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Inside Gaming: Plazzo May Have Place in Mall Bids

LAS VEGAS -- Scuttlebutt is there are three final bidders to buy the Grand Canal Shoppes in The Venetian, and two of them have offered more than $1 billion. The trick is they'd also be buying Phase II under the Plazzo, the megaresort planned next to The Venetian. Wall Streeters say owner Sheldon Adelson insists on selling Phase II as if it were fully leased, although any contract will likely include adjustments for unexpected success -- or failure. Look for an announcement in about four weeks.

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After pumping Sapphire Bombay Gin and business for his kids, Mayor Oscar Goodman has been telling crews around City Hall that he's met with Anthony Gersten, a junior gaming analyst at Bear, Stearns & Co., and has accepted an invitation to do a presentation for Las Vegas at the Wall Street firm. Problem is, he won't really be pumping Las Vegas or gaming industry stocks -- which are at all-time highs. He'll be pumping Bear, Stearns & Co., which only recently has restored gaming to its coverage.

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For just 24 hours, from 5 p.m. Wednesday to 5 p.m. Thursday, Las Vegas was graced by a Johannes Vermeer painting. Developer Steve Wynn had Sotheby's fly out "Young Woman Seated At The Virginals" so he could see how it would look in The Wynn Collection at the old Desert Inn. It is the only Vermeer not in a museum. It will be the first Vermeer to go on public sale in more than 80 years when it is auctioned in July with a starting price of $5.5 million and no sign of a ceiling. Wynn said he really wants the painting to hang in Las Vegas. Some sources said it is so rare there is no way to gauge the final sale price, although others guessed it might cost around $30 million.

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Put your money in slot machines, New York-based financial journalist Caroline Waxler advises in her new guide to investing called "Stocking Up on Sin." She's not saying to pour coins into slots. But she wants readers to invest in the likelihood that for decades to come millions more people around the world will do just that, something she suggests is a near certainty. Waxler's advice is to invest in companies such as Reno-based International Game Technology, which makes slots.

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Quote of the week. "I never gamble," said Mark Burnett, reality TV producer. Quite an admission from a guy producing "The Casino" about Tim Poster and Tom Breitling reopening the Golden Nugget. Especially when Ad Age magazine recently opined that with no product placement or sponsorship deals, an ever-increasing cry about overly risqué content, "The Casino" seems like a bigger gamble than even Burnett could have imagined when he undertook the project.

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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