Quote:
Originally Posted by shadroch
Public records show that it was sold for $20 million to the MTR group.
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Yes BUT that didn't include the WSOP rights. zg
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Liz Benston / LV Sun writes
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Making money in a declining gaming market isn't easy.
But Four Queens owner Terry Caudill, who has owned the downtown casino for about four years, has shown that he can do it.
After more than three years trying to make money at Binion's , owner MTR Gaming is folding its hand by selling to Caudill, who can supposedly operate the property more efficiently (and closely) from his headquarters across the street.
The $32 million sale may pay off for MTR (which bought the property from then-manager Harrah's Entertainment for $20 million) but the gamble on the historic brand did not.
Binion's has benefited lately by hosting daily poker tournaments while the famed World Series of Poker is under way at its newer, adopted home at the Rio.
Clouding the money-losing property's reputation is a lawsuit in which Harrah's says it is owed a $5 million bonus payment from MTR because the casino, under Harrah's management, made money. MTR countersued, saying that Harrah's used underhanded accounting to show a nonexistent profit on paper.
Caudill says he will make money by spending more than the previous owners and managers did - at least $10 million in the first year and more thereafter. He says he has more than doubled operating profit at the Four Queens in four years after spending millions on upgrades like new slot machines and remodeled rooms.
Making bigger profits, longer-term, will require more dramatic improvements that are still under consideration, Caudill said.
"I think downtown has a bright future and will experience a resurgence in the next few years," he said.
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Four Queens Owner To Buy Binions
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