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Inside Gaming Column: D.E. Shaw May Keep Chasing Riviera

Wall Streeters say D.E. Shaw Group, the $8 billion New York-based investment firm, isn't yielding on buying Riviera Holdings. Analysts say Shaw is dead serious and has never let its name go public on a deal that didn't get done. They speculate the buyout is probably a play for the real estate, arguably some of the most valuable land in the world. Off the record, company executives are singing a similar song.

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The Motley Fool says a recently announced Hooters deal shows there'll be plenty of life on the Strip even after all the recently announced megamergers close. The Hotel San Remo has a deal to rebrand the casino the Hooters Casino Hotel. Despite Hooters' notoriety, the Fool said the new brand should hit a sweet spot among gamblers, since 70 percent of Hooters customers are male, mostly between 25 and 54. And he says even more niche operators are on the way to Las Vegas.

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Tribal sources say their new agreements to share up to 25 percent of net profits with California are seven-year deals, and nothing more. The tribes are happy to help solve the state's budget problems for now, but sources say they may go back to the status quo -- complete sovereignty, no state payments -- after the pacts expire. The term "Indian giver" was coined when American Indians gave European settlers gifts, expecting them to be returned. California may be in for a repeat of the culture clash.

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They call it security, but you have to wonder who is secure. A gaming executive who has been on the road has never had a cup of coffee put through a metal detector. Irked by body searches, the executive put a letter opener, nail clippers and other banned items in a full Starbucks venti and nothing happened. If a bored casino executive can get away with it, what do you think a terrorist could dream up?

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Why did Planet Hollywood President Robert Earl cut his visit to Las Vegas short last week when he bought out the Aladdin? He had to host California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Republican governors who had rented the Times Square Planet Hollywood for their Republican National Convention parties. Earl says to watch for a lot more Hollywood extravaganzas at the Aladdin.

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Sylvester Stallone, we hear, is planning to wrap up his reality television program -- the search for the next great boxing champion -- at Caesars Palace. Stallone's partners in the project, which is already in production, are Jeffrey Katzenberg, head honcho of Dreamworks, and Mark Burnett, who made "The Casino." Sugar Ray Leonard is the feature boxing talent. Sources say a deal should be completed with Caesars Entertainment within days.

The Inside Gaming column is compiled by Gaming Wire Editor Rod Smith. You can contact him by phone at (702) 477-3893, fax (702) 387-5243 or e-mail at rsmith@reviewjournal.com.

Copyright GamingWire. All rights reserved.

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