Most of you, I’m certain, remember Fred Frazzetta, a heroic Nevadan who essentially sacrificed his career to blow the whistle on Harrah’s Entertainment‘s cavalier attitude toward building regulations (and, one might add, customer safety). He sent S&G the following, in response to a Suzette Parmley profile of Don Marrandino, who’s now BMOC for Harrah’s Atlantic City and Pennsylvania casinos and racinos.
“I caught your article regarding Don Marrandino, and I wanted to take the time to fill you in on a few things that took place while Mr. Marrandino was President of both the Flamingo Hotel & Harrah’s Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas … things I am sure that neither Don or Harrah’s want to talk about.
“Have you followed the plight of Harrah’s and their now well documented illegal remodels in Las Vegas? I am the whistleblower, Fred Frazzetta and I want the world to know what Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. did because their numerous criminal acts were willful. Harrah’s illegally remodeled multiple properties here in Las Vegas without permits being pulled as required, and therefore no inspections. Every room that Harrah’s touched was found to be unsafe for the public to stay in, and we are talking about thousands of rooms. To add insult to injury Harrah’s also exposed their construction workers, hotel employees & hotel guests to Continue reading
“Wall Street analysts upgraded the prospects of two Las Vegas-based casino operators based on the companies’ holdings in Macau. Simultaneously, Macau media reported gaming revenue in the Chinese gambling market jumped 48 percent in December.” — Howard Stutz, of the 
On the way back from a fine dinner at the Bay City Diner (good food, better service, 
ND’s Fuego The Club 
… nor can anyone be troubled to fix the blanched “o” in “Rio.” This sort of penny-pinching and malign neglect of Harrah’s physical assets was only too predictable back when Loveman steered the company into the arms of Apollo (Mis)Management and Texas Pacific Group, but neither rah-rah Wall Street analysts nor worshipful Nevada regulators dared mention that ugly inevitability.
Seriously, how much would it cost to slap some red paint up there on the parapet? Or to stock the Las Vegas Review-Journal in one’s sundries store? Corporate jets and executive salaries remain sacrosanct but the customer experience is clearly expendable.
I’m not sure if it comes through at this size, but the paint has almost completely worn off some of the vertical beams on The Rio’s west side. Memo to Harrah’s: Instead of treating your former crown jewel (and the current site of the World Series of Poker) like a dump, why don’t you sell it to a company that would give a damn? Penn National Gaming, where are you when we need you?
Weidner everywhere. The former Sheldon Adelson mouthpiece (left) and current Las Vegas Sands scapegoat is being floated as a possible successor to Dan Lee at Pinnacle Entertainment. But if Lee was a loose cannon, Weidner is an out-of-control Sherman tank.
He’s a believer. While many are skittish about CityCenter‘s impact, T. Rowe Price Porfolio Manager Joe Fath has 
“It’s a New Day at Tropicana Las Vegas.” — signature line on official Tropicana e-mails. Translation: William J. Yung III has left the building.
“The question is should they be used indiscriminately on little children and grandmothers … There’s no practical distinction between a full body scan and being pulled into a side room and being ordered to strip your clothing.” — Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA),