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Inside Gaming Column: Hotel Can't Count on Counsel's Credentials

Just when you thought you'd heard the end of bad news from Binion's Horseshoe, it turns out that Angela Runz, billed as in-house counsel, is not even licensed to practice law in Nevada, the state bar told us. Runz signed letters as the Horseshoe's in-house counsel asking former employees to give up all claims against the company for the promised reimbursement of out-of-pocket payments to cover medical costs. In Nevada, you can't identify yourself as a lawyer, as several former Binion's workers said she did, if you're not licensed here. Anyone also would have to explain where they are licensed, if anywhere, the bar said. Lawyers told us a false credentials claim could invalidate any settlements, and further delay the sale of the Horseshoe and its reopening. Harrah's says it hopes to close the transaction by the end of March and have the Horseshoe reopened no later than April 1.

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Kenny Wynn, Steve Wynn's 50-year-old younger brother, up and quit last week, so they say. He had been president of Wynn Resorts subsidiary Wynn Design and Development, and a minor stockholder. Before Wynn Resorts was set up to develop Wynn Las Vegas, he worked for his brother as vice president of Mirage Resorts for design and construction between 1973 and 2000. Steve Wynn, who had been paying his brother a nominal salary of $1 a year, said only that he "left to pursue other interests." Kenny Wynn could not be reached for comment.

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Wall Street is souring on tribal casinos, at least in California. Despite several major Las Vegas operators reportedly negotiating new deals for tribal partnerships, three analysts said last week that the California casino market "is pretty interesting, but it's already been picked over. The bigger projects have already been lined up." That means, they said, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will have to approve increased numbers of slots at existing casinos or slots at racetracks, neither of which is expected to affect the Strip immediately.

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The heavy turnout at Tuesday's Wisconsin primary seems not to have been about civic responsibility to vote for president as much as opposition to gambling. Political sources there say voters were more outraged about a proposal for a tribal casino in Madison, Wis., than about anything Sen. John Kerry claimed the Bush administration has done. And the Republicans and Independents who voted Sen. John Edwards into a strong second place also killed plans for the gambling expansion. Still, tribal officials said the Ho-Chunk Nation's search for a site for its fourth Wisconsin casino will go on despite the skunking by voters.

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.

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