Hooters in default; Rio robbed; Morgans out, Warner in?

From the “Could mean something, could mean nothing” File comes a Notice of Default, filed by the Bank of New York against Hooters Casino Hotel. The lenders are calling in a $130 million note on the 332-room hotel (arguably making Hooters the most over-leveraged property in town). As with the Union Plaza, this may only be a negotiating tactic — or it could mean that the bank has finally lost patience with a casino that has been struggling financially since time immemorial, seems like.

How poor is Rio security? In a robbery that makes the Bellagio ripoff look like the handiwork of the Wild Bunch, a lightly disguised thief took a taxi to The Rio, left the meter running at the taxi stand (or so the local NBC-TV affiliate reports), waltzed into the casino, grabbed 32 grand in chips, went back to his taxi and rode off into the sunrise. It’s banditry so brazen as to bespeak contempt for The Rio’s security and surveillance methods alike. What’s next? A bunch of tykes with water pistols taking Caesars Palace for everything it’s got, then escaping on tricycles?

Musical chairs at HRH. Another day, another potential new management team at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Seems that the operational changes which lenders wrung from the property in return for a loan extension include the expulsion of Morgans Hotel Group as manager. The HRH has been to Morgans what Afghanistan was to the Soviet Union. A gelded Morgans would still have a sliver of ownership but that prize asset, the management contract, may be reassigned to Warner Gaming. Previous frontrunner Navegante Group — recently on the cusp of an HRH-management deal — finds itself knocked out of the box, having had the misfortune of being linked to a shady self-dealing move by the CEO of NorthStar Realty Finance, who chairs the Morgans board. (Naughty, naughty, Mr. Hamamoto.)

What is Warner? It manages a trio of tribal casinos, has dibs on a would-be casino project in Massachusetts and an unspecified client relationship with Station Casinos. The latter isn’t surprising, since CEO William Warner is a former Station COO (and a key figure in that company’s costly LBO) and his team is dominated by ex-Station execs, who appear to have been part of a post-LBO mass exodus.

However, one should note that Warner Gaming was poised to take over the reins of Greektown Casino from Fine Point Group, then scampered away for reasons unknown. If the Warner arrangement is consummated, it bodes well for the HRH’s new, locals-friendly marketing approach for if there’s any market with which Warner’s team owns exceptional familiarity, it’s the Vegas one … something that could never be said of Morgans.

Pig in a china shop. The bulldozer approach to litigation of thug-like Righthaven continues to smash the crockery of the judicial system. It also means that although gaming coverage at the Las Vegas Review-Journal is on an upswing, following an overdue staffing-up of that branch, R-J links continue to be verboten at S&G, especially since new Publisher Bob Brown is determined to carry on pontifical predecessor Rev. Sherman Frederick‘s losing war against that devil’s spawn known as the Internet. (Yes, Frederick is an ordained minister, although you’d be hard-pressed to find any Christianity in his bilious prose.)

Hapless Harry strikes again. This time the ex-pugilist throws a roundhouse right at Nevada‘s legal-brothel industry. Sen. Reid may be ashamed of it but, in recent years, it’s been one of the most conscientious corporate citizens in the state, maybe the most public-spirited of them all. Shame on you, Harry.