{"id":7622,"date":"2014-07-06T15:45:31","date_gmt":"2014-07-06T15:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/2014\/07\/06\/for-a-gaughan-buying-a-hotel-casino-is-childs-play\/"},"modified":"2014-07-06T15:45:31","modified_gmt":"2014-07-06T15:45:31","slug":"for-a-gaughan-buying-a-hotel-casino-is-childs-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/2014\/07\/06\/for-a-gaughan-buying-a-hotel-casino-is-childs-play\/","title":{"rendered":"For a Gaughan, buying a hotel-casino is child\u2019s play"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- Original Post Content --><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i61.tinypic.com\/f3vn1w.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><br \/>\n\t<span style=\"font-size: 185px\">Hotel Nevada in Ely as seen Monday, July 22, 2013. Las Vegas based Gaughan Gaming, which is operated by John Gaughan, bought 50 percent of Hotel Nevada in Ely and will operate it. The hotel Nevada was once considered the tallest building in Nevada in the 1940s. (Jeff Scheid\/Las Vegas Review-Journal)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\tBy HOWARD STUTZ<br \/>\n\tLAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL<br \/>\n\tThe fourth generation of the Gaughan family is already making its mark in the gaming business.<\/p>\n<p>\tJohn Gaughan \u2014 son of South Point owner Michael Gaughan and grandson of the late downtown gaming pioneer Jackie Gaughan \u2014 was seeking potential casino management and investment opportunities in Nevada.<\/p>\n<p>\tThanks to his 10-year-old daughter, Gwenyth, the historic Hotel Nevada in Ely came to his attention.<\/p>\n<p>\tGwenyth is friends with the daughter of Las Vegas businessman Paul Kellogg, who owns half of the aging building. Thanks to that friendship, Gaughan learned that Ely businessman Bert Woywood owned the hotel\u2019s other half, but was looking to sell his stake.<\/p>\n<p>\tMaybe the girls deserve a finder\u2019s fee.<\/p>\n<p>\tJohn Gaughan, through his Las Vegas-based Gaughan Gaming casino management company, acquired a 50 percent stake in Hotel Nevada in February and assumed operations of the 67-room hotel, casino and restaurant in the heart of the central Nevada city\u2019s downtown.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cWe did our due diligence and saw the opportunity with this casino,\u201d Gaughan said. \u201cWe had turned down some other management deals because they didn\u2019t seem right. Hotel Nevada has that historical feel to it, which really attracted us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tThe first time John Gaughan walked into the property, he flashed back some 30-plus years.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe six-story, 85-year-old building \u2014 once the state\u2019s tallest structure \u2014 reminded him of the El Cortez.<\/p>\n<p>\tJackie Gaughan owned and operated nearly a half dozen downtown Las Vegas hotel-casinos, but was best known for the El Cortez.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe property doubled as a hangout for the Gaughan children and grandchildren and a school where they learned the gaming business.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cI just remembered walking into the El Cortez as a little kid holding Grandpa\u2019s hand,\u201d Gaughan, 47, said. \u201cThat was the first image I had when I saw the Hotel Nevada. I knew a little about its history, but the El Cortez came to mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tThe Hotel Nevada needed new investment.<\/p>\n<p>\tSince Gaughan took over, the carpet has been replaced and the casino\u2019s 185 slot machines were upgraded with new technology and a modern casino management system. The four gaming tables, which offer poker and $3 blackjack, remain.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cWe felt we could do more with the casino,\u201d Gaughan said.<\/p>\n<p>\tHe also installed former Hard Rock Las Vegas and Bally\u2019s Las Vegas gaming executive Rick Richards as the property\u2019s president. The private purchase \u2014 the sales price was not disclosed \u2014 includes several small motels and a tavern operation, all in Ely.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cIt looks great and we\u2019ve really seen some improvement already,\u201d said Ed Spear, executive director of the White Pine County Tourism and Recreation Board. \u201cIt\u2019s really positive for the community and they kept the integrity of the historic hotel intact. They have really embraced the community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tEly Mayor Melody VanCamp said the Hotel Nevada investment offered the community a much-needed lift.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cIt\u2019s given downtown Ely a little bit of a spark,\u201d VanCamp said.<\/p>\n<p>\tGaughan raves about the Hotel Nevada\u2019s coffee shop, which he says has \u201cthe best food within 200 miles, in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tThe acquisition offered Gaughan a trip down memory lane.<\/p>\n<p>\tGaughan learned ways to operate older downtown hotels from his grandfather, who died in March at age 93. Jackie Gaughan also briefly ran another aging rural Nevada hotel-casino, the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cKnowing the history of the property was important,\u201d said Gaughan, who said he stayed a few times at the Hotel Nevada when he raced off-road vehicles and Ely was a stopover in the Nevada 1000. \u201cWe wanted to keep it a real nice place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tHe also discussed the purchase with his father, South Point owner Michael Gaughan.<\/p>\n<p>\tSouth Point provided some unused casino equipment and furniture and will soon operate a race and sports book in the Hotel Nevada.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cMy dad is the go-to person for advice,\u201d Gaughan said. \u201cHe also gave me some nice equipment at a good price.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tThe advice included buying good spots for signs on highways into and out of Ely.<\/p>\n<p>\tprohibition roots<\/p>\n<p>\tThe Hotel Nevada was built amid the central Nevada mining boom in 1929, during Prohibition.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe hotel was deemed the state\u2019s tallest structure in the 1940s. Ely, about 250 miles north of Las Vegas at the conjunction of U.S. Highways 93, 6 and 50, counts on the Hotel Nevada as its only full-service casino. Many of its rooms are named for celebrities who may have spent a night there.<\/p>\n<p>\tGaughan said the rooms \u201cwere remodeled recently and are in nice shape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\tGaming isn\u2019t only draw for the old hotel. Ely is the gateway to the Great Basin National Park, 45 minutes to the east. And Spear said all of White Pine County benefits from travel through the region when Las Vegas hosts big events.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe Hotel Nevada also houses a small recreational vehicle park and has some small convention and meeting space.<\/p>\n<p>\tNevada gaming regulators signed off on the deal in February.<\/p>\n<p>\tmultifaceted interests<\/p>\n<p>\tBeyond his role with Gaughan Gaming, John Gaughan is also CEO of Las Vegas Dissemination Co., which provides telecasts and pari-mutuel wagering services to the state\u2019s race and sports books.<\/p>\n<p>\tGaughan Gaming briefly managed a pair of Indian casinos in Oklahoma, and still operates slot machines for several Las Vegas-area taverns.<\/p>\n<p>\tGaughan said the casino management business continues to look for other opportunities in the state.<\/p>\n<p>\tVanCamp, appointed Ely\u2019s mayor earlier this year, is happy for the focus on her city.<\/p>\n<p>\t\u201cThere is already a world of difference with the property,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h3>Replies:<\/h3>\n<p>No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hotel Nevada in Ely as seen Monday, July 22, 2013. Las Vegas based Gaughan Gaming, which is operated by John Gaughan, bought 50 percent of Hotel Nevada in Ely and will operate it. The hotel Nevada was once considered the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7622\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}