Palace coup at Full House

When you strike at the king, you must kill him — and dissident investor Dan Lee (left) was successful in deposing Andre Hilliou from his throne at Full House Resorts. “I would also like to thank Andre and Mark for their many years of service with the company and wish them well in their future endeavors,” said Lee as Hilliou and COO Mark Miller walked the plank. Lee and well-traveled industry veteran Ellis Landau will be among six new board members. In ascending to the CEO’s chair, Lee will well-remunerated. Reports The Modesto Bee, “The board’s compensation committee approved a grant to Lee for an option to purchase 943,834 shares at a per-share exercise price equal to the closing price on the grant date. Lee’s option is scheduled to vest over a four-year period, with 25 percent vesting on the first anniversary of the grant date, and the remaining 75 percent vesting in substantially equal installments over the following three years.”

Given Lee’s record at Pinnacle Entertainment, it wouldn’t surprise me if he wasn’t aggressive in trying to grow the company. It has three primary assets: the beleaguered Rising Star Riverboat Casino in Indiana, the Silver Slipper, in Mississippi, and Fallon, Nevada‘s Stockman’s Casino. That’s a small portfolio for so much sturm und drang, so I expect Lee to attempt to enlarge it. Even as it pursues casino licenses in New York State, Full House still may be for sale. One of the bones of contention between Lee and Hilliou, besides mounting debt, was whether the value of Full House had been fully unlocked.

* Amaya CEO David Baazov talked Wall Street into buying stock worth $7 share at double that (and more) when he set his sights on Rational Group, parent company of PokerStars. With PokerStars currently stalled in California and New Jersey, has Wall Street made a bad bet? Blackstone Group has $1 billion riding on the outcome. Baazov has a reputation as a risk taker but, in this case, Amaya has cannily offloaded all the risk onto its backers.

* Having tried and failed as a terrestrial gaming operator, the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel is trying its luck with Class II online gambling, having launched a bingo site and preparing to up the ante with poker. None of this sits well with the State of California and the two sides are accusing each other of overreach. The former is pursuing a federal lawsuit. Trouble is, the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, due to its age, doesn’t address Internet gambling, throwing the litigation into a penumbra. The state argues that by offering gambling remotely, the Iipay are violating the terms of their 2003 compact with California. The tribe claims it invited a representative of Gov. Jerry Brown (D, left) to visit the site and the Brown administration asserts that no such invitation was extended. Prepare yourself for a lot of “he said, she said.”

* Is SLS Las Vegas having trouble finding its footing? The problems with its buffet have been well-publicized and the hours of other restaurant operations have been nipped and tucked. Now it’s offering (if booked before Dec. 6), 50% off hotel rooms through Aug. 31 next year. And if you buy $100 or more in SBE gift cards (for all your nightclubbing pals, one presumes), you’ll get a $25 card, gratis. As we’ve seen before, SLS is trying to walk the tightrope of pulling in locals who will gladly pay Strip prices.