Congratulations to South Point owner Michael Gaughan, the 2009 inductee to the American Gaming Association Hall of Fame. An industry "lifer" who worked his way up from the Royal Inn to the CEO's chair at Coast Casinos, Gaughan has been one of the most consistently successful operators in the business. After 9/11, when other operators were slashing jobs, Gaughan actually added employees. That practically qualified him for on-the-spot sainthood.
He briefly succumbed to the siren song of consolidation and merged Coast with Boyd Gaming. It was a rocky marriage and Gaughan soon decided that the world of publicly traded casino corporations was not his bag. But the "divorce settlement" gave him South Point free and clear, and he maintains a lucrative ancillary revenue stream through 1,308 slots (give or take) at McCarran International Airport.
Gaughan is a man of few words — but many deeds — so we hope he's not forced to make a speech. But S&G applauds the AGA's excellent selection of its '09 inductee.
(And there we thought they were going to give it to James Packer.)
