Question of the Day - 08 June 2026

When Golden Entertainment went public in late April, it sold off the real estate under seven of its casinos, including the STRAT, two Arizona Charlie's, and the Pahrump Nugget, plus the Edgewater and Aquarius in Laughlin, to Vici Properties real estate investment trust. Golden's new owner, the Sartini family, will pay rent on those to Vici in exchange for a cool $1.16 billion in cash. 

The old Colorado Belle, however, wasn't part of that transaction. It's easy to see why not. If if had been, the Sartinis would be paying rent on a shuttered property that never reopened after the COVID shutdown in March 2020, which wouldn't make a lot of sense. That said, it was announced when the deal closed that Vici has the right of first offer on a sale-leaseback of the Colorado Belle and the financing for a future development on that site.

According to various reports, the Sartinis so far plan to "develop a new project at the Colorado Belle property that capitalizes on the site’s position on the river," though entirely on their own terms and timeline. 

Vici now owns just the two hotel-casinos in Laughlin: the Edgewater and Aquarius. 

On a side note, if the Caesars-Fertitta deal goes through as announced, Fertitta Entertainment will own three properties in Laughlin. Fertitta already owns the Golden Nugget; if it acquires Caesars, it will take over Harrah's and the Tropicana. It's speculated that the regulators might not like such a concentration of casinos -- five out of eight in Laughlin -- in the hands of just two companies and might force Fertitta to divest of one. We'll see. 

Also, Blake Sartini, chairman and CEO of Golden, is related to Tilman Fertitta, albeit distantly and through marriage. Sartini's wife Delise is the sister of Frank III and Lorenzo Fertitta of Station Casinos; the three siblings are third cousins to Tilman.