Now it's Station Casinos' turn in the hot seat. A reader asks:

What's with Stations casinos changing their slot club policy on full-pay Deuces Wild machines? Now it requires FOUR DOLLARS coin-in to earn one measly point. In the past I have been 100% loyal to Stations casinos, especially Boulder (which has now removed all full-pay machines), including staying there and eating there. No longer ... I am currently seeking new properties with more reasonable slot club paybacks.

Going by what people tell me, Station's got quite a rep for tight slots and sweating the comps.

Also, by saying that Viva (whose name keeps making me think of an Andy Warhol starlet, not of Elvis) will be its Numero Uno project and won't begin until they "have some visibility" of CityCenter's performance, the Fertitta Brothers are playing a verbal game of Twister.

After Steve Friess reported that there would be a post-Aliante Station freeze on new projects, company spokeswoman Lori Nelson issued a quasi non-denial denial. But ... with Viva at least four years out and being the project that's now at the head of the development queue, then they're essentially saying that there is a de facto freeze on new construction.

So I guess we'll be waiting awhile to find out what Station has up its sleeve for its massive land assemblage around Palace Station. Then again, recent coverage by Majestic Research suggests that the locals market is having trouble absorbing the new capacity Station is bringing on line, with Red Rock Resort cannibalizing market share and Michael Gaughan's South Point eating into Green Valley Ranch's business.

Best of all, a four-year (or longer) hold on new projects means at least two more incarnations of Trailer Station or, as Friess calls it, the Brigadoon casino.

Your guess is as good as mine as to whether Station really wants to build something on the old Showboat/Castaways site or just doesn't want anybody else to have it (even though it's, shall we say, locationally challenged). But if the Fertittas were to try and re-sell the land without its gaming entitlement, they'd undoubtedly take a bath -- especially after overpaying for the abandoned Castaways hulk in the first place -- so they don't seem to have many choices beyond hanging on to the empty lot and praying that the Fremont/Boulder Highway nexus starts to show some flickers of economic vitality.

In the meantime, they ought to bust out a line of "Trailer Station" merchandise. After all, it's the new "cult casino," even gracing the cover page of LVA -- bumping Bobby Slayton. Sorry, Bobby.

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