Michonne Ascuaga Managed the Last Family-Owned Casino in the State of Nevada until 2013
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval announced his appointment of the former CEO of the Nugget Casino in Sparks, Nevada to the state gaming commission. Michonne Ascuaga, who ran the John Ascuaga’s Nugget Casino from 1997 to 2013 on behalf of her father, John Ascuaga, is set to be the next member of the Nevada Gaming Commission. Ms. Ascuaga will replace Joe Brown, who recently resigned from the chief regulatory body for gaming in Nevada.
Michonne Ascuaga’s term is set to extend for four years, until the end of April 2017. The first meeting she is set to attend is a standard meeting of the Commission on May 28, which is set for Las Vegas.
Joe Brown’s Retirement
Joe Brown was appointed to the Nevada Gaming Commission in 2009 by former Governor Joe Gibbons. Mr. Brown stepped down last week from the commission, saying he wanted to devote more time to his law practice and his family.
Depth of Experience and Understanding
Gov. Brian Sandoval said he is pleased that Ms. Ascuaga accepted the appointment, saying she brings “a depth of experience and understanding” to the regulatory body for the state’s expansive gaming industry, which includes 187 different land-based casinos.
2015 is considered a pivotal time for the gambling industry of Nevada. The commission not only oversees the continued turnaround of Las Vegas, but it faces key choices on issues such as Olympic sports betting, medicinal marijuana use in casinos, and the regulation of online gambling. The state is in the middle of a key prosecution of Malaysian high stakes poker player and Macau junket operator, Paul Phua, but it also announced this week the first-ever prosecution of an online gambling operator, Bryan Micon, whose site uses bitcoin for transactions.
Debate on Skill Gaming
The Nevada Gaming Commission is also at the crux of the debate on whether to include laws for skill gaming on Vegas slot machines. Such a measure would introduce real skill to the one-armed bandits for the first time in their history, in an attempt to lure more slots players back to the casinos.
Also, gaming regulators in Nevada are facing an industry which is increasingly global in scope. Malasysia’s Genting Berhag Limited is breaking ground on the most expensive casino ever built in Las Vegas, the $4.2 billion Resorts World Las Vegas Casino. Meanwhile, Crown Limited’s James Packer is once again talking about building a casino on the Las Vegas Strip, years after his last venture ended in a bankruptcy for the project (and is still in the court system).
Local Fallout from Macau’s Decline
Three of Las Vegas’s biggest gaming companies–Las Vegas Sands Corporation, Wynn Resorts, and MGM Resorts–are facing the financial fallout of their heavy investment in the Macau gaming industry. While their Chinese gaming ventures fueled revenue growth in those companies for 10 years, they also face the consequences of the arbitrary decision by Chinese Premier Xi Jinping to launch an anti-corruption campaign in China. That campaign eventually targeted Macau’s corruption-ridden junket operators, who have ties to the organized crime syndicates known as triads. Revenues have slumped 50% in the past year alone, with stocks for those three gaming companies slumping in a similar fashion. All three also have multi-billion dollar projects in Macau which are now in development limbo.
Meanwhile, the fourth major Las Vegas casino company, Caesars Entertainment, faces what appears to be a lengthy bankruptcy battle. Caesars Entertainment set up a reorgnization plan that would shift $18 billion of its $23 billion in debt to the Caesars Entertainment Operations Divison (“CEOC”). While first lienholders agreed to the plan, junior bondholders took the parent company to court to seize assets they said belonged to them. Analysts predict the court case, which is playing out in a Chicago bankruptcy court, could take years to resolve.
All of these issues are likely to be resolved sometimes during Michonne Ascuaga’s four-year term on the Nevada Gaming Commission. With 16 years operating a casino in the Reno area, the former CEO of John Ascuaga’s Nugget Casino should be aware of most aspects of the Nevada gaming culture. She is as qualified as any person Gov. Sandoval could have named to the position to make the many pivotal decisions to come in the next 2 years. At present, Ms. Ascuaga holds the position of Chairwoman of the Washoe K-12 Education Foundation.
About John Ascuaga’s Golden Nugget
John Ascuaga’s Golden Nugget, which is located in the city of Sparks (near Reno) should not be confused with the Golden Nugget Las Vegas, which is owned by an entirely different group (Landry’s Inc.). John Ascuaga’s Golden Nugget was owned by the family from 1960 until October 2013, when it was sold to the Global Gaming and Hospitality.
Details of the sale of the 1,600-room property were never released, as the casino was the last family-owned, single-property gaming company in the state of Nevada. At the time of the sale, the family said it could not improve the property, but instead sold the Golden Nugget to Global Gaming. Global Gaming’s CEO, Cartlon Geer, has a connection to Northern Nevada. The new owners worked with Husky Finance to begin an ambitious renovation project. Subsequently, one part of the property, the Nugget Courtyard, was sold by Global Gaming to The Siegel Group. The new owners renamed that property Siegel Suites Sparks.
