Columnist John Katsilometes: How a Vegas casino exec draws attention from a baseball Hall of Famer

Friday, Nov. 11, 2005 | 7:06 a.m.

Fabulous Las Vegas runs Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Reach John Katsilometes at kats@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-2327 or (702) 812-9812.

A few months ago Joe Hasson and Reggie Jackson enjoyed lunch together at a Manhattan restaurant. Inevitably a couple of young guys approached their table.

And asked about Hasson.

"They wanted to know if I was the guy from 'American Casino,' and I told them I was," said Hasson, vice president/general manager of Green Valley Ranch Station Casino. "Reggie found it amusing."

Hasson is one of the stars and Green Valley Ranch is the setting for the behind-the-scenes documentary/reality series about the inner workings of a Vegas casino. "American Casino" premieres its third and final season at 9 p.m. Wednesday on the Travel Channel (Cox cable channel 66), having moved from the Discovery Channel, where it spent its first two seasons.

The cast of characters for the third season includes Brett Magnan (vice president of hotel operations), Ninya Perna (hotel manager), David Demontmolin (marketing manager), Matt Sacca (director of player development) and Bill Burt (director of casino operations).

The show has given invaluable national exposure to the hotel and provided ample human drama -- the death of hotel executive Michael Tata was chronicled on the series in 2004. Hasson has become accustomed to the ever-present camera crews, which for long stretches have spent consecutive round-the-clock shifts at the hotel. But playing the role of celeb is another matter.

"On Halloween I was at home, handing out candy to kids -- 8, 9, 10 years old -- and they were saying, "Aren't you the guy from 'American Casino?' These were little kids who knew about the show."

No word on if any of those kids were dressed as Mr. October.

NoteMart

See you at Sunrise: A weary but game Brian C. Robinson adjusted his Spider-Man necktie and gave his exhausted vocal chords one more test Wednesday night, whispering, "We finally have a facility that matches the capabilities of the health care professionals who work here."

Robinson is president and chief executive of Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center and Sunrise Children's Hospital. On Wednesday, Sunrise Children's Hospital -- the state's only children's hospital -- hosted the VIP grand opening of the first phase of its $75 million expansion on Maryland Parkway, near Desert Inn Road.

So new were the digs that they still had what one attendee called a "new-car" fragrance. A public party is scheduled at Sunrise on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; the center begins moving patients into the new unit on Wednesday ...

Comet's tale: Addendum to Thursday's item about the weekend happenings at the downtown club Celebrity: Sax player Joey DeAmbrosio recalls the first gig he performed in Las Vegas as a member of Bill Haley and His Comets: 1954 at the main showroom at El Cortez, with Joel Grey (real name: Joel Katz) opening. Today, more than 50 years after their Vegas debut, the Comets still perform between 60 and 70 gigs per year; Saturday's is at 7:30 p.m. at Celebrity ...

Whither Dan Marino?: A sign posted at the mailboxes at the Greens at Green Valley (2201 Ramrod Ave.): "Moving sale -- everything must go, any offer considered. For sale: Couch. Chair. Large stuffed dolphin. Small stuffed dolphin."