Two Way Hard Three | Las Vegas Casino & Design Blog

Great discussions of The D Las Vegas on both Vegas Gang #76 and #77. I'm much more enthused about The D than Hunter. It may partly be because you can take the boy out of Detroit, but you can't take Detroit out of the boy. Derek Stevens sounds like the real deal unlike people like Colony Capital or Sam Nazarian.

Stevens owns an automotive and tool & die conglomerate in Michigan which is privately held but must have been started by his family a century ago. He still runs it, and from its websites, they have used the 20th century to prepare for the 21st. Although I can't find numbers like in a public company, it looks like the business has given Stevens deep pockets to pursue other areas of interest---like Las Vegas. He has a love for the city which he has demonstrated in investments in Golden Gate, Fitzgerald's (The D) and the Las Vegas 51s. He is on Twitter ( @DerekJStevens ), and his ID, "Bolts and Blackjack" tells me a lot. Add to that his directorship in Riviera Holdings, and this is not an absentee investor. It's exciting to me that a real person, not a faceless corporation, sees a future in downtown Vegas. Dr. Dave summed it up from his interview notes with the quote, "Fun", which Dave said one does not hear in an interview with a Strip player.
One question: Does Stevens still own the 51s? It was scheduled to be sold to Milam, but that was always sketchy to me. http://baseball.wikia.com/wiki/Las_Vegas_51s .

This is why Stevens can pursue his Vegas vocation/avocation: http://www.coldheading.com/corporate-brochure.pdf

The Sahara discussion was interesting, a day after I read that Sam Nazarian is opening a Hyde Lounge in the Miami Heat's American Airlines Arena and has plans to expand into other arenas. He can do this with a lot less capital than would be required to do anything with Sahara. Count me with the Vegas Gang in not believing Sahara will re-open in 2014. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-18/miami-heat-teams-with-sbe-to-open-hyde-nightclub-at-arena

Very interesting and thanks for the Vegas insight. I will make sure I start following everyone one twitter so I can stay up on everything!

Sam Nazarian and SLS has a problem and it is quite obvious: he bought a casino at the wrong time (March of 2007) at the wrong location (Sahara and the Strip) for a lot of money (over $300 million dollars). I would be extremely surprised if any casino (including SLS) opens in that vicinity until 2016 at the earliest.

I for one do not think you guys suck. i enjoy your show very much.

I know I'm late to the game, but great episode. I found the discussion of the HorseP's future name to be interesting. I like Chuck's idea of a biker/whiskey/poker casino, but if that's the case, CET won't use the Horseshoe name on that. If you look at the publicity for the two Ohio casinos, CET is clearly using Horseshoe as one rung (maybe less) below Caesars. That makes much more sense for a future Bally's redo.

No, if CET went this route, they'd use the name "Roadhouse." This is the brand they slapped on their smallest Tunica property when they ended their deal with Sheraton. It looks like a honky-tonk inside, and that sort of vibe would fit very well in the relatively small, pretty dark IP casino. I'd love to see it happen.