Casablanca licensing plan endorsed by Control Board

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1997 | 10:52 a.m.

Randy Black Sr. was recently approved as the new owner of the club, the old Players Island resort in the border town about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

The resort had first opened in mid-1995, with 500 rooms, a health spa with mud baths, 400-seat showroom, lagoon swimming pool with waterfalls and a golf course.

Partners in the initial venture had included former talk show host Merv Griffin and Players International Inc., owner of floating casinos in Illinois and Louisiana.

The Control Board's recommendation Wednesday is up for a final review Oct. 23 by its parent Nevada Gaming Commission.

The board deferred action on plans by Peter Morton, co-founder of the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, to buy out partner Harveys' Casino Resorts for about $45 million.

The deal, to be discussed at a special board meeting next Tuesday, will end a sometimes uneasy relationship between Morton and the Lake Tahoe-based casino company.

The partners bickered in recent months over growth plans and a proposed 320-room expansion of the $94 million, 329-room hotel-casino.

Harveys owns 40 percent of the rock-and-roll-themed hotel, which has been very successful since its opening in 1995.

Morton will pay Harveys $24.2 million to end the company's deal to manage the Hard Rock. He'll pay an additional $20.7 million to buy Harveys' portion of Hard Rock Hotel common stock.

None of the Hard Rock's 950 managers and workers are expected to lose their jobs in the deal.

The Control Board also recommended plans by Dennis Small to open his 150-slot Slotworld on U.S. 50 East, near the Pinon Plaza hotel-casino. The club also will have a restaurant and bar, and room for up to 35 or 40 more slots, Small said.