Richard Craig Estey is an American businessman, political donor and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Nevada Restaurant Services, Inc. parent company to

Dotty's Dotty's is a chain of slot machine parlors with about 175 locations in Nevada, Oregon and Montana and another 150 locations planned in Illinois. The business model is controversial, with sites "offering minimal food and beverage choices with a he ...

Bourbon Street Bourbon Street (french: Rue Bourbon, es, Calle de Borbón) is a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans. Extending thirteen blocks from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue, Bourbon Street is famous for its many bars an ...

Hoover Dam Lodge Hoover Dam Lodge is a hotel and casino near Boulder City, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Richard Craig Estey ( Nevada Restaurant Services). It was previously the Gold Strike until it was largely destroyed by an accidental fire on June 16, 1 ...

Laughlin River Lodge The Laughlin River Lodge (formerly Sam's Town Gold River, Gold River and River Palms) is a hotel and casino on the banks of the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Richard Craig Estey ( Nevada Restaurant Services). Th ...

La Villita La Villita Historic Arts Village is an art community in downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States. There are art galleries, stores selling souvenirs, gifts, custom jewelry, pottery, and imported Mexican folk art, as well as several restaurants i ...

, and Red Dragon an enterprise of

taverns A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

, and

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

sHoward Stutz for the Las Vegas Review-Journal July 26, 2014
Dotty’s taverns are simply complex
/ref> with locations in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. Nevada Restaurant Services, Inc. maintains the largest slot route in Nevada.

Career

Gaming History

The chain was founded in Oregon in 1991 by Craig Estey, whose family owned a successful vending machine and food distribution service. The

Oregon Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

that year had authorized

video poker Video poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console similar in size to a slot machine. History Video poker first became commercially viable when it became economical to combine a television-like moni ...

machines to be installed in bars and taverns, under the aegis of the

Oregon Lottery The Oregon Lottery is run by the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). History The Oregon Lottery was authorized by Oregon Ballot Measure 5 which was passed by voters in the 1984 ...

. The first poker machines began operation in March 1992, and by the next month, five

delis were open.

Dotty's

is a 24 hour cafe with a local forward business model, "offering food and beverage choices, with a focus on players having a welcoming environment." The chain has a clean, well-lit atmosphere meant to invoke "your grandmother's kitchen" and is demographically targeted towards women aged 35 and older.

Hoover Dam Lodge

"The owner of the chain

storefront taverns (in an interview) says he's bought a landmark hotel off U.S. 93 near

Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on Se ...

and

Lake Mead Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. ...

. Nevada Restaurant Services Inc. chief Craig Estey released a statement Tuesday confirming his purchase of the Hacienda Hotel & Casino from the Lakeview Co. Estey calls the Hacienda a "historical jewel."" - August 7th, 2013.

is a 280 room hotel and casino.

has three restaurants - Big Horn Cafe, Dotty's a 24 hour cafe, and La Villita.

Laughlin River Lodge

The

(formerly Sam's Town Gold River, Gold River and River Palms) is a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

and

on the banks of the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

in Laughlin,

. It is owned and operated by Richard Craig Estey ( Nevada Restaurant Services). The property includes an expansive casino floor and 1,000 hotel rooms in a 25-story tower. The resort has 653

slot machine A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...

s and a

bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

parlor.

Philanthropy

Mr. and Mrs. Craig Estey are supporters of the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and death ...

. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estey, Craig Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Businesspeople from Oregon