Sunday, June 17, 2007 | 1:30 p.m.
Gaming regulators have approved a plan to keep Lake Las Vegas' Casino MonteLago open. The state Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission met in back-to-back sessions on June 6 and agreed to allow two executives from PDS Gaming Holdings LLC to manage the stand-alone casino near the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the MonteLago Village.
Johan Finley, chief executive of PDS, and President Peter Cleary will buy out the contract for $1.6 million funded by PDS. Without the actions, the casino, which has 10 table games, 635 slot machines and a small race and sports book, would have been closed by the end of the month, putting 180 employees out of work. PDS is a Las Vegas-based finance and lease company. Finley and Cleary have applied to the Gaming Control Board to take over Casino MonteLago's operations from Cook Inlet Region Inc. Lakeside Gaming Investors LLC, an Alaskan tribal corporation that was licensed in 2002.
Former Caesars Palace President Dan Reichartz's Sybro LLC managed the casino for CIRI, but told them his company wanted out of the management agreement in December. Sybro was convinced to stay on until a new manager could be found. Finley's and Cleary's acquisition of the casino is expected to be completed by the end of September, but the Control Board and the Commission gave a time cushion of the end of December for the deal to close. Cleary told regulators that Casino MonteLago would be marketed differently and that a new food and beverage contract could save the property $5 million a year.
After Loews Lake Las Vegas closed its small casino when it acquired the Hyatt Regency about a mile away, Casino MonteLago became the only casino property at Lake Las Vegas. The owner of Lake Las Vegas, the landlord of the casino property, is charging the new operators rent of $1 a month until they are licensed to help offset losses. The Casino MonteLago matter was the only one considered by the commission, but the Control Board had its regular monthly meeting prior to that action.
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