Inside Gaming Column: Maxim Mag Casino Awaits Fat Lady's Chorus

Skeptics doubt the $1.2 billion Maxim magazine hotel-casino gets off the drawing board -- not as now planned. If built, it would be surrounded by Circus Circus' low-rise motel rooms and the hotel-casino's recreational vehicle park. That's hardly the allure you'd expect for a megaresort themed on a high-end men's lifestyle magazine. Plus, the awkward site configuration suggests either Maxim with its partner, Concord Wilshire Partners, really has its eyes set on buying Circus Circus or selling the land it bought last year to Circus Circus owner MGM Mirage, gaming insiders say. Either way, the fat lady hasn't sung yet.

Gaming industry insiders seem disgruntled by reports that Gov. Kenny Guinn will appoint Ellen Knowlton to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Knowlton's handling of privacy issues while heading the FBI office here raises the most concern. These insiders want a thorough vetting process. Bobby Siller, whose term on the Gaming Control Board expires Dec. 31, has made no secret that he wants Knowlton to succeed him. She previously succeeded him as head of the local FBI office, a position from which she retired a few months ago.

We're No. 7. Only six destinations outpaced Las Vegas in 2005 for international visitors. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries data show 1.8 million overseas visitors in 2005 came here, a 14 percent increase from 1.6 million in 2005. Both gaming and convention operators have made foreign visitors marketing targets, and analysts say the opening of Wynn Las Vegas here and Sands Macau in China have helped open the doors, especially to high rollers.

Harrah's Entertainment Chairman Gary Loveman recently suggested Atlantic City should condemn Trump Plaza and give him the site to expand Caesars Atlantic City. Perhaps not to be taken seriously, Loveman followed Peter Carlino at the East Coast Gaming Congress in Atlantic City, who said eminent domain would help solve the city's shortage of developable land and encourage more casino companies to come to town. Whereupon Loveman countered: "That's a strategy I never even considered."

Las Vegas Sands owner Sheldon Adelson says his 30-month lead over developer Steve Wynn in Macau gives him a competitive advantage. But in an interview with Review-Journal reporter Howard Stutz, Adelson said one factor is even more important. "We think we have better minds and we can absorb the information better and we can do more with it. ... That doesn't mean the other guy will fail. They will not fail, but I don't think they'll hit the grand slam home run that they think they will."

Gaming Wire Editor Rod Smith can be reached by phone at 477-3893 or by e-mail at rsmith@reviewjournal.com.

2006-06-12