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 enterta ...

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 Paradise is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the 2020 census, making it the f ...

. It operates eight casinos 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 ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, 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: Wiscon ...

, and publishes the '' Daily Racing Form''.

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 a ...

at the Terrible Herbst 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 Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Val ...

; 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 cit ...

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

, 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 and the

Rail City Casino Rail City Casino (formerly Plantation Casino) is a casino in Sparks, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Affinity Gaming. It contains of gaming space, with 896 slot machines, 7 table games, a keno parlor, and a William Hill race and sports bo ...

, 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 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 In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

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 Native American gaming comprises casinos, bingo halls, and other gambling operations on Indian reservations or other tribal lands in the United States. Because these areas have tribal sovereignty, states have limited ability to forbid gambling ...

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 Golden Entertainment is an American gaming company based in Enterprise, Nevada that operates casinos, taverns and slot routes. It was formed in 2015 by the merger of Golden Gaming (founded in 2001 by Blake Sartini) and Lakes Entertainment. It is ...

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 Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus urub ...

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 A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC; ), also known as a "blank check company", is a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring a private company, thus making it public without going through the traditional ...

, 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 '' Daily Racing Form''. 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 ** Buffalo Bill's ** Primm Valley Resort & Casino **

Whiskey Pete's Whiskey Pete's is a hotel and casino in Primm, Nevada, Primm, Nevada, United States. The hotel has 777 rooms and suites, a swimming pool, gift shop and four restaurants. Whiskey Pete's is one of the Primm Valley Resorts, owned and operated by Aff ...

—

Sparks, Nevada Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. It was founded in 1904, incorporated on March 15, 1905, and is located just east of Reno. The 2020 U.S. Census counted 108,445 residents in the city. It is the fifth most populous city i ...

* St. Jo Frontier Casino — St. Joseph, Missouri * Silver Sevens Hotel and Casino —

Former properties

* Gold Ranch Casino & RV Resort — Verdi, Nevada * Golden Gates Casino —

Black Hawk, Colorado Black Hawk is a home rule municipality located in Gilpin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 127 at the 2020 United States Census, making Black Hawk the least populous city (rather than town) in Colorado. The tiny city is ...

(sold in 2020) * Golden Gulch Casino — Black Hawk, Colorado (sold in 2020) * Golden Mardi Gras Casino — Black Hawk, Colorado (sold in 2020) * Henderson Casino Bowl —

(closed in 2013) * Red Hawk Sports Bar — Dayton, Nevada (closed in 2008) * Sands Regency —

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 th ...

* Terrible's Casino — Dayton, Nevada * 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