Casino sale OK’d despite monopoly concerns

Thursday, June 7, 2001 | 10:49 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Gaming Control Board gave preliminary approval Wednesday to the sale of Si Redd's Oasis hotel-casino in Mesquite to a company that already owns two gaming properties in the Clark County city.

Redd, a pioneer Nevada gaming figure, is selling the resort through his trust for $31 million to a group headed by Randy Black Sr., which owns the Virgin River and the Casablanca across the street from the Oasis.

Black said his group intends to spend $5 million to refurbish the 1,068-room hotel that has a spa, golf course and 10,000 square feet of convention space.

The board questioned Black and attorney Preston Howard about having a possible monopoly in what is the fastest growing city in Nevada by percentage. The group will own three of the four major casinos in Mesquite when the deal is completed.

Howard told the board his casinos will account for only 1.2 percent of the gambling business in Clark County. "It's silly to discuss a monopoly on a county basis."

But Gaming Board member Bobby Siller said the Black group would "have 87.5 percent control of the employment market" in Mesquite.

Black told Siller that there's an employment shortage in Mesquite. The two other casinos are never fully staffed. "The demand exceeds the numbers," he said.

For instance, lifeguards are in short supply, and the casinos pay $11 an hour for these positions. In one case, a mother who works as a cashier supervisor makes less than her son, a lifeguard, Black said.

Black also said his clubs rely mainly on vendors from Southern Utah or Las Vegas, so he would not be able to pressure them.

About 35 percent of his customers come from Utah, 20 percent from Southern California, 25 percent from Las Vegas and 12 percent from tourist traffic off Interstate 15.

He described Mesquite as, "half-way between where you are going and where you are." In the past decade he said it has grown from a population of 2,700 to 17,500.

Alan Green, the son-in-law of Redd, said Redd was mentally alert but in "feeble" condition physically. "For a man almost 90 years old, he is alert," but he has trouble traveling, Green said.

Green has been running the business lately, a board spokesman said.

The state Gaming Commission will meet June 21 in Carson City to take final action on the application.

The board also recommended approval for Aristocrat Leisure Limited, an Australian corporation, to acquire Casino Data Systems for $181 million.

Casino Data, based in Las Vegas, manufactures gaming devices and has developed the Oasis System that links slot machines and tracks slot revenues. The company has operations in multiple states and Indian reservations.

Aristocrat Leisure has the major share of the Australian market on video slot machines, and its goal is to have 2 percent of the market in the United States.

The board also gave preliminary approval to Anchor Gaming of Las Vegas to renew its "shelf offering," which permits the firm to go to the market to raise capital, if need be. It's had this approval since 1999.