Missouri outburst hurts Lee, Pinnacle

Dan Lee is among my favorite gaming industry personalities.

That said, however, Lee suffers from an affliction that has befallen several casino executives who have worked for Steve Wynn. They take on some of Wynn’s personality traits — the good and the bad.

The bad is what led to Lee’s sudden resignation as chairman and chief executive officer of regional casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment.

Lee came unglued this month at a St. Louis County Council meeting. After the approval of a zoning vote that allows competition near Pinnacle’s $350 million casino in suburban St. Louis, Lee rushed the podium and told a councilman’s assistant that her boss “just made the worst mistake of his political career.”

Lee asked the councilman to vote against the rezoning. He didn’t.

In Nevada, threatening the career of an elected official is part of doing business. In Missouri, the action will get you investigated by state gaming regulators, which is what happened.

It doesn’t matter that Pinnacle owns St. Louis’ most expensive casino, the $507 million Lumiere Place, and that the company bankrolled a campaign to loosen the state’s gaming laws.

Many Missouri leaders like the tax dollars but are not fans of gaming.

Lee’s departure leaves a huge void for Pinnacle.

A former Wall Street gaming analyst and chief financial officer for Wynn’s Mirage Resorts, Lee was the visionary who spent seven years growing Pinnacle from a small casino operator into a regional gaming powerhouse with casinos in Louisiana, Missouri, Indiana and Northern Nevada.

Lee wanted to take Pinnacle national, with properties in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. The sinking economy put the brakes on that. Slumping stock prices ended a quiet push to acquire rival Ameristar Casinos.

Lee was a hands-on CEO. In August 2005, after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the company’s Biloxi, Miss., casino and damaged its New Orleans property, Lee flew his private plane to the Gulf Coast to help in the relief effort.

Pinnacle is now in the hands of its board of directors, a list that reads like a gaming Hall of Fame.

Former Aladdin and Harrah’s executive Richard Goeglein is serving as non-executive chairman while ex-Hilton Gaming President John Giovenco is CEO. Retired Boyd Gaming CFO Ellis Landau and Las Vegas attorney Bruce Leslie have stepped up their involvement. Former Deloitte & Touche Nevada head Stephen Comer is helping with the search.

Lee personally recruited most of the board to the company. What will the relationship be once a permanent CEO is in place?

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