Stockman’s Casino in Fallon is being sold by Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts to a private partnership for $9.2 million.
Clarity Game of Las Vegas, which is owned by gaming executives Michael Gaughan III and David Ross, will take over the operations of Stockman’s, the largest casino in Fallon, following Nevada licensing approval.
Gaughan is the son of South Point Casino owner Michael Gaughan. He and Ross worked for the elder Gaughan over the years and they previously managed casino operations for the JW Marriott-Rampart Casino near Summerlin. Ross is still a member of the property’s board.
Late last year, Gaughan and Ross were part of a private partnership that acquired two small casinos in the historic mining town of Cripple Creek, Colorado.
Under the terms of the transaction, Full House will sell the property for $7 million to Clarity but continue to operate the business until Clarity is licensed, with Full House paying $50,000 in monthly rent. Once Gaughan and Ross are licensed, Clarity will pay Full House $2.2 million to own and purchase the operations.
Stockman’s has an 8,400-square-foot casino with 235 slot machines, four table games and a keno lounge along with two restaurants.
Full House CEO Dan Lee said the company improved the operations of Stockman’s in the past 10 years.
Following the transaction, Full House will have just one gaming property in Nevada — the Grand Lodge Casino at the Hyatt Regency in North Lake Tahoe, which the company operates through a lease agreement.
“As we have continued to grow in size, we find it prudent to focus on our larger properties in our portfolio,” Lee said in a statement.
Full House doesn’t break out the quarterly earnings results of each of its casinos, but JMP Securities gaming analyst Jordan Bender estimated Stockman’s accounted for less than 1 percent of the company’s cash flow.
In a research note, he told investors Full House is focused on its $250 million, 300-room Chamonix Casino Resort in Cripple Creek, which opened last year, and operating its temporary casino in Waukegan, Illinois, ahead of a planned $500 million resort.
Bender suggested Full House might sell the Grand Lodge operations and its Rising Sun Casino in Indiana because the company’s focus “solely rests on the two hyper-growth properties in Colorado and Illinois. The smaller, non-core assets are not a focus of the overall story anymore.”
Full House also owns the Silver Slipper Casino in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
