Gaming briefs for April 19, 2004

Monday, April 19, 2004 | 10:43 a.m.

Staff scouts Nebraska sites

LINCOLN, Neb. -- While casino authorization in Nebraska isn't a done deal yet, at least one Las Vegas interest is looking ahead to the state's first gambling establishment.

Sheldon Adelson's Venetian hotel-casino company is researching areas in Nebraska, said spokesman Andy Abboud.

Abboud said Omaha is the most logical location, but interest is also coming from Grand Island.

On Wednesday the Legislature approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would permit two casinos in the state. The proposal must be approved by voters in November.

If the ballot issue is passed by voters, the Legislature will decide where the casinos will be built.

Coast Casinos Inc. of Las Vegas has also been promoting casino gambling in Nebraska.

Firm invests in LV company's stock

New York investment firm D.E. Shaw Laminar Portfolios LLC has purchased about 350,000 shares in Riviera Holdings Corp., the parent company of the Riviera hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

New York City-based D.E. Shaw now owns a roughly 9.7 percent stake in Riviera. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, D.E. Shaw said it focused on "distressed-securities related investment strategies" and is affiliated with D.E. Shaw & Co Inc., whose president and sole shareholder is David Shaw. Representatives with D.E. Shaw could not immediately be reached for comment today.

In a separate SEC filing this month, Donald Trump announced the sale of 358,000 shares in Riviera. The sale netted Trump about $900,000 in profit on the $2.7 million he invested in Riviera shares in 2002 and 2003.

The purchase and sale of Riviera securities by the separate firms were entered on the same date. But representatives of D.E. Shaw and Trump's company Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts Inc., which had an option to buy the shares from Trump, could not immediately be reached for comment on whether D.E. Shaw bought the shares directly from Trump.

With the sale, Trump Hotels will keep its standing as a registered gaming company in Nevada and Trump will remain licensed as one of the company's officers and directors.

Police supervisor investigated

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- The state's public safety commissioner is looking into allegations that a state police major has been playing the slot machines at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in violation of his own orders.

Maj. Frank Griffin, who oversees the state police casino unit, was one of two supervisors who signed a special order advising members of the casino unit that they are "prohibited from gambling at any Connecticut casino at any time."

Lawyers who represent state troopers in the unit who are contesting claims of unfair treatment by the department told The Hartford Courant that Griffin is a regular at Foxwoods, where he often plays the slot machines.

Other troopers told the newspaper that it is widely known that Griffin gambles at Foxwoods.

Public Safety Commissioner Arthur Spada began an inquiry Thursday to "review the facts and circumstances that have been brought to his attention," Trooper Roger Beaupre, a state police spokesman, said.

Griffin commands the casino unit, the statewide narcotics task force and the statewide organized crime unit.