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Nevada gambling regulators are calling the bankruptcy of Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s debt-heavy subsidiary an embarrassment and lamenting the company’s inability to pay 63 former executives some $33 million in promised pension payments, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The Nevada Gaming Commission pressed Caesars executives yesterday about the pension payments that aren’t guaranteed in the case of a bankruptcy. Kenneth Ng-Houng says that he was promised a fully-funded pension after working at the company for 32 years, guaranteeing him an annual salary of $71,000 after he retired. Caesars’ general counsel apologized to Houng at the meeting but explained the company can’t make the payments without bankruptcy court permission and Caesars didn’t plan to seek it because it would have little chance of approval.

A lawyer who made his name as a Watergate prosecutor was approved yesterday to begin investigating a series of corporate deals in the lead-up to the bankruptcy of the casino operating unit of Caesars Entertainment Corp., Reuters reported yesterday. Creditors allege those deals looted billions of dollars from the operator of 38 casinos for the benefit of the parent company, which is not bankrupt, and its private equity backers, Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital. Richard Davis, a former partner at bankruptcy powerhouse Weil Gotshal & Manges, will investigative whether the operating unit received fair value for choice properties such as the Linq complex in Las Vegas. Davis was given a wide-ranging role by the judge who tasked him with investigating any apparent conflicts of interest by the bankrupt unit.

Restructuring lawyer Richard Davis will likely lead an investigation into transactions by the operating unit of Caesars Entertainment Corp., which filed for chapter 11 this year, Reuters reported yesterday. The Executive Office for U.S. Trustees recommended Davis as the examiner in the case, asking a judge to consider approval of the pick at a hearing on Wednesday. Davis, a former partner at bankruptcy powerhouse Weil Gotshal & Manges, has served in several investigative roles both in and out of bankruptcy. Most recently he was tasked with probing the dealings of bankrupt hedge fund Fletcher International, whose founder, Alphonse "Buddy" Fletcher, is the husband of Ellen Pao, the plaintiff in a high-profile gender discrimination lawsuit against venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. filed for bankruptcy in January to cut its debt by $10 billion. Prior to filing, it transferred a number of its most valuable properties to affiliates of its parent as it struggled to overhaul operations. Creditors have alleged the moves were illegal efforts by the parent to place the assets beyond the reach of creditors.

Atlantic City’s Revel Casino Hotel yesterday asked a bankruptcy judge for more breathing room in a bid to move forward with a sale after the judge said she couldn’t sign off on a heavily discounted $82 million deal to Glenn Straub, a Florida-based developer, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The judge’s decision has left the $2.4 billion resort without a clear path toward resolving its financial woes, even as millions of dollars in legal and operational expenses continue to mount. During a hearing yesterday, John Cunningham, a lawyer for Revel, mentioned several paths Revel could take, but each comes with its own set of difficult complications. One option is for Straub to buy the casino under an earlier, court-approved $95 million deal stemming from a bankruptcy auction last year, but that appears increasingly unlikely. “I’m not going to pay the 95.4,” Straub said, referring to his original $95.4 million offer. The Florida property developer failed to meet a Feb. 9 deadline to close the $95.4 million sale, after a string of 11th-hour appeals from the resort’s former tenants and other creditors muddied the terms of the deal.

Trump Entertainment Resorts on Thursday was cleared to exit bankruptcy proceedings, following a series of deals with former foes, including Donald and Ivanka Trump, who abandoned efforts to reclaim their brand from the downtrodden Atlantic City, N.J., boardwalk gambling operation, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The confirmation decision by Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross, however, wasn't the last word on the future of the casino company, which has been at odds with the union representing more than 1,100 casino workers for much of its stay under chapter 11 protection. Unite Here Local 54 marched on Friday to protest the loss of health care and retirement rights allegedly at the hands of its secured lender and new owner — activist investor Carl Icahn.

Bankruptcy Judge A. Benjamin Goldgar on Thursday gave the examiner in Caesars Entertainment Operating Co.’s bankruptcy case a wider scope of power than the casino company wanted, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Judge Goldgar approved Caesars’ request for the independent examination but said that the individual could go beyond just the seven “challenged” transactions that have prompted four separate investor lawsuits. The judge already had said that he would allow the examiner, he just hadn’t decided on the scope. Thursday’s decision decision is a win for a group of junior bondholders, who had said that an examiner should be allowed to look at more than just those seven transactions, which Caesars had requested. Judge Goldgar said that the examiner could look at any transactions or “apparent self-dealing or conflicts of interest” for which creditors might bring claims against Caesars, including current and former officers of Caesars.

Revel AC Inc. failed in its third attempt to sell its bankrupt casino, opening the door for other potential bidders for the Atlantic City, N.J., resort, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. After months of false starts, Revel finally reached an $82 million deal with Florida real estate investor Glenn Straub’s Polo North Country Club Inc. Bankruptcy Judge Gloria Burns shot down that sale at a Friday hearing in Camden, N.J., saying that she can’t approve it because an earlier version of the deal is still being weighed by another court. After opening at a cost of $2.4 billion in 2012, Revel sought bankruptcy protection in June for the second time in as many years. It closed in September after failing to draw interest for a quick sale. The casino was one of four in Atlantic City to fold last year as competition from surrounding states lured away customers. The bankrupt casino owner originally had a $110 million deal with Toronto-based Brookfield Property Partners LP, but Brookfield walked away after failing to come to terms over energy payments. Straub, who had been the lead bidder at auction, stepped back in to scoop up the property but failed to close the $95.4 million sale by a Feb. 9 deadline. Revel moved to terminate the deal after the closing date lapsed.

A bankruptcy judge will rule today on the proposed sale of Atlantic City's former Revel casino to a Florida developer for $82 million, the Associated Press reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Gloria Burns said yesterday that she will rule on the purchase of the $2.4 billion casino by Glenn Straub's Polo North Country Club. But a loophole in the deal still leaves the door open for owner Revel AC to accept a higher bid if one materializes before the March 31 scheduled closing date. Nineteen other would-be purchasers have expressed interest in outbidding Straub, but none has put any money on the table.