Icahn’s new casino noted for both values, luxury

David Strow

Wednesday, May 24, 2000 | 10:42 a.m.

New York financier Carl Icahn officially added a third casino property to his Las Vegas holdings Tuesday night, as Arizona Charlie's East opened to a crowd of several thousand on the Boulder Strip.

The casino opened shortly after 9 p.m., as fireworks blazed into the sky and the theme music from "2001: A Space Odyssey" rang out. Crowds had gathered for the previous hour outside the casino's doors, and within minutes players and gawkers crowded virtually every inch of the property's 73,000-square-foot casino.

"This was a damn good investment," Icahn said shortly before the property's opening. "We're very well positioned. We're going to use the Arizona Charlie's format of giving a better deal to the player.

"The locals will go where the best deals are."

Icahn picked up the property at a bankruptcy auction in January, paying $43 million for the casino, its 300-room hotel and an adjacent, 224-space RV park. Icahn has since spent $10 million on improvements and equipment at the property, Arizona Charlie's officials said, bringing his total investment to $53 million.

The casino is about one-third smaller than its sister property, and features 826 slots and 13 table games.

The grand opening marked the end of a long wait for the once-defunct property, previously known as Sunrise Suites Hotel & Casino. Though the hotel has been in operation since 1991, the casino has been finished but unused since its completion in late 1998.

Former owner Michael Mona Jr. had hoped to open the Mediterranean-themed casino to the public on Dec. 27, 1998, but those plans came to a quick halt after the Nevada Gaming Control Board questioned Mona's relationship with a group of telemarketers that ran afoul of the Federal Trade Commission in 1993. Though Mona denied wrongdoing, he withdrew his license application, rather than risk denial by the board.

That effectively ended the life of the Sunrise Suites theme before it began -- in March 1999, Mona declared bankruptcy.

Icahn is experienced in acquiring distressed Las Vegas properties -- prior to Arizona Charlie's East, Icahn bought the Stratosphere and the original Arizona Charlie's out of bankruptcy. But the derailment of the Sunrise Suites plans meant that, for the first time, Icahn was able to open a property to the public for the first time.

Rather than cutting a ribbon, Icahn inaugurated the casino by rolling dice across one of the casino's craps tables.

Though the western theme is the same as its west side neighbor, Arizona Charlie's East is distinctly different from its sister. Much of the elaborate detail built into the property remains, including chandeliers, detailed columns and a neon-lit showroom.

Unlike Arizona Charlie's, one of the lower-end properties in the locals market, Arizona Charlie's East is among the higher-quality properties now in operation on the Boulder Strip.

But Arizona Charlie's officials say they're committed to maintaining the formula relied on by the original casino -- bargain restaurants and entertainment, favorable odds and loose slots.

Shuttle buses, used by Arizona Charlie's regular patrons, will begin running from the new casino within 30 days. In addition, the casino will begin a stepped-up advertising campaign to promote both properties within a month, said Ron Lurie, Arizona Charlie's executive vice president, who will oversee both casinos.

"We already know our value is as good or better than our competitors on the Boulder Strip," Lurie said. "We'll grow (market share) because we give value here."

Several key components to the Arizona Charlie's formula aren't present yet, however. There's no sports book, no poker room -- and, perhaps most crucial to Arizona Charlie's patrons, no bingo parlor.

That's coming up with the next expansion of Arizona Charlie's East, Lurie said.

"We definitely have to look at it ... it's maybe a year away," Lurie said. "Those are the things we have to plan for, and hopefully once we get all settled we'll sit down and get to work on what the best use is for the property."

The expansion should use some of the RV park, Lurie said, and will include bingo, a sports book and an expanded buffet.

Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter, predicted the casino would be quite successful with the value-seeking local market.

"This place is out of place (on the Boulder Strip), in terms of its look," Curtis said. "It won't matter. Since (Icahn) took it over, Arizona Charlie's has made great strides in taking market share. I think we'll see the same thing here."

Curtis then pointed to a row of video poker machines with a "10-7" pay table -- meaning the machines paid 10 times the wager on a full house and 7 times the wager on a flush. Such payouts are unusually high for a video poker machine, and allow a skilled player to achieve payouts exceeding 100 percent, Curtis said.

"This is as good a bank of machines as you'll find in Las Vegas," Curtis said.

Lurie made it clear the Arizona Charlie's name probably won't stop with just two properties.

"We're looking (for more acquisition opportunities)," Lurie said. "With Carl Icahn, you get a lot of people bringing packages. If there's one that looks good, we'll take a closer look at it."