Station Casinos is poised to operate three off-site sportsbooks in Nevada after getting approval Wednesday from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The Nevada Gaming Commission has the final say at its April 24 meeting for the operation of the sportsbooks at Treasure Island on the Las Vegas Strip and in Mesquite at the Casablanca Resort & Casino and Virgin River Hotel & Casino. That will bring the number to 19 sportsbooks that Station Casinos manages, according to private counsel Marc Rubinstein.
“We’re looking to launch sometime in May,” said Jason Simbal, the director of race and sports analysis.
At Treasure Island, sports book employees will work for Station Casinos, while in Mesquite the employees will remain under the auspices of property owner by Mesquite Gaming.
“Employee matters are always of great concern to us, as well as the Gaming Commission,” Gaming Board Chair Kirk Hendrick said. “We’re always happy to see the employees retained when possible and when it comes to benefits, the same if not enhanced.”
Treasure Island will be branded “STN Sports at the Golden Circle,” to play off the Golden Circle name currently in use there. Both Mesquite casinos will be branded STN Sports.
“It will be no different than if you were to walk into Red Rock or Green Valley Ranch,” Simbal said. “It’s exactly the same at El Cortez (and Fontainebleau).”
There will be in-gaming wagering, but only on the mobile app, Simbal said. That function for over the counter and at kiosks will be rolled out at a later date for its new GAN system under field trial.
Both deals with the Mesquite casinos are for five years, similar to what’s done at other properties.
The Board also recommended licensing for several gaming company executives who will go before the Gaming Commission later this month.
That includes Travis Lunn, president and chief operating officer at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino and the Luxor Hotel and Casino; Sean Lanni as president and international marketing for MGM Resorts International and as president and chief operating officer at The Cosmopolitan; Christopher Foster, senior vice president of technology and chief information officer for Station Casinos; Charles Paelinck, chief information officer at Affinity Interactive; Steven Kopjo, chief financial officer and secretary/treasurer for Galaxy Gaming; Susan Docherty, a manager with JJVG Holdings; and Rick Goldstein, vice president and general manager of the Suncoast Hotel & Casino.
The estate of the late Bruce Deifik, along with Michael Mixer and the Andrew Pascal Gaming Investment Trust, are in the process of transferring 37.9% of its interests in the Lucky Silver Gaming to Lucky Silver Gaming LLC. All that’s needed is Gaming Commission approval after Tuesday’s Board recommendation.
The background is that private investment funds affiliated with Luxor Capital Group provided a secured loan to Deifik in 2018 to finance his acquisition of the Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City. When Deifik defaulted on the loan in 2019, he entered into a settlement agreement in which Luxor would receive his limited liability company membership in Lucky Silver Gaming. Deifik was killed in a car crash April 2019 in Colorado.
Deifik’s widow Nancy is completing the terms of the settlement agreement by contributing the estate’s interests to Lucky Silver in exchange for a warrant that will be assigned to Luxor’s affiliate. This will close the estate.
“We know this has been going on for a long time and we’re happy to see it coming to a conclusion,” Hendrick said.
Mixer and Pascal purchased their interest in the company in 2003.
