Luxor president faces bad days

You have to wonder what the past couple weeks have been like in the life of Luxor's President Felix Rappaport?

Rappaport has been one of the most significant gambling executives in Las Vegas since he ran the show at New York New York. And when MGM-Mirage decided to update Luxor away from its Egyptian theme into the realms of a  newer Vegas offering, Rappaport was the obvious choice to oversee the effort.

I apologize for this inside baseball analogy, but Rappaport has become the next-generation Bobby Baldwin. Baldwin (a former winner of the World Series of Poker) was a gambler who entered the casino business with a very special insight into how to create a perfect environment to appeal to the top players. Rappaport likewise is an executive who in the new Vegas really gets not just the casino business but the entire concept of how a resort needs to mix offerings in dining, nightlife and entertainment in order to become a top property.

In my last interview with Rappaport back in August, he spoke at length about his desire to make the Luxor property more sticky. By that he meant he wanted the Luxor to be less the place you could find a room (for tourists) and a parking spot (for locals) on Saturday night and more the place you really wanted to be on Saturday night. He wanted to make the Luxor a player among the hottest Strip resorts. That was certainly not the case when we spoke six months ago.

But that has all changed since then. LAX opened to huge success. Company restaurant also received a lot of attention with its list of celebrity investors. Then Cathouse opened near the end of the year to great fanfare. In fact, by New Year's Eve, the Luxor had become what Rappaport planned, a very hot property. And, Criss Angel's Cirque show has not even arrived yet.

The last time I saw  Rappaport was a few weeks ago at the Palms. And, while we didn't talk, his jovial conversation with others near me made him seem like a man on top of the world.

But the past couple of weeks have been bad news followed by more bad news. First came the IRS investigation into Pure Management Group, which operates the hugely popular LAX  on his property. Then came the revelation that IRS agents actually visited LAX inside his casino. That, of course, should give one enough of a feeling of the floor caving in under your feet.

Then literally earlier this week the floor caved a bit at Cathouse, resulting in a temporary closure of another of the Luxor's hot spots. The Cathouse issued this statement:

"CatHouse closed early this morning due to a structural issue in the ultra-lounge portion of the venue.  While an inspection and repairs are in progress, the ultra-lounge will be closed to the public.   The restaurant also will be temporarily closed to the public.  More information, along with reopening dates, is forthcoming."

Anyway, I am planning to try to interview Rappaport. I don't expect that he will talk to me about LAX and the IRS. And maybe he won't talk to me until some time has passed about these two weeks. But I am very curious what it feels like to be him right now. I've never spoken to the president of a casino about what it feels like to go through a bad day at the office.

(Photo by Sarah Gerke)