Question of the Day - 12 May 2024

Ah, the Moulin Rouge, the eternal chimera!

And yes, the site is still gambling entitled, although there hasn’t been a casino on this site for 49 years. That status could theoretically lapse, hence the biennial “trailer stations,” as they’ve become known. 

United Coin trucks in a shipping container with 16 ready-to-operate slot machines, plugs them in, and — voila! — there’s gambling at the Moulin Rouge … for eight hours on May 14. At the end of the allotted time on Tuesday, the slots are trucked off and the entire ritual goes dormant for another two years, when it’s repeated, again and again.

This recurs all over the Las Vegas Valley. Sometimes the trailer station sites actually becomes a casino, as when the Showboat was eventually replaced with Station Casinos’ Wildfire Fremont. Sometimes, as at the old Sport of Kings site across from the Las Vegas Convention Center, mere optimism seems to be at work. 

As for the hand behind the curtain, that belongs to Moulin Rouge site owner RAH Capital. Nevada-based RAH was created when BBC Capital, an Australia-based private equity investment company, bought the Moulin Rouge in 2020 for $3.1 million, plus the assumption of $2 million in liens. If you like, you can read about RAH at its website. 

It’s possible that a casino will arise there someday; anything would be welcome. But we’re not betting on it.