Binion's Closing Hotel Tower, Laying off Workers

The beleagured Binion's Gambling Hall on Fremont Street announced this afternoon that it is closing it's Hotel Tower and laying off 100 workers.

This is bad news not only for the casino and its owners but the staff that is getting cut just before the holidays is bearing the brunt of the depressing news.

From the R-J:

The owner of the long-troubled Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel is closing the property’s 365 hotel rooms indefinitely and will cut nearly 100 of the property’s 800 jobs.

Spokeswoman Lisa Robinson blamed the decision to shut down the rooms on Dec. 14 on the economic downturn.

“This is a result of this brutal economy that has affected Las Vegas,” Robinson said. “We looked at every aspect of our operations and the hotel rooms are no longer competitive in this market.”

In addition to the rooms, Binion’s Original Coffee Shop is being closed and the casino will discontinue offering keno.

The casino, sports book, poker room, and the casino floor cafes and other amenities will remain open.

The Binion’s Ranch Steakhouse on the tower’s 24th floor will close Dec. 13 for an annual cleaning, but will reopen on Dec. 28, Robinson said.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, long a champion of downtown redevelopment, called the hotel’s closing disappointing.

“The bad news is there are going to be a lot of people out of work,” Goodman said during a press conference held in his office to discuss Binion’s. “That’s a shame.”

News of the Binion’s hotel closing comes a week after the new Golden Nugget opened a new 500-room tower.

Robinson said Binion’s owners – TLC Casino Enterprises – determined that occupancy and average daily room rates at the hotel were too low to make sense to continue operating the rooms, Robinson said.

“With the plummeting room rates in Las Vegas, we just weren’t able to keep it competitive,” she said.

Binion’s rooms rates range from $23 per night on week nights to $54 per night on the weekend until the hotel closes.

Average daily room rates declined 24.7 percent in Las Vegas the first nine months of the year, with hotel occupancy slipping 5.6 percent, according to the latest numbers from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The hotel is offering to move people with reservations at Binion’s to the 694-room Four Queens across Fremont Street, Robinson said.

Both hotel-casinos are privately owned by Terry Caudill’s TLC Casino Enterprises, which acquired Binion’s in January 2008 for $32 million.

A state gaming law requiring casinos with nonrestricted gaming licenses to have hotels will not affect Binion’s license because the property was open before the regulation was approved, Gaming Control Board member Randall Sayre said Monday.

The announcement, however, was just the latest in a long string of problems for the historic downtown casino, which was founded in 1951 by maverick gambler Benny Binion as the Horseshoe Club.

In 2004, regulators swooped in and closed the casino – then known as Binion’s Horseshoe – to ensure former owner Becky Binion Behnen could pay the property’s mounting debts.

The casino has changed hands three times since Behnen sold the property to Harrah’s Entertainment.

Harrah’s owned the property just long enough to strip it of the Horseshoe name and the popular World Series of Poker brand, which Binion’s had hosted since 1970. It then sold the property to MTR Gaming, which reported millions of dollars in losses during its tenure.

Caudill purchase of the property hasn’t stopped the problems.

TLC is fighting numerous lawsuits from owners of the land underlying Binion’s who are seeking payment for their leases or to increase the rent.

At least four of nine parcels under the main casino and hotel are owned by outsiders who charge the hotel rent.

The latest lawsuit filed in August by the owners of about a quarter of an acre underneath Binion’s is seeking $19,594 per month in rent under an agreement dating back to 1960.

The property’s previous owner, Chester, W.Va.-based MTR Gaming, also sued Binion’s in August, saying TLC has failed to pay rents due to landowners.

Although the lawsuit was settled for undisclosed terms, MTR said at the time TLC was in default on at least two lease agreements.

Robinson said the land leases, which are locked in at fixed rates, have contributed to the property’s economic woes.

Goodman said that despite the Binion’s developments, there’s still good news downtown for those willing to see it.

He mentioned the construction of the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute and the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, and the performance of the Las Vegas Premium Outlets and the World Market Center as positives.

He stuck by the city’s ambitious redevelopment plans that include a new city hall, two proposed new casinos, a sports arena and a reopened Lady Luck casino.

“We have to have a greater resolve than we did before the (Binion’s) closure,” Goodman said. “We need that kind of optimism here.”

___

Where ever he is, Benny Binion is spinning.

