Executive exodus continues at Progressive

Rollo left Progressive Gaming on Tuesday to become the chief accounting officer at Ameristar Casinos. With Progressive, Rollo was also executive vice president and treasurer. At Ameristar, she’ll report to Chief Financial Officer Tom Steinbauer.

It’s a lesser role but without the headaches.

On Thursday, Progressive Gaming has to produce $17 million to cover its obligations, otherwise its lender will conduct an asset sale. The company reported its dire straits in a Christmas Eve filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Rollo followed Chief Executive Officer Russel McMeekin out the door. He left in September.

Despite the sales of its slot machine and table game businesses and the transition into a pure gaming technology company, Progressive Gaming never recovered from its 2007 financial meltdown. Its stock price fell almost 75 percent and wiped out some $200 million in market capitalization.

That year, Progressive also paid $20 million to settle a federal antitrust lawsuit.

In September, Progressive said it would miss its 2008 projections. In October, the company was delisted by the Nasdaq National Market.

Last April, Rollo said the company could become a leader with its software systems and intellectual property. Now Progressive Gaming, once known as Mikohn Gaming, seems destined to be a casualty of the recession.

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Slot machines operated through International Game Technology’s MegaJackpot system spread holiday cheer to the tune of almost $12.7 million between Dec. 15 and Jan. 5. The machines registered 14 jackpots in eight states. Thirteen of the jackpots were won on Wheel of Fortune machines.

“A run of hits like this is very exciting,” IGT spokesman Ed Rogich said.

The largest jackpot was more than $3.8 million, awarded Jan 3 at the Black Oak Casino in Tuolumne, Calif. There were three hits on New Year’s Eve, including $264,876 at the Golden Nugget.

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Investor Sam Zell is looking at the hotel business despite a bankruptcy filing in December by the Tribune Co., which Zell purchased for $8.2 billion a year ago.

Zell’s Equity Group Investments signed a confidentiality agreement with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which owns about 15 percent of the company that operates Planet Hollywood Resort.

“The mere fact that this agreement was signed and made public indicates that Sam Zell’s company is interested in being more than an 8 percent owner of Starwood,” Oppenheimer gaming analyst David Katz said in a research note.

Howard Stutz’s Inside Gaming column appears Sundays. E-mail him at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or call 702-477-3871. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/stutz.