The power players of Gilpin County gambling — poised to reap a windfall from revised regulations approved by Colorado voters — are largely out-of-state corporations.
Higher stakes, new games and extended hours have created hundreds of new jobs in Colorado and