Phil Satre Will Not Be Harrahfied

The father of what Pulitzer Prize winning former New York Times
reporter was once the entertainment director of a major Vegas
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Open & Banter: Start to 25ish
Phil Satre Part I: 26-58ish
Trivia/Poll/Letters: 58ish-1:06
Phil Satre Part II: 1:07-1:48ish
TSTToTW: 1:48-end

This fall will be the 100th anniversary of the birth of William
Harrah, the man whose name is on more casinos in the world than
any other. His former company, which recently changed its name to
Caesars Entertainment, has very little planned outside of some
promotions at the original Harrah’s resort in Reno, but we
decided he deserved a little more attention than that. Harrah
died 33 years ago tomorrow at the age of 66, so Steve spoke with
his successor, Phil Satre, who helmed Harrah’s for 21 years and
is responsible for spreading that name around the world. Satre,
who left Harrah’s in 2005 and is now the chairman of the board of
IGT, talks about the quirks and visions that made the man what he
was and then explains several decisions made in the 1980s and
1990s including the choice for the company to never build any new
hotel-casinos in Las Vegas. Also, Steve introduces Satre to the
term “Harrah-fy” and asks Satre whether he feels he degraded the
quality of the resorts he acquired.

In Banter: Octavius, Plaza, Bellagio, Maloof, Hilton and an
aquarium-related Vegas-set reality show.