Is there a rift developing between Station Casinos and the Maloof family?

Station Casinos owns 6.7 percent of the Palms resort, which is controlled by the Maloofs. The hotel-casino is not publicly traded, so its operating results are private information.

However, in Station Casinos’ quarterly earnings filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the value of its stake in the Palms has declined some 87 percent since January 2008.

Palms President George Maloof told the Sacramento Bee that Station Casinos’ estimate was “ridiculous.” He said the Palms has held its own during the economic downturn that has sent gaming revenues downward almost 17 percent on the Strip during the first three months of the year.

"I know that we’re doing much better than the market has done," Maloof said. "Nobody’s been immune to what’s happened in Las Vegas, but, you know, our brand has stayed very strong. We’ve had nowhere near that decline."

The Sacramento Bee looked at the Maloof finances because of the family’s ownership of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.