For those readers, like the submitter of this question, who missed the Today's News item we posted on 7/7, here's a recap.
What is now called the River Palms Resort & Casino in Laughlin debuted in 1984 as Sam's Town Gold River, a casino built by Las Vegas real estate developer John Midby in a decade that saw an explosion in casino-gaming in Laughlin, along with the openings of the Colorado Club (now the Pioneer), the Regency, the Edgewater, the Colorado Belle, Harrah's Del Rio, Ramada Express and, in 1990, the Flamingo Hilton.
The name of Midby's casino, which was operated by Boyd Gaming, was later shortened simply to the Gold River and in 1990, a 778-room hotel tower was added.
We're not sure what went wrong, but in 1996 Gold River, $90 million in debt, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was purchased the following year by businessman Allen Paulson for $28 million in what was to be the first of a succession of ownership changes. Following an interior upgrade, the name was changed again in 1998, this time to the River Palms Resort Casino.
There was another significant remodel in 1999, but then Paulson died. In 2004, Columbia Sussex purchased the resort from the previous owner's estate. Not long after, the gaming division of Columbia Sussex went bust. That whole episode is a long and messy saga in its own right, but to cut a long story short, in the aftermath of the reorganization, Tropicana Entertainment Inc. emerged with most of the company's casinos in 2010, including the River Palms.
By 2013 it looked as if yet another new owner was on the horizon, with word that Tropicana Entertainment had agreed to sell the River Palms for a mere $7 million to M1 Gaming, owners of Reno's Boomtown. The sale never went through, however, and the hotel and casino continued to languish until earlier this month, when Nevada Restaurant Services, owner of the Dotty's "tavern" chain, announced that it had purchased the River Palms, with its 72,000-square-foot casino featuring 1,000 slots, plus a poker and a bingo room, for $6.75 million.
It's the second full-blown hotel-casino Dotty's has purchased, following its acquisition of the Hacienda last year (see QoD 7/10/14). The Hacienda is currently undergoing a major remodel and upgrade that will convert it to the Hoover Dam Lodge on a timetable that falls within three years. As for the two-level River Palms, with Dotty's having become a formidable force in the industry, we're confident that the redevelopment will be realized. Both the casino and hotel are expected to be closed indefinitely while a total renovation is carried out, but what that renovation will entail and when it will be completed is currently unknown.
And here's an interesting story that hasn't been told. Anthony Curtis participated in a blackjack tournament there in the late '80s when it was still Sam's Town. He was playing professionally with a team that was discovered by casino management, and several in his group found themselves placed on the same tables in qualifying rounds. Despite the casino's efforts, three of the group made the final, taking 6th, 3rd, and 1st. Anthony was the 3rd-place finisher, but his prize was withheld pending a visit to the casino manager's office, where he was chastised by the CM for colluding. Anthony countered that the players were friends who had made their respective ways to the final table on their own merits. He then asserted that the evidence was overwhelming that the casino had broken state gaming regulations by rigging the draw (and in doing so, promoted collusion where it wouldn't have even been possible otherwise). The accusation was vehemently denied by the CM. A few years later, during the famous Horseshoe player-beating trial, subpoenaed internal documents referencing the Sam's Town tournament were read aloud in court stating, "The players were [grouped together on tables] for the purpose of eliminating them."
