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Jun. 27, 2009
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New owners upgrading Palomino strip club that will be featured on Playboy TV

North Las Vegas club has history of violence

By JOHN G. EDWARDS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

The new operator of the Palomino Club in North Las Vegas has put more than $2 million into refurbishing it, but that city's mayor would still like to see it go away.
Photo by Duane Prokop



"The Palomino really has a bright future.''
DOMINIC GENTILE
ATTORNEY WHO TOOK PALOMINO CLUB AS PART OF PAYMENT FOR REPRESENTING CLUB'S OWNERS



The Palomino Club is exempt from a law that prohibits serving alcohol in nude strip clubs.
Photo by Duane Prokop

The Palomino Club's former owner and his son are heading to prison for life, but the North Las Vegas strip club's future looks brighter, at least for the short term.

Playboy TV plans to carry a 12-part realty show, called "King of Clubs," about the Palomino Club in September, said property owner Dominic Gentile. His son, Adam, owns and operates the nightclub business and will star in the show.

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    • Gentile accepted the business and the former owner's equity interest in a 5-acre parcel along with cash as compensation for representing Luis Hidalgo Jr., his son, Luis Hidalgo III, and the father's former girlfriend, Anabel Espindola, in their second-degree murder case.

    The father and son were sentenced Tuesday to life for the 2005 killing of a doorman who criticized the strip club to taxi drivers.

    The club's new owners aren't concerned about the club's history, though. They're looking ahead.

    "The Palomino really has a bright future," Dominic Gentile said. "Adam has managed to raise it from the ashes (over the last three years)."

    Adam Gentile has spent $2 million refurbishing the club, his father said. "I think the city of North Las Vegas is going to be very proud of that show when it airs."

    North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, isn't so sure. He considers the strip club offensive and would like to see it closed.

    "I just don't see a whole lot of positives that it adds to the neighborhood," Montandon said.

    However, the Palomino's license to serve alcohol and feature nude dancers doesn't expire until 2019. And even though North Las Vegas banned alcohol in establishments with nude dancing in 1999, the Palomino was allowed to continue operating under a grandfather clause.

    Montandon had hoped the property would be sold for redevelopment, although he recognizes it may be 10 more years before the property could be sold because of the collapse of the Southern Nevada real estate market.

    Dominic Gentile also believes the area has a bright future for redevelopment. "That property is going to get nothing but more valuable," he said.

    Peter Demangus, general manager of Jerry's Nugget, the 45,000-square-foot casino across the street from the Palomino, agreed, pointing to development of an improved Interstate 15 off-ramp and improvements on North Fifth Street.

    The strip club has an interesting -- and violence-laced -- history.

    "It was the premier gentleman's club in the United States until about the mid-'90s," Gentile said.

    In 2000, Jack Perry, a member of the family that then owned the club, shot the club manager. Perry later pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

    The following year, Dr. Simon Stertzer, a Stanford University medical professor, told the Las Vegas Sun that he was buying the club and would use profits to pay for research. Stertzer named Luis Hidalgo Jr. a friend, to manage the club. They were unlikely friends. Hidalgo Jr. later told the Review-Journal that he was born in San Salvador, moved with his family to the San Francisco Bay Area when he was 8 and dropped out of high school.

    While operating the club, the father choreographed the Palomino Stallions, a nude men's dance group, in one attempt to boost revenues.

    Hidalgo Jr. drove a Pantera auto and frequently carried a handgun and wads of cash. The father also operated Simone's Auto Plaza, an auto repair shop.

    The father and son were sentenced on Tuesday to life with the possibility of parole after 20 years for the 2005 killing of Timothy Hadland, but the Palomino remains in business.

    "During my tenure, it changed hands twice, and somebody died both times," the mayor said. "Anytime it changes hands without a murder, it would be a good thing."

    Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0420.

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    JH wrote on July 26, 2009 01:30 PM: You cant actully believe that Timothy Hadland was killed for "bad Talking" the club! That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!
    And that part of town having a bright future hahahaha wow thats funny.
    from the past few years of getting to know Mr Dominic Gentile he has came off as a very smart man, but him saying that the "getto" of Las vegas has a bright future is very funny.


    brooke wrote on July 03, 2009 02:08 PM: I am a dancer at the palomino,as well as a main cast performer on the new show. the palomino is far nicer than any other strip club in vegas and the only club i trust to work at the gentile family has been very good to me and i dont see any future muders there...lol watch the girls, the show, and enjoy yourself!


    Danny McCoy wrote on June 27, 2009 12:44 PM: The Palomino is in a crappy area, yes. The Palomino is far from the strip, yes. But, the fact it has a grandfathered license to serve alcohol at an ALL-NUDE club is priceless!!


    David wrote on June 27, 2009 12:42 PM: Ha! Ha! This bozo lawyer gets the club and land for doing a 'great job' as lawyer sending his clients to prison for life. Hmmm, where do I sign up for a deal like that! LOL


    Dark Gable wrote on June 27, 2009 11:49 AM: Let's see if i get this right, Gentile's clients lose their case and they also lose their club to him as payment? So I guess losing the case was actually a win for the lawyer? Hell, I could have given those 2 guys the same result and got my own strip club too!!


    ET wrote on June 27, 2009 11:29 AM: The Palomino Club is the cause of a lot of deaths and imprisonment(JP). Dominic your next,perhaps, the way every other owner ended up.If it were mine , I'd burn it to the ground. good luck


    dr j wrote on June 27, 2009 10:49 AM: This should be closed down. It's a dump, it's in the middle of tent city, people are shot and stabbed within the area at least once a week. No amount of renovations will ever chage that. The city of North Las Vegas should exercise eminent domain and bull doze it.


    Phil wrote on June 27, 2009 08:30 AM: Part of the problem is the location of this club that is way off the strip for the tourists. With so many other gentlemans clubs closer to the strip they just don't get much of the business.


    tom wrote on June 27, 2009 07:41 AM: So the mayor finds it offensive and wants it closed?

    Get a life, mayor! It's not your job nor your place to place your morality upon the owners and patrons of this establishment.

    That's the problem these days. Too many politicians trying to control our lives.


    RightWingExtremist wrote on June 27, 2009 03:57 AM: Montandon is an idiot. If the club is featured on the Playboy Channel, it's going to get a lot of attention, not to mention business. More money = more tax revenue = profit for North Las Vegas.


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