Sons of gaming legends win Nevada licenses, take different paths

The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday unanimously licensed Christopher Ruffin as a vice president of Circus Circus and Sean Lanni as a key executive for MGM Resorts International. Both are sons of prominent Southern Nevada gaming figures — Ruffin's father, Phil Ruffin, owns Circus Circus, while Lanni's father, J. Terrence Lanni, was the late chairman and CEO of MGM Mirage, the predecessor to MGM Resorts.

Despite the licensing, Christopher Ruffin said he has no immediate plans to relocate from Wichita, Kansas, where he serves as general manager of the Hyatt Regency and lives with his family. He previously worked in Las Vegas as director of rooms at the New Frontier under his father's tutelage but moved to Kansas for hands-on experience in commercial real estate and to expand the family's holdings there. Ruffin told regulators the primary reason for seeking licensure now is to participate in estate planning, noting his sister, Michelle Ruffin-Stein, was licensed for the same purpose in August.

"My father is a big believer in learning by doing, and he insisted that I do a little bit of everything in that operation," Ruffin told Nevada Gaming Control Board members earlier this month. He did not rule out a future move to Las Vegas to take a more active role at Circus Circus.

Sean Lanni, who did not appear before the commission because he was recently approved in a similar action, already serves as president and chief operating officer of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Aria and Vdara. The licensing adds Park MGM to his leadership portfolio.

In an unrelated matter, the board also unanimously recommended approval for Hussain Mahrous as a key executive and key employee of the M Resort in Henderson. Mahrous, the property's vice president and general manager, said his mission since joining the Penn Entertainment-owned resort has been to improve upon the development opened by Anthony Marnell in 2009 and appeal to both locals and visitors. He expressed optimism about the M Resort's leadership role among resorts, citing its incentives and ties to the Las Vegas Raiders. "I think that if you look at what we give away in offers and rewards, we have always been, in my opinion, a market leader," Mahrous told regulators. "We give away, I believe, probably more food than any of our competitors, and we're very proud again of what Anthony (Marnell) built with some of the names like Marinelli's, Anthony's (Prime & Seafood), which has been a pinnacle of the property since it opened."

Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal