Casino promises strong marketing push for locals

By Liz Benston (contact)

Friday, Jan. 24, 2003 | 11 a.m.

Of the few new casinos that have opened or are expected this year, Casino MonteLago -- located at the new Ritz-Carlton Resort at Lake Las Vegas in Henderson and at least 25 miles east of the Las Vegas Strip -- is the most far-flung.

That distance from the region's tourism hub concerned Nevada regulators who nevertheless licensed casino operator Ciri Lakeside Gaming Investors LLC and its management team, Sybro LLC, to run the property.

Sybro partner Dan Reichartz assured the Nevada Gaming Commission at its monthly meeting Thursday that the property will have no problem luring both tourists and locals out to Lake Las Vegas.

"We will have a very aggressive marketing campaign in the east Valley," he said. "We want to be a key player in the local market on that side of town."

Commissioner Augie Gurrola said a Thanksgiving visit to the nearby Hyatt resort at Lake Las Vegas revealed few customers in the Hyatt's casino.

Reichartz said the Hyatt's small casino is hidden to visitors and is considered another amenity for visitors rather than a main attraction.

"Hyatt needed (the casino) to have a gaming alternative, particularly for its group business."

Commissioners also questioned whether the casino will depend on business generated by nearby businesses and residents, including 65,000 square feet of high-end retail shops outside the Ritz-Carlton and an adjacent condominium complex that is just under 200 units.

"Clearly all of the components are important to us," Reichartz said.

Reichartz told the commission that he expects a healthy "average daily win" at the casino -- the amount it expects to win from gamblers per game -- given that it is attracting upscale consumers and that win figures are set lower than at locals casinos on the well-traveled Boulder Strip.

The casino expects to hire about 300 people starting in late March and early April, he said. He has not yet identified a general manager for the property.

At the close of the session, commission Chairman Peter Bernhard commended his colleagues for their work to license a complicated business entity.

"This is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill license application," he said.

Ciri Lakeside Gaming Investors is owned by Cook Inlet Corp., a conglomerate owned by members of a Alaskan Indian tribe.

Regulators licensed the company last year.

The licensing process was unusual in that the Gaming Control Board required only a few of the company's 7,000 or so shareholders to submit to background checks.

Under Nevada law, regulators would have required a license of all shareholders because of federal tribal rules that require every shareholder to get an equal cut of dividends or profits. Regulators expressed initial concern that casino profits could go to unsavory members of the tribe.

In other business, the commission voted to license the Wildfire Casino and its top executives. Neighborhood casino operator Station Casinos Inc. announced plans this month to purchase the small property, located down the street from the company's Texas Station and Fiesta Rancho casinos.