Hard Rock abandons porn gaming pit
Early last month, I broke the news on the Buffet that the Hard Rock and adult star Tera Patrick had cut an unprecedented deal to transform part of the gaming floor of the casino to have tables branded under Patrick's name. The Hard Rock and Patrick's camp each confirmed for me plans to open "Tera Patrick's Gaming Pit" on the main floor of the casino. The dealers were to be called Hell's Belles.
This deal was really surprising news.
While porn stars make appearances at nightclubs and events at resorts all of the time in Vegas, no resort has ever linked gaming to pornography directly. The Playboy Club at the Palms is the closest to such a precedent. Yet Playboy's naughtiness is almost quaint in 2008 Vegas. Everyone knows about the history of Playboy clubs, and the magazine has an editorial integrity. But the Hard Rock went much further than Palms as the Hard Rock planned to actually begin branding gaming tables with a pornographic actress.
Vegas can be surprisingly prudish about mixing sex workers and gaming. I recently reported on how some eyebrows raised when the Rio opened a pool in partnership with a topless bar, and today comes the news that gaming regulators have already visited the Rio's new pool. But to leave the pool and actually partner with a porn star on the gambling floor really would have been a far closer tie between a Nevada unrestricted gaming license and sex work than has ever before been contemplated by a resort.
But that looked exactly like what was about to happen.
Indeed, when I went to the Sex Pistols concert at the Hard Rock a few days after confirming details, the Tera Patrick area was all set up and practice go-go dancers were working polls behind the tables with dealers. I was asked not to write about what I saw that night because those weren't the actual dealers and dancers hired for the project but regular Hard Rock employees testing everything. I was told the actual new employees would arrive soon and there would be a press conference. Patrick's husband even e-mailed me when they were planning to arrive in Vegas and promised me an exclusive interview with her about the project. Everything was set to begin running by mid-June, or so I believed.
Then nothing happened. Today I reached out to the Hard Rock to find out the status of the Tera Patrick Gaming Pit and received this wonderfully political reply:
"It looks like that due to a higher demand for Tera Patrick as a celebrity, the Hard Rock has decided to focus her appearances on a more exclusive platform. Her performances will now be programmed and ticketed throughout the course of the year. Tera Patrick's value as a celebrity doesn't really fall in line with a party pit accessible to the general public on any given day; she has a much higher clientele appeal and hence will make impromptu appearances throughout the property at a different venue (TBD).
So let me get this straight: Since she is MORE famous than Hard Rock expected (higher demand), they are going to make her LESS visible (exclusive) at the Hard Rock? Then we get to the riddle of impromptu events that are somehow ticketed? How does that work? Or could the truth really be that someone got cold feet and pulled out of the envelope-pushing porn-star-on-the-gaming-floor idea? I asked these questions of the Hard Rock and received this follow-up e-mail as, for lack of a better word, clarification
"Tera Patrick will continue to be involved with Hard Rock, just not with the gaming floor/Hell's Belles. The Hard Rock has decided to take a different direction because yes, there is a higher demand to see her and hence we are making her appearances more exclusive to attract a higher clientele. Plans for her appearances at a different venue are still in the works."
So from a partnership to nebulous plans. But one thing is clear: The "venue" will not be the gaming floor.
And by the way, what does it say about the Hard Rock's view of its regular clientele that in both these statements the Hard Rock makes clear that it hopes to realize a higher clientele through porn. (photo by Sarah Gerke)
I'm thinking that by "higher clientele" the Hard Rock means "higher NUMBERS of people," which may not be a good thing, as porn fans tend to stand and gawk rather than sit down and play table games.
Saving her appearances for the high rollers makes a lot of sense if that's what they mean.
Maybe some Hard Rock people went to Adult Entertainment Expo in January and saw the massive crowds that porn can attract. And if they went inside and saw that the porn-fan demographic did not sync with the demographic that the Hard Rock wanted to attract -- whatever that was -- that could have put the kibosh on the whole thing right there.
But I'm guessing. I have eleven years of observing porn from close range but I have NO IDEA how casino executives think.
--Tod Hunter
Posted by: Tod Hunter | July 01, 2008 at 03:20 PM
Good points, Tod.
But then again, maybe there is something else. There are so many ideas during these times of recession to get customers in there and gamble. And some of them are just incredible harebrained. This was an off-the-wall idea that sort of pushed the envelope. I'm thinking that perhaps the Nevada Gaming Commission people looked at the Hard Rock when they heard their idea, cleared their throats, shook their heads and kind of showed a bit of dissatisfaction about it. And the Hard Rock decided to back off a little bit with their original idea. And backing off from that idea is WAY more important than losing their gaming license. So, they are probably doing a two-step shuffle to still keep this porn starlet in the mix, but kind of keep her away from the cards and chips to satisfy the overseers. Just my thoughts....
I did see on Norm's column that this same porn starlet has been courted by Quentin Tarantino to be the star of a re-make of a Russ Meyers movie. Not sure if that is what is talked about that she is busy.
Posted by: ColinFromLasVegas | July 01, 2008 at 05:29 PM
Several years ago, I was told that several big hotel-casinos were thinking about opening striptease shows. They had very serious reservations, because if a prostitution scandal were to emerge, it might result in the revocation of the gaming license for a billion-dollar casino. My source was a Las Vegas attorney who seemed to know what he was talking about. This may explain the Hard Rock's cold feet. For what it's worth...
Posted by: Nevada Ned | July 09, 2008 at 07:22 PM
I understand that you have a job to do as a journalist, but this is really a non-issue. Porn is now thoroughly mainstream (with many, many people routinely making their own porn and showing it on the internet, or engaging in daily internet porn shows, free of charge and just for the "fun" of it). Moreover, there are now courses devoted to the study of porn in University classrooms. You can't get more mainstream--I guess I should say legitimate--than that. If you think porn on the gaming floor is somehow earth shattering . . . you're just plain wrong. Go to any of the gay bars in Las Vegas and you will experience some variation of porn and gaming. You're making a big deal out of something that just isn't. I'd tend to believe that she just became too busy to do this promotion. BTW: I was there for the Sex Pistols show and saw the "dancers" (and have pics of it). There was virtually nothing different from what I saw and experienced than what is happening on a nightly basis at Planet Hollywood. Zero. Zilch. Nothing. You totally need to get over this prudishness about porn (because it's not shared by most people). Or maybe you have been in Vegas too long (which is actually *more conservative* than other parts of the country). If you think porn isn't "normal" you're just plain wrong. Journalists and others might still shy away from realizing this, but everyone else knows it's much too late to put this genie back in the bottle.
Posted by: Rob | July 09, 2008 at 07:34 PM