You may know that I like hanging out at Fitzgeralds in Reno. I've got a bug about Lincoln Fitzgerald and they let me stay there free and treat me pretty good. Well, the guys at the parking garage treat me like crap but I'm in love with several of the ladies that deal there. There's even a 21 dealer that looks like my high school prom date...sigh. Sure, it would be nice to have running hot water every morning but I do get Christmas cards from them. Since the place is being run by bankrupcy trustees a lot of stuff has been on hold for awhile.

I was interested when I ran across the news that the sale of the joint to some back-east guys was rejected. http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051208/BIZ04/512080321/1071/BIZ Turns out that the gang (!?) that wanted to buy Fitz was a little shy on money and their smokescreen on that aspect was a little too thin to snow the Gaming Control Board. As the board put it, there was that "totality of issues" thing too. Blackmailing Asians without visas, theft of Russian uranium, an employee abuse rampage, tax fraud in Prague, a bad memory:

"You do not recall a 11/2 hour interview with a New Jersey trooper...?"

Russian mobsters selling "insurance". I hope those guys found their own way out of the hearing!

I've heard through our friend Mark Englebretson that Dwayne Kling's next book will be about the Gaming Control Board in Nevada. Should lend some very interesting insight to the way they've pinned some bugs to wall!