You Never Know Who You'll Bump Into, So Always Be Ready......

I made a new friend last week when I went to the airport to keep my pilot license current I rent a plane from a small private company (L.V.Flyers) with a small fleet of private owned 2, 4 and 6 seaters that people rent back to pay expenses. The plane I flew was a very expensive Piper Archer deluxe (even had a.c.) that's owned by Dan Chandler, this guy's a story in itself. His dad was "Happy Chandler" Governor of Kentucky and Commissioner of baseball (I spent an extra $30 an hr. for this plane just to meet this guy ($95 per hr) and he's there washing and waxing and just sitting in his plane talking hanger talk with other pilots every Monday, when I tell this guy I write a column he can't shut up!

He's one of the heads of marketing with Las Vegas Hilton and this guy goes back to the late 60's. The first thing I asked about was Benny Binion, a big grin comes over this guy and he begins to tear up "what a character (I'm scribbling this on the back of my flight plan) back in the early 70's when Baron Hilton was considering buying the Flamingo AND the Barbary Coast when it was a boarder-up motel, called his buddy Benny to ask his opinion about buying both properties, that he definitely was going to buy the Flamingo, but the Barbary was such a dump that the price of $6 million was ridiculous. Without a moments hesitation Benny told him "don't even ask the price, in a few years that'll be a steal at that price in that location" but Baron Hilton was so cheap he just couldn't bring himself to pay the price so he passed. Benny was having dinner with his buddy Jackie Gaughn and told him of the conversation and Jackie, who hated Hilton, bought the property just to spite him for $8 million (part of which he borrowed from Benny, who Jackie never let Hilton forget, to drive a wedge between Benny and Hilton's friendship which forever kept Benny off the strip and Hilton away from downtown.)

The other day, in view of the successful Paris opening, the Bally's parent Park Place Entertainment which owns the Flamingo, O'Sheas, Bally's and Paris offered Michael Gaughan $70 million for Barbary Coast and Michael said firmly "nothing less than $90 million will take the Barbary and if Arthur (Goldberg CEO) waits another year, the price goes to $100 million" which was a nice little jab to the financial jaw of Goldberg. So the Barbary is for sale and Baron Hilton is dying for lack of the foresight Benny Binion had when he told Hilton to spend some pocket change to lock up that corner for a lousy $6 million.

Steve Wynn just entered into an agreement to spend $65 million of his "extra lying around" money to fund half the pricetag for a new 20 story dual tower ultra high class condo just off the strip that'll offer everything from 24 hr free limos, free weekend "fun" packages at Bellagio, Beau Rivage, free jet service to owners, 24hr spa, 24hr gourmet room service (these guys will bring the food to the room and cook it to order (can you ask for fresher?) food service along with 2 servers (I got this from a newspaper article) as well as a rooftop glass enclosed pool (removable glass dome) and "doggie park"(somebody throws a ball over the edge ala "Something About Mary" and the dog goes off the roof chasing the ball). A group made an offer to buy the New Frontier and 17 acre adjacent parking lot from Phil Ruffin, supposedly to blow it up and build a $900 million resort (chump change) which I've heard so many times before, It's gotta be a rumor started by Ruffin or friend to keep his name in the papers. The New Frontier along with the Riviera are in financial trouble for years and it keeps getting worse. In Las Vegas if you're not making money, you can't give anything away and if you don't give anything away, no one needs you. (another reason the Venetian has problems and the Bellagio's numbers only get better and better) when you have to phone for soap or a blow dryer and in another place for the same price not only get a free blow dryer, but robes and chocolates on your pillow, people throwing food and gaming comps at you as well as personal little touches like turning down the beds, where would you stay?

This guy, Dan Chandler's a real find, he gave me a number to call him if I need the keys to the plane after hours, or just to "talk". One thing he said was in the old days you'd interview a guy who lost his last job because his "juice" left or got fired or died and that was a good enough reason, today they need a degree to get an interview, no personality, just good references. Where you used to have loyal players who just wanted a place to sleep and gamble, today you're calling some guy who's being called by 5 other properties and who's trying to make the best deal to save a few bucks, forget the name on the front door or who knows who, nowdays it's a dogfight and all's fair, including lying and stealing someone else's customer at the expense of a friendship for a few bucks. The trend's only going to get worse (although in the long run, it will save the players a few bucks, but there's no such thing as loyalty). The only real players left will be Park Place, MGM, Mirage Resorts & Mandalay Bay Resorts, small specialty places like Rio only survive to make the best deal to sell out with a larger corporation. So the feeding frenzy continues, people no longer start and build businesses from the ground up to be successful, but to be attractive enough to a large corporation in a few years so they can sell out for a big chunk of money all at once rather than putting years into building a business. Holding out against the big corporations isn't a matter of pride anymore, it's a tactic to drive up the price of loyalty.