Now that the Bally Technologies takeover of Shuffle Entertainment is a done deal, there’s a bit of musical chairs to be played. Senior Vice President for Law & 
Government Mark Lerner will be eased out, in favor of Shuffle’s general counsel, Katie Lever. Senior Vice President Adrian Halpenny is also carried over from SHFL, retaining his Australian portfolio and trades his Asian portfolio for that of Europe. Srinivasan Raghavan retains the Asian portfolio, along with those for India and Africa. Roger Snow (table products) is the only remaining senior VP brought in from SHFL, although nine ex-Shuffle execs will occupy ever-so-slightly lower rungs on the ladder, such as Vice President of Marketing Julia Boguslawski. Congratulations ladies and gentlemen. May the odds be ever in your favor.
Ever wonder what happened to Mike Mecca after his swift departure from Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino? He’s thriving as CEO of Galaxy Entertainment, that’s what. The company has big expansion plans — two megaresorts and 165 new stores — that include a 13-acre (!) rooftop deck. It already has a nightclub, China Rouge, that is “intimate and erotic in its design and is a genuinely unique experience.” The man truly seems to have landed in clover.
Most of us would have trouble spelling the name Kamran Fouladbakhsh — but we’d better learn. Subtly and stealthily, he’s amassed a great wealth of property in Downtown Vegas. Unlike Tamares Group, which could never decide what to do with its holdngs, Fouladbakhsh is very clear on what he wants. His main goal is to create affordable living for the middle-class. He deserves our encouragement because the area has suffered from a great gulf between a few high-end, condo properties and vast swaths of ghetto-like housing for the poor, with a chasm in between. Let’s hope Fouladbakhsh can fill that gap. And, unlike Tony Hsieh, he’s no newcomer to the party but has been acquiring property for more than a decade.
