Affinity Interactive, formerly known as Herbst Gaming and Affinity Gaming, is an American private

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 ...

and

sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basket ...

company based in Paradise, Nevada. It operates eight casinos in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the 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. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, and

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, and publishes the ''

Daily Racing Form The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of raceh ...

''.

History

The company traces its roots to 1987, when its predecessor was formed to service the

slot machines 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 ...

at the

Terrible Herbst Terrible Herbst, or Terrible Herbst Oil Company, is an American privately held filling station, gas station company based in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The company operates gas stations in Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona. History The ...

gas stations. It was operated by brothers Ed, Tim, and Troy Herbst, whose father, Jerry Herbst, owned the gas stations. Their company later became a

slot route operator A Slot route operator is a company that owns and operates slot machines in several locations. By providing this service, many small businesses are able to provide slot machines that they could not otherwise afford to operate. As operators have gr ...

, maintaining slot machines at other businesses such as taverns and laundromats. The Herbsts opened their first casino, the Terrible's Town Casino in

Pahrump, Nevada Pahrump ( ) is an unincorporated town located at the southernmost tip of Nye County, Nevada, United States, about west of Las Vegas, Nevada. Pahrump lies adjacent to the Nevada–California border and the area had a population of 44,738 as of ...

, in 1996. This was followed by Terrible's Town Casino and Bowl in Henderson, Nevada; Terrible's Lakeside Casino in Pahrump in 1999; and Terrible's Hotel and Casino (formerly the Continental Hotel and Casino) in 2000 near the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city ...

. In 2000, the Herbsts' slot company, E-T-T Inc., doubled its size by acquiring the slot route operation of

Jackpot Enterprises Jackpot Enterprises, Inc. was an American gambling machine route operator and casino operator from 1980 to the late 1990s, and had its common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the one-letter ticker symbol "J" from 1987 to 200 ...

for $41 million, bringing it to a total of 6,000 machines under management. In 2001, the Herbst brothers' gaming interests were reorganized as Herbst Gaming, Inc., in connection with a $170-million bond offering. The company opened its fifth casino, Terrible's Searchlight Casino in

Searchlight, Nevada Searchlight is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, at the topographic saddle between two mountain ranges. At the 2020 census it had a population of 445. History According to U.S. Sen ...

, in 2002. In 2003, Herbst became the largest slot route operator in Nevada by acquiring Anchor Coin and its 1,100 machines from

International Game Technology International Game Technology PLC (IGT), formerly Gtech S.p.A. and Lottomatica S.p.A., is a multinational gambling company that produces slot machines and other gambling technology. The company is headquartered in London, with major offices in ...

for $61 million. In 2005, Herbst expanded to the Midwest by acquiring three casinos in Missouri and Iowa from W.M. Grace Entertainment for $287 million. In 2006, a statewide smoking ban was enacted in Nevada at taverns and convenience stores, which was expected to hurt the revenues of slot route operators such as Herbst. In response, the company began to diversify by acquiring more casinos. In January 2007, Herbst purchased Sands Regent, a company with four Northern Nevada casinos, including the

Sands Regency Sands Regency is a hotel and casino located in Downtown Reno, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Jacobs Entertainment. History The Sands Regency opened in the early 1970s by the Cladianos family, with a small hotel and casino. The hotel tower ...

and the Rail City Casino, for $119 million. Later that year, it also acquired the Primm Valley Casino Resorts, a group of three casinos at the Nevada–California state line, from

MGM Mirage MGM Resorts International is an American global hospitality and entertainment company operating destination resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Detroit, Mississippi, Maryland, and New Jersey, including Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, and Pa ...

for $400 million. In early 2008, the company revealed that it was considering a sale or bankruptcy, because of poor financial results stemming from the economic slowdown and the smoking ban. Analysts said that the company was also suffering from having overpaid for the Primm casinos, which faced increasing competition from expanding tribal casinos in Southern California. Herbst Gaming filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whet ...

in March 2009 with a prepackaged plan to hand ownership of the casinos to the company's bank lenders, while the Herbst family would receive a 90 percent stake in the slot route business. After objections from bondholders, the plan was revised to give full ownership of the slot route operation to the creditors, leaving the Herbsts with no role in the business. The company, reorganized as Herbst Gaming LLC, emerged from bankruptcy at the end of 2010, owned by a group of approximately 140 investment companies and banks. Golden Gates Casino

