If you think owning a casino is always a surefire way to make a massive profit, consider this: The MGM Grand opened in Reno in 1978, when the casino economy in Northern Nevada was at its peak and there was no competition from Indian casinos in Northern California. It had 2,000 guest rooms, a 100,000-square-foot casino floor (which it claimed was the largest in the world), nice restaurants, a shopping center downstairs, a large showroom that featured jai-alai and many other amenities. It did well for MGM, which sold it to Bally's in 1985 for $550 million.

Bally's, which later was having major financial troubles, sold it to the Hilton chain in 1992 for $86 million, and it became the Reno Hilton. It's now under its second ownership as the Grand Sierra Resort, having been purchased in 2011 by the Southern California-based Meruelo Group for $42 million. So, a property that once produced a $550 million sale was sold a quarter-century later for $508 million less than that.

It seems to be doing pretty well for the Meruelo Group, which might make a nice profit from its $42 million purchase price if it were sold it today, but it's not worth anything close to the $550 million that Bally's once paid for it.