Harrah\’s Looking to Sell the Rio?

Reports circulating that home of the WSOP is on the blocks

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photo: Flipchip/LasVegasVegas

Our beloved Harrah\’s Entertainment Inc. is currently seeking buyers for the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, according to Bloomberg-BusinessWeek. Supposedly bids are in the $500 million range for the largest property currently in the Harrah\’s portfolio, which has been the home to the World Series of Poker since 2005 … and is considered by many \”a dump\” on par with Circus-Circus or the Tropicana despite its super-long hallways that make for top-quality scooter races and ridiculous Phil Hellmuth main event entrances.

Seeking confirmation and insight on reports from a highly respected business publication that line up with previous rumors connected to Harrah\’s recent acquisition of Planet Hollywood on the Strip, we asked (for real) a WSOP spokesman:

  • If a sale goes through as desired, what would this mean for the WSOP?
  • What would be the most likely candidates for a new venue?
  • Would the WSOP ever consider hosting its summer event at a place that
    is not a Harrah\’s property?

All he would say is, \”The 2010 WSOP will be at the Rio. We don\’t comment on rumors or speculation.\”

Of course.

However, as a site that traffics in exactly that — and sees plausibly another sign of the impending implosion of poker — we know where to get the real scoop on private megabucks business decisions such as these.

According to Seth Shmalansky, Fake PR Director of the WSOP, \”It will be a sad day for many of us if we do manage to unload this piece-of-shit property. But business is business, and with the Reverend-Sir AlcantHang slightly curtailing his alcohol intake at the Hooker Bar it just no longer makes fiscal sense to hold on to it.\”

But even Shmalansky wouldn\’t comment on the rumor we are trying to start heard from a man in Texas that one of the potential buyers is the nation of PokerStarzistan, which has designs on turning the Rio into a fortress so they can go all Branch Davidian on the Feds should they decide to come after their people in any way.

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