Australian slot firm gets Nevada license

Brendan Riley

Thursday, Aug. 24, 2000 | 4:35 a.m.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - An Australian slot machine manufacturer won a Nevada license Thursday after state regulators were assured the company has no more ties with its founder, Leonard Ainsworth.

The state Gaming Commission voted 4-1 to license Aristocrat Technologies Inc. to make and distribute slots. Commissioner Augie Gurrola voted "no," raising other issues besides concerns about Ainsworth.

Ainsworth allegedly made questionable payoffs to casino operators in Australia. He resigned from Aristocrat in 1993, although officials said he remained active in the business for several years afterward.

Nevada regulators also were told no other members of Ainsworth's family were involved in management of the company. Two sons had been involved in questionable slot machines shipments to Turkey.

Aristocrat chief executive officer Des Randall told regulators that his was a "reinvented company." He also said its Nevada office would relocate to Las Vegas because it's "the hub of gaming."

The company is part of Aristocrat Leisure Limited in Sydney, Australia. The parent firm is one of the world's largest slot machine companies.

Though other commissioners accepted Randall's report on efforts to change Aristocrat, Gurrola said he still had questions about two employees whose activities had caused concern earlier.

"It just doesn't smell right to me," Gurrola said after company officials said both employees had been cleared - including one who was the victim of a scam that cost Aristocrat at least $70,000.

The Gaming Commission also approved a license for Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. at the Lady Luck Casino in Las Vegas - acquired in a $400 million-plus acquisition of the club's parent Lady Luck Gaming Corp.

With the deal, announced last October, Biloxi, Miss.-based Isle of Capri has clubs in several states, including Nevada, Mississippi, Louisiana, Colorado and Iowa. It also operates a harness racing track in Florida and a cruise ship that sails out of New Orleans.

Asked about plans for the Lady Luck, Isle of Capri board chairman Bernard Goldstein said, "We don't want to be the biggest. We want to be the best."

Also approved was a license for the Suncoast hotel-casino in Las Vegas, the latest Coast Resort Inc. property, scheduled to open in September.

Suncoast, in the northwest Summerlin area, is a $185 million resort with 2,101 slots, 48 table games, 203 hotel rooms, a 16-screen theater and five restaurants. As cash flow permits, the room count will be more than doubled by completing an unfinished tower.

The location of the theaters caused some concern, but operators said they've moved slots away from an area that children would cross when going to see movies.