Nevada regulators have recommended a limited three-year finding of suitability for a hedge-fund founder and manager at HG Vora Capital Management, following a contentious meeting over what was called the firm’s overaggressive nature as a shareholder of PENN Entertainment.
Nevada Gaming Control Board member George Assad, who opposed the finding of suitability in a 2-1 vote, voiced objections to Parag Vora and argued with him, saying he wasn’t truthful and compared him to a corporate raider who was breaking the law, accusations Vora vehemently denied. Board Chair Mike Dreitzer had to step in several times and later chastised Assad.
Board member Chandeni Sendall also became upset when the former judge interrupted her, after Assad criticized them for not following his lead to deny Vora.
Wednesday’s hearing stopped and started a few times and took place over a three-hour period, a rarity in length. An 80-minute discussion in April was pushed off to another date to enable the company to respond to Board questions and supplement the record.
HG Vora offered a slew of rotating attorneys to state its case for its application for registration as a holding and intermediary company and for Vora himself as the managing member and limited partner. The company, which pointed out it has received similar approvals in other states without any issues, said they’ve done nothing wrong by advocating for PENN board members and suggesting strategies to enhance shareholder value.
“In particular, we aim to dispel suggestions that our client acted in any way inappropriately or questionably as it relates to its investment in PENN,” Glenn Light, an attorney with Womble Bond Dickinson.
HG Vora, which manages several billion dollars primarily on behalf of institutional investors, owns less than 5% of PENN stock.
The whole case before the Gaming Control Board centers on HG Vora’s public fight with PENN executives. In 2025, HG Vora launched a proxy fight against the casino operator as it tried to elect three of its director candidates to the PENN Board of Directors. In February, PENN, which owns the M Resort in Henderson, signed an agreement with HG Vora and appointed three new independent directors to its board, ending a months-long legal and proxy fight over nominating board members.
Vora has said he did nothing wrong in working on behalf of investors when he called out PENN’s failed partnerships with Barstool Sports and ESPN Bet.
The Gaming Control Board recommended the Nevada Gaming Commission later this month approve Vora’s licensing for three years, at which time he and the company will have to return to regulators for another finding. In addition, Dreitzer and Sendall recommended HG Vora submit a monthly report to regulators identifying if any of its staff or affiliates contact Nevada gaming license holders over governance, ownership, management, and operations. It also must provide a $50,000 fund for the Gaming Control Board staff for expenses related to surveillance, monitoring, and investigation in a review of HG Vora and its affiliates’ activities. Vora accepted the recommendations.
“I do think there’s enough smoke and aggressive tactics and we can agree to disagree,” Dreitzer told Vora. “A limited license is an opportunity to prove yourself. I have concerns about tactics. Let me be clear, Mr. Vora. Nobody is saying you shouldn’t do what you need to do to protect your investments. That’s perfectly understandable, but there are instances where you could and should have sought counsel and potentially talked to the Board earlier or fuller where some of this nuance ends.”
Dreitzer said they would use the three years “to look at your conduct carefully with an expectation that you would be held accountable for all things. In the gaming industry, we don’t like it when anybody plays in gray and asks for forgiveness. We don’t like it when investors are opportunistic toward licensees in ways that are unfair, not quite direct, or cute. That’s not good for the state or proper regulation. I’m not saying for the record you said that, but there’s enough of a concern that I feel that a limited license is the appropriate path.”
Assad then weighed in, saying he had concerns that Vora has shown to be an activist investor.
“I don’t want outside Wall Street investors coming in and upsetting Nevada casinos and the way they operate,” Assad said. “Then they buy the casino and sell parts of it and put Nevada employees out of work. (Vora’s) an activist investor, and his history says so. He asked a Nevada licensed operator to do a 50% stock buyback purchase. He asked the CEO of Penn (Jay Snowden) to put his board members on the board and if that is not being an activist investor, I don’t know what is. He’s trying to run the company and run Jay Snowden out and take over the company. He has not been candid with this tribunal. His criminal reputation is contrary to what this Board should be considering, that being SEC violations where he was fined $950,000 (for involvement with Ryder Systems). You can call it whatever you want, but it’s a violation of federal law. He cannot (in my view) own shares of stock of any Nevada gaming company for more than 5%. He’s going to buy shares every time he can, pump and dump them, and threaten the CEOs. It’s a common modus operandi. I think this Board needs to wake up and smell the coffee and do the right thing – either deny him or put serious limitations on his license.”
Dreitzer told Assad his accusations were “inconsistent with the record we hear from staff” and have “no basis in reality.” He said while he’s very concerned about Nevada licensees and any “such conduct like that would be met with strong opposition. But we have to look at exactly what the facts are.”
Dreitzer also pointed out that a finding of suitability allows Vora to engage in some conduct with a Nevada gaming licensee.
“We all care about our licensees being treated appropriately and fairly,” Dreitzer said in response to Assad. “We care about jobs. We care about all of that. I don’t want to make this a referendum on whether you care about Nevada or not. That is clearly not the case. The question is how do we appropriately manage this from a regulatory standpoint.”
In backing Dreitzer’s motion, Sendall said the Board is staying in its lane and would not support any motion where regulators are overly inserted between Vora and its business relationship with PENN.
Assad tried to weigh in, but was chastised by Sendall. “May I finish, please?” Sendall asked in a rare public dispute between Board members.
Dreitzer then jumped in saying to Assad, “Judge, we’re not going there. Member Sendall has the floor. You’ll be given an opportunity to make your point. You have to keep decorum here.”
Assad responded by saying the Board isn’t supposed to be referees between PENN and HG Vora. He said their role is to look at when someone moves from being a passive to an active investor and the company and to say they aren’t suitable.
“So stand up. Have some guts, and make the right decision, and say you’re not going to do this in Nevada,” Assad told his colleagues. “We protect our licensees and employees by preventing activist investors from taking over companies. I don’t know why my colleagues don’t see it that way. This is a no brainer.”
Dreitzer said the conditions on the finding of suitability are a step and that the Board has the tools if HG Vora does anything that concerns them.
Assad continued to restate his case, but Dreitzer responded, “There is no supportable conclusion that Mr. Vora is a corporate raider. That’s a term you read in the newspaper. Let’s look at the facts of what happened here. I believe we’ve said all we can say on this.”
The Board took a break and went on to another agenda item before coming back and recording a 2-1 vote.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source cdcgaming.com ’
