No more ‘Wheel’-ing at 2 Harrah’s properties on Strip

By Liz Benston

Monday, Aug. 18, 2008 | 2 a.m.

If you’ve been in Bally’s or the adjacent Paris casino recently, you may have noticed a conspicuous absence of “Wheel of Fortune” slot machines.

The disappearance of one of the most popular slots of all time highlights an age-old conflict between casinos and manufacturers over participation machines, which aren’t owned by casinos as regular slots are, but are operated by slot makers, with casinos receiving a percentage of revenue.

Casinos have never been happy with the arrangement, saying such machines are more expensive over the long haul. Slot makers, responsible for paying out jackpots on these machines, say they are worth the added costs, which pay for licensing and jackpot maintenance, among other things. Participation games usually have known brand names, such as “The Price Is Right” and “Indiana Jones,” and typically offer bigger jackpots than generic games by pooling wagers from hundreds of players.

Given the popularity of such games, some companies have recently added them to their casino floors to boost business, said Ed Rogich, vice president of marketing for International Game Technology, maker of “Wheel of Fortune” and other brand-name slots.

The company suspects the owner of Bally’s and Paris, Harrah’s Entertainment, removed some participation slots to cut costs in the wake of the downturn.

Harrah’s, which laid off more than 10 high-level managers a couple of weeks ago, is among many companies implementing cost-cutting initiatives.

Spokesman Gary Thompson says the games simply weren’t popular with players. The change isn’t tied to the downturn, nor is it unusual for an industry that’s constantly trying out new machines and removing those that don’t perform, he said.

• • •

Before there was a credit crunch, there was a credit bubble. And the expansions and deals financed with cheap cash are now in trouble as interest rates rise and revenue falls.

In a report Friday, bond rating agency Moody’s Investors Service said there could be trouble ahead for gaming companies that can’t raise more cash.

Moody’s downgraded seven gaming companies’ liquidity ratings in July. Three, including Station Casinos, earned the agency’s lowest speculative-grade liquidity rating of SGL-4.

Such ratings are assigned to riskier lenders on a scale of 1 to 4 with 4 being the weakest financial position for a company that relies on “external sources of financing, the availability of which is highly uncertain,” according to Moody’s.

Station, along with Las Vegas Sands, Harrah’s Entertainment and MGM Mirage (the latter three carrying a slightly higher rating of SGL-3) has slipped to the level of AirTran, American Airlines and US Airways. Although the outlook for airlines remains grim, gaming companies, traditionally debt-heavy, are expected to rebound once the economy improves.

A record 63 companies carry an SGL-4 rating, compared with 53 a month ago and 25 when the credit crunch began a year ago.

• • •

Score the latest round for the Paris-ites.

Despite all its fans, “Star Trek: The Experience” ends its 11-year run at the Las Vegas Hilton on Sept. 1.

It seemed no match for the explosion of the Paris Hilton-wannabe crowd in Las Vegas that is drawn to nightclubs with celebrity DJs, ultralounges with infused vodka drinks and restaurants with brand-name designers — in other words, everything that the “Star Trek” attraction and its celebration of nerd-dom is not.

Add in the fact that there’s no “Star Trek” offshoot series currently running on TV and you have enough reason for casino executives, who failed to come to terms on a new lease with tenant Cedar Fair Entertainment, to seek a new way to spice up their Barry Manilow-headlined property.

Chad Boutte, operations manager for the Experience, is still shaking his head in disbelief.

“The fan base is only going to get bigger” when a new “Star Trek” movie opens next year, he said.

Thousands of angry fans have informed Boutte that they no longer will come to Las Vegas because the reason for their pilgrimages is disappearing.

We’ll see whether the Hilton can make more money by being more trendy than Trekkie.