC, an Alaskan tribal corporation that was licensed in 2002.
Former Caesars Palace
President
Dan
Reichartz
's
Sybro LLC managed the casino for CIRI, but told them his company wanted out of the management agreement in December. Sybro was convinced to stay on until a new manager could be found.
Finley
's and
Cleary
's acquisition of the casino is expected to be completed by the end of September, but the Control Board and the Commission gave a time cushion of the end of December for the deal to close.
Cleary
told regulators that Casino MonteLago would be marketed differently and that a new food and beverage contract could save the property $5 million a year.
After Loews Lake Las Vegas closed its small casino when it acquired the Hyatt Regency about a mile away, Casino MonteLago became the only casino property at Lake Las Vegas. The owner of Lake Las Vegas, the landlord of the casino property, is charging the new operators rent of $1 a month until they are licensed to help offset losses.
The Casino MonteLago matter was the only one considered by the commission, but the Control Board had its regular monthly meeting prior to that action.
The board approved recommending a limited license for
Steven
Spickler
, who is buying Gloria's casino, a small property on Rainbow Boulevard in Las Vegas.
The board unanimously approved the recommendation, which will go to the commission next week.
