Gaming Commission approves merger of Harrah’s, Players casinos

Wednesday, Dec. 15, 1999 | 3:19 a.m.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. plans to acquire Players International. Atlantic City-based Players announced in August that its board had accepted Harrah's cash offer of $272 million.

Missouri approval was needed because Harrah's and Players operate a joint venture in Maryland Heights. Each runs two separate 30,000-square-foot casinos in the complex.

Vern Jennings, senior vice president and general manager of Harrah's, told commissioners that Players would operate as a subsidiary of Harrah's. But Harrah's would gain complete control of the Maryland Heights venture, he said.

Eventually, Jennings said, Harrah's would approach the commission about merging the four casinos into two 60,000-square-foot gambling areas. One would be called Harrah's Mardi Gras, the other would be Players Island.

"Our customers would benefit because they would only need one player card, making it easier for them to get benefits," Jennings said. "We'll also be able to spread out, with more room on the floor, and expand our offerings. Right now we have some of the same stuff in both casinos."

Kevin Mullally, Gaming Commission deputy director of legal and legislative operations, told commissioners that his department had determined that Harrah's would remain financially strong after the merger, even though it would assume $150 million of Players' debt

Harrah's, based in Memphis, Tenn., said the deal would put it into two new markets - Lake Charles, La., and Metropolis in southern Illinois.

After the meeting, Steve Taylor of Casino Watch, a group that opposes gambling, said he believed the deal would be bad for Missouri. Players was tied into the extortion scandal involving former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards. It agreed earlier this month to pay $10.2 million to the state and get out of the Louisiana casino business.

"This is another example in a growing trend to let casino's off the hook when it comes to the corruption of public officials," Taylor said. "In essence, gambling regulators are allowing the laundering of casino licenses."

Gaming regulators in Illinois, Kentucky and Louisiana must still approve the deal. The casino companies hope to complete the merger by the end of January.

In other action Wednesday, commissioners fined Players $100,000 for failing to fully report the events surrounding the July 10 theft of about $7,000 from a coin vault. A company audit also showed the vault was not properly secured, allowing employees to enter at will. Paperwork associated with the receipts in the coin vault also were not properly documented.

Commissioners, however, declined to take action against St. Charles Riverfront Station. Gaming agents spotted surveillance employees playing cards one Saturday night while they were supposed to be monitoring casino games.

The employees told agents it was a slow night, and they were practicing new games being introduced at the casino. They said it was a form of job training widely used throughout the industry.

Investigators said a review of a video tape from the surveillance room backed up employees' explanation of events that night. Commissioners said they don't like it, but there was no firm rule to prevent it. They hope to eventually adopt changes that would require casinos to abandon the practice.

Commissioners also approved some rule changes Wedenesday. Among them was one to prevent casinos from discriminating against so-called "card counters" at Black Jack and other tables. Under the change, casinos can't deny access to gamblers who have developed card-counting skills, unless they work as a group, use devices that skew the odds or become disruptive.

At the same time, commissioners agreed to let casinos change sets of cards as often as they like.