{"id":6735,"date":"2011-05-23T14:26:07","date_gmt":"2011-05-23T22:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=6735"},"modified":"2021-01-02T06:36:52","modified_gmt":"2021-01-02T14:36:52","slug":"herbst-gaming-new-name-familiar-faces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/herbst-gaming-new-name-familiar-faces\/","title":{"rendered":"Herbst Gaming: new name, familiar faces"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"No, the company hasn’t been dissolved. But with the various Herbst boys having been run off — plus the negative brand equity created by their eponymous casino firm’s financial collapse — new ownership decided it’s time for a new moniker<\/a>. Exit Herbst Gaming<\/strong>, enter Affinity Gaming<\/strong>. (This portends a dim future for the mustachioed Herbst gunslinger, who bears a suspicious resemblance to former Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em> Editor Thomas Mitchell<\/strong>.) The name change is currently on hold while the paperwork goes through Carson City<\/strong>. Executive officers currently having an affinity for Herbst include a few names familiar around these parts.<\/p>\n

\"\"Chief among them is Michael D. Rumbolz<\/strong>, who’s got a long history in Nevada. From 1987-89 he was Nevada Gaming Control Board<\/strong> chairman, at the end of the Richard Bryan<\/strong> administration (perhaps the last truly enlightened period of governance in Silver State history). As such, he had the unpleasant task of investigating the Nazi Party nostalgia of Imperial Palace<\/strong> owner Ralph Engelstad<\/strong>, whose fondness for Adolf Hitler<\/strong> sickens the stomach to this day.<\/p>\n

After leaving office, Rumbolz’s resum\u00e9 reads like a who’s (no longer) who of gaming. He did time with Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts<\/strong>, one of many executives to bear that scar, and later presided over then-Casino Windsor<\/strong> (now Caesars Windsor<\/strong>). After his three-year stint with Circus Circus Enterprises<\/strong>, he spent five years as CEO of Anchor Gaming<\/strong>, which was eventually gobbled up by IGT<\/strong>. Weighing anchor, he moved on to Casino Data Systems<\/strong>, which was soon devoured by Aristocrat Leisure<\/strong> in the consolidation craze. For the last 10 years, Rumbolz has kept his hand in the industry as a consultant.<\/p>\n

\"\"Another on the official roster is Don Kornstein<\/strong>, late of the Cash Systems<\/strong> board and most recently chief restructuring officer<\/a> for Bally Total Fitness<\/strong>. Since Herbst is emerging from bankruptcy, one can see where Kornstein’s skill set would come in handy. Also leaping from the frying pan to the fire is San Francisco<\/strong>-based money manager Thomas Benninger<\/strong>, seen at left. (Yes, he appears to be the son<\/a> of MGM Grand<\/strong> mover and shaker<\/a> Fred Benninger<\/strong>.) He’s currently listed as chairman<\/a> of Carl Icahn<\/strong>‘s board of directors at Tropicana Entertainment<\/strong>, which makes you wonder if an acquisition is in the works. Companies run by Rumbolz have a habit of getting snapped up by larger fry and Icahn has an appetite for distressed assets … and they rarely come more distressed than this.<\/p>\n

This “new broom” executive team is also cleaning house at the individual-property level. The long-suffering trio of Primm Valley casinos will get a new GM in the form of Loren Gill <\/strong>(below<\/em>), who’s had a long history<\/a> with Boyd Gaming<\/strong>, most recently at its Par-A-Dice<\/em> riverboat in Illinois<\/strong>. He’s also an alumnus of Harrah’s Entertainment<\/strong>, “farm team” for so many rival casino companies.<\/p>\n

\"\"While at Boyd, Gill’s path probably crossed that of former Suncoast<\/strong> assistant GM David Nolan<\/strong>, who earned his stripes working in downtown Vegas for one of the true greats, Jackie Gaughan<\/strong>. Former Excalibur<\/strong> and Luxor<\/strong> sales director Valerie Moon<\/strong> completes the threesome. Her resume includes awards from the Las Vegas Hospitality Association<\/strong> and the Greater Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce<\/strong>, the latter having named her “Tourism Executive of the Year.” Boyd … Harrah’s … MGM Resorts International<\/strong> … the reconstituted Herbst is able to pick its talent off the top shelves in the industry.<\/p>\n

Easton ousted<\/strong>. Who needs Sheena Easton<\/strong> when you have Matt Goss<\/strong>? More to the point, a deal to bring the “For Your Eyes Only” singer to The Gossy Scow<\/strong><\/span> Cleopatra’s Barge<\/strong> at Caesars Palace<\/strong> fell through, apparently because Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> found the terms (only 5% of the gate<\/a>) a bit anemic. Instead of (allegedly) sacking Easton — who extracted a $35K pound of flesh — Caesars should have found whoever negotiated that lopsided revenue split and given him<\/em> the chop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No, the company hasn’t been dissolved. But with the various Herbst boys having been run off — plus the negative brand equity created by their eponymous casino firm’s financial collapse — new ownership decided it’s time for a new moniker. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106,60,34,82,28,42,51,14,4,7,123,140,29,58,22,11,25,9,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6735"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6735"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29033,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6735\/revisions\/29033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}