RTC Transit finds its future in Las Vegas' past

The RTC is going neon.  Well along the new bus routes anyways.  Seems they are teaming with the Neon Museum and others to restore neon signs from our collective past and use as transit markers on their new routes.

From the Review-Journal:

Downtown Las Vegas has developed into a hip place to hang out and now the Regional Transportation Commission is hoping to play off the newly chic neighborhoods.

Like downtown, the transit agency aims to reinvent itself; it's working to shake the stigma attached to hopping on a public bus. The latest effort comes in the form of neon signs -- some dug out from the old neon boneyard and others newly built. They adorn three stops along the agency's trendy new ACE transit line.

 

In the Arts District, a massive sign reading "18b" shadows the transit stop. For those of us who aren't as cool as we think we are, 18b means 1800 block, which is how the artsy crowd refers to that area. Down the street is the retro sign from the 5th Street Liquor store and, across from the Las Vegas Convention Center, stands the original Landmark casino sign -- reborn on the same spot of the old establishment.

"It's an interpretive, artistic way to illuminate the route for the ACE," said Jacob Snow, general manager of the commission. "We want to make it cool looking and make it a positive experience."

Downtown once had a reputation for prostitution, cheap shrimp cocktails, homeless people and cheesy casino giveaways. It has re-emerged as a gathering spot for the younger crowd with trendy bars that offer no gambling.

The redevelopment has even surprised Las Vegas natives such as Snow. Now, Snow is doing the same with the bus system.

Over the years, the agency has gradually faded out its purple and green, exhaust-billowing Citizens Area Transit buses, replacing them with the gold single and double-deck RTC vehicles. In March, the transportation agency will unveil the new ACE system.

Passengers purchase their tickets at the stops, which, combined with the bus-level curbs, will allow a more convenient and quicker boarding process. The new vehicles are the closest Las Vegas will have to light-rail.

And the vehicles themselves?

"This is not your grandfather's bus; this is not a toaster on wheels," Snow said.

So in introducing this new line that will primarily serve downtown and the Strip, why not draw more attention to it with the old-school signs?

"They add native history," Snow said. "We don't have a lot in terms of keeping our history."

In addition to the neon bus stop demarcations, the agency has chosen a handful of artists to create pieces that will be installed on each bus shelter's eight panels.

The idea to install cool signs was actually born years before downtown became popular again.

Snow credits former Clark County Parks and Recreation Director Pat Marchese, who suggested raiding the boneyard for signs that could be erected in the rights of way of a planned light-rail system. The light-rail fell to the wayside, but that didn't mean the RTC should do the same with the signs, Snow said.

The ACE project is still under its $60 million budget, which means Snow and his associates may head back down to the boneyard, a Las Vegas Boulevard property where the signs are stored. He figures he might be able to afford three more signs that would be installed on the Grand Central Parkway stretch of the ACE route.

"This is going to be a lot of fun," Snow said.

And if his strategy works, Las Vegans might think the same about riding the bus.

More Las Vegas Memories

YouTube is a treasure trove of Classic Las Vegas home movie footage.  Take a walk down memory lane with some of these great YouTube videos:

From Ray Lindstrom, 1956 Las Vegas Strip

From Elmer Gerlock, 1957 Las Vegas Strip and Fremont Street.  Love the shot of the Golden Nugget neon billboard.

From yooreds, Las Vegas Strip circa 1976

Jackie Gaughan: Last King of Downtown Las Vegas

For Halloween Happenings around the Las Vegas Valley, click here.

Jackie Gaughan turned 88 earlier this week.  Our buddy John L. Smith has plenty to say about one of the men who helped shape Fremont Street in the 1960s and 1970s:

The last king of downtown moves slowly these days. He can still be found most mornings puttering around the El Cortez amid the clatter of slot machines and din of gamblers' voices.

The king spends hours at a table in the poker room, smoothing the green felt and playing the cards he's dealt. He's in for small stakes, but the chip count doesn't matter. At 89, he's comforted by the rhythm of the game he's played longer than he can now remember.

Outside, the Las Vegas he knew and helped create has grown and changed, gone corporate and strange.

In here, the world still makes pretty good sense to Mr. John D. Gaughan.

His many friends call him Jackie, but to me he'll always be the ebullient, baggy-pants king of downtown.

And he's the last king left in the old Vegas deck. Benny Binion died in 1989, Sam Boyd in 1993, and Mel Exber in 2002. That leaves Jackie.

