Las Vegas dive bar with big-name guest performers gets gaming license

Wednesday, January 31, 2024 8:49 PM
  • Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal

A historic Las Vegas dive bar has a gaming license after the Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously approved licensing for the Hard Hat Lounge in an unusual hearing last week. Frankie Sidoris, a longtime guitarist with a touring band headed by Slash, was approved for the license following a hearing in which he participated while riding in a car in Bogota, Colombia.

“I hope you’re a passenger,” said Commission Chairwoman Jennifer Togliatti, a former judge, as she viewed Sidoris onscreen in a moving vehicle.

“I am a passenger,” Sidoris said, laughing.

Sidoris appeared in person at a Nevada Gaming Control Board hearing earlier in January and as that body gave him an affirmative recommendation.