The company changed its name to Affinity Gaming in May 2011, to avoid confusion as the Herbst family planned to rejoin the gaming industry. Some properties continued to use the Terrible's name and logo under license from Terrible Herbst, while others were reverted to their previous names. The last Affinity property bearing the name, Terrible's Hotel and Casino, was rebranded as the Silver Sevens in 2013. In 2012 and 2013, Affinity sold off several "non-core assets". The slot route was sold to Golden Gaming and JETT Gaming (a new company formed by Jerry Herbst). The two casinos in Pahrump were also sold to Golden Gaming, and the Searchlight casino to JETT. The Sands Regency and two smaller casinos in Northern Nevada were sold for $19.2 million to Truckee Gaming, a new company led by Affinity executive Ferenc Szony. Meanwhile, Affinity expanded to Colorado by buying three casinos in Black Hawk from Golden Gaming. In February 2017, Z Capital Partners, a

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

firm which had already built up a 41 percent stake in Affinity, bought all outstanding shares in a transaction valuing the company at $580 million. In October 2018, Z Capital proposed to acquire competing casino operator

Full House Resorts Full House Resorts, Inc. is a casino developer and operator based in Summerlin South, Nevada. The company currently operates five casinos. It is known for the involvement of Gulfstream Aerospace founder Allen Paulson, who was CEO from 1994 to 2000, ...

and merge it into Affinity, but the offer was rejected by Full House executives. Affinity sold its three Colorado casinos in January 2020 to Twin River Worldwide Holdings for $51 million. In March 2020, Affinity established a special-purpose acquisition company, Gaming & Hospitality Acquisition Corp. (GHAC), through which it planned to become a publicly-traded company and merge with a to-be-determined company in the gaming industry. GHAC completed an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

in February 2021, raising $200 million. Z Capital later announced that it would merge Affinity with a sister company, Sports Information Group, the parent company of the ''

''. The combined company would be named Affinity Interactive, and would continue to seek an acquisition target with GHAC. The merger was completed in July 2021.

Gaming operations

* Lakeside Hotel & Casino —

Osceola, Iowa Osceola is a city in Clarke County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,160 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Clarke County. History Osceola was named after a Seminole Indian leader of the same name. Osceola is a ...

* Mark Twain Casino & RV Park —

La Grange, Missouri La Grange is a city in Lewis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 825 at the 2020 census. Since the 1960 census, the population has been dwindling. It is part of the Quincy, IL–MO Micropolitan Statistical Area. History L ...

* Primm Valley Casino Resorts —

Primm, Nevada Primm (formerly known as State Line) is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada, United States, primarily notable for its position straddling Interstate 15 where it crosses the state border between California and Nevada. It sits on ...

Buffalo Bill's Buffalo Bill's is a hotel and casino in Primm, Nevada, Primm, Nevada, United States, at the California state line. It is one of the Primm Valley Resorts, owned and operated by Affinity Gaming. It has 1,242 guest rooms and suites. The hotel is home ...

Primm Valley Resort & Casino Primm Valley Resort & Casino (formerly Primadonna Resort & Casino) is a hotel and casino located in Primm, Nevada. It is one of the Primm Valley Resorts, owned and operated by Affinity Gaming. It is named after the Primm family, benefactors of t ...

** Whiskey Pete's * Rail City Casino — Sparks, Nevada * St. Jo Frontier Casino —

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

* Silver Sevens Hotel and Casino — Paradise, Nevada

Former properties

* Gold Ranch Casino & RV Resort —

Verdi, Nevada Verdi ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washoe County, Nevada, United States on the western side of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area, near Interstate 80. The CDP of Verdi, California lies immediately adjacent across th ...

* Golden Gates Casino — Black Hawk, Colorado (sold in 2020) *

Golden Gulch Casino Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...

— Black Hawk, Colorado (sold in 2020) * Golden Mardi Gras Casino — Black Hawk, Colorado (sold in 2020) * Henderson Casino Bowl — Henderson, Nevada (closed in 2013) * Red Hawk Sports Bar —

Dayton, Nevada Dayton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lyon County, Nevada, United States. The population was 15,153 at the 2020 census. Dayton is the first Nevada settlement and home to the oldest hotel in Nevada. History ...

(closed in 2008) *

—

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

* Terrible's Casino —

* Terrible's Lakeside Casino & RV Park —

* Terrible's Searchlight Casino —

* Terrible's Town Casino —

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://affinityinteractive.com/, Affinity Interactive Gambling companies of the United States Companies based in Paradise, Nevada Hospitality companies of the United States Entertainment companies established in 1987 Hospitality companies established in 1987 Privately held companies based in the Las Vegas Valley 1987 establishments in Nevada Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009