Legend has it Jackie goes so far back in the gambling racket he watched Palamedes put dots on the first dice, but I trace his wagering roots to the storefront bookmaking shops of Omaha, Neb., in the sunny days before World War II. Those who think Omaha was a sleepy crossroads don't know it once was considered the gambling capital of the Midwest. Those who perceive Jackie as a simple old-schooler should know the World War II veteran earned a degree from Creighton University.

At one time or another, Jackie has owned or had a hand in operating most of the buildings of Fremont Street. An incomplete list: Jackie Gaughan's Plaza, and a partnership with Exber in the Las Vegas Club, the Pioneer and Sundance; he was a major stockholder and board member of the Golden Nugget, and he owned the Gold Spike and Western Bingo, and the Bingo Club and Boulder Club.

Jackie also owned several points in the Showboat and the Flamingo, but as son Michael Gaughan says, "Dad was a downtown guy. He never understood why people would build neighborhood casinos. He liked downtown. And my dad always did well with the local citizens. Even the El Cortez does well today. He's probably had more gaming licenses than anybody else."

And the thing is, Jackie knew his places intimately, visited them daily wearing his plaid sport coats and a sunny disposition. Jackie was never too big to pick up an empty glass or clean an ashtray.

Talk about a hands-on operator. He was a one-man welcoming committee. Years after he could afford to delegate the grind work to a gaggle of assistants, Jackie insisted on making the rounds and distributing his kitschy but profitable "fun books" filled with food discounts and gambling specials.

Big or small, for many years his casinos made money. The coins rolled, the cash flowed, and the net profits made Jackie the envy of some corporate casino titans who strained under elephantine overheads.

"When he was healthy he would walk his places every day," Michael Gaughan recalls. "He always knew the names of all his employees. He cared about his customers and he cared about his employees."

That familiarity, impossible at a mega-resort, endeared him with his workers. That, and a generous pension plan that enabled porters and waitresses to retire in dignity.

Jackie sold his downtown casino interests a few years ago, and today his beloved El Cortez is owned by a group of family friends that includes Kenny Epstein, Mike Nolan, Lawrence Epstein, and Joe Woody. The son of gambler Ike Epstein, Kenny first met happy, hard-working Jackie in Lake Tahoe in the 1950s.

Although Jackie sold the El Cortez, he still lives there as he has for decades. He still eats his meals with Kenny and Co. Epstein wouldn't have it any other way.

"I've met a lot of people in my life, but I've never met anybody like him," he says. "Jackie treats everyone alike, from a porter to the chairman of the board of one of these big corporations. He's just a regular guy. There's nobody like him. He's just a Midwesterner."

Casino impresario Steve Wynn knows Gaughan as a mentor who played an integral role in his career when he took over the Golden Nugget in 1973.

"What I remember and am most grateful for is, as green as I was in that position, Jackie treated me with great respect," Wynn recalls. "He treated me as a young guy that should be helped. He did nothing but help me. If I called him six times a day, he'd be nothing but warm and supportive."

Wynn has met his share of characters, but few match Gaughan. Mention those sport coats, and you can't help but smile.

"He's one of the most colorful, delightful, warm, and sincere men I've ever known," Wynn says. "And he was a real category breaker. No one dressed like him except him."

But unpretentious doesn't mean simple.

When Wynn made the acquaintance of billionaire Warren Buffett, who was the first person the financial wizard of Berkshire Hathaway inquired about?

His old friend Jackie Gaughan.

Gaughan was a gifted businessman, but he could also be a soft touch. He kept the Western open long after it was no longer profitable. He didn't have the heart to tell the employees they would have to look for a new job.

Michael Gaughan laughs at the memory of a late-night phone call a few years ago from his father. Jackie was worried about the homely little Western.

"I said, 'It loses money. Not making money causes problems,'" Michael says. "He took the loss. Until we sold it two or three years later, he took the loss. You don't have people like this any more.

"He sincerely cared about his people. There are some people who talk about it. My dad always cared about his employees, and he had a fabulous pension plan."

I asked the son about his father's generation of royal casino characters who managed to trade notoriety for secular salvation in the land where gambling was legal.

"Everyone else is gone," Michael Gaughan says, wistfully. "Even people you don't know about. He's the last one."

Here's to the town that had such kings in it.