Phil Satre Will Not Be Harrahfied

The Strip: Las Vegas Podcast

The father of what Pulitzer Prize winning former New York Times reporter was once the entertainment director of a major Vegas resort? Know it? E-mail TheStripPodcast [at] aol.com or call 702-997-3300 by July 6. If we draw your correct answer, you pick from the prize list at TheStripPodcast.Com.Twitter: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComVoicemail: 702-997-3300Open & Banter: Start to 25ishPhil Satre Part I: 26-58ishTrivia/Poll/Letters: 58ish-1:06Phil Satre Part II: 1:07-1:48ishTSTToTW: 1:48-endThis 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.