Yes, way back in the early 1980s and fresh out of college, George Maloof wanted to cut his teeth on the casino biz, as did his family. Their first thought was to build in North Las Vegas, being familiar with the market. (Maloof is a UNLV alumnus.) "But it was the 1980s and a challenging time to find financing," he told Luxury Las Vegas magazine. "So we went to Colorado and opened a small place, the Central Palace Casino, in 1992 to gain experience. It was in Black Hawk, an historic mining town near Central City."
According to Maloof, the Central Palace performed well. However, when he opened the Fiesta in 1994, it became superfluous and was sold. The Central Palace transaction wasn’t lucrative, however, bringing in only $725,000. New owner John Zimple eventually leveled the place and built the $5.5 million Johnny Z’s Casino on the former Central Palace site at 132 Lawrence Street in Central City. The new casino opened in June of last year.
