One of the best-known personalities in the US gambling industry, Richard Haskins, has been killed in a watercraft accident while on vacation in Michigan over the Independence Day weekend. Haskins served as president of Red Rocks Resorts Inc. and Station Casinos, a group which operates 20 properties in Nevada.
A statement was put out by the CEO and Chairman of the Red Rocks Resorts Board of Directors, Frank Fertitta III.
“Words cannot express what Rich has meant to the Company and to me in the 25 years he has been with Station Casinos. He was a trusted advisor, a brilliant strategist, a steady hand in good times and in bad and most important – a friend to all. It is very hard to imagine Station Casinos being the Company it is today without Rich. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his children, his family and his loved ones.”
Haskins joined Station Casinos in 1995 as general counsel of midwest operations. Since 2015, he served as president of Red Rocks Resorts and Station Casinos. Some of the operator’s most popular locations are Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, Red Rock Resort in Summerlin and the Palm Resorts near the Las Vegas Strip.
A later press release said that Station Casinos would annunce its plans to find Haskins a successor in the coming days.
It was recently announced that three Station Casinos properties would remain closed indefinitely due to the effects of the Covid19 virus. Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho and Texas Station would “remain closed until further notice and there is no known re-opening date at this time.” The company applied for non-operational status for gaming and liquor licences for the three properties for up to a year.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board also confirmed that the operator’s Palms Resort will remain closed until at least June 2021. Red Rock Resorts paid $312.5 million for the Palms in 2016 and then proceeded to spend close to $700 million updating the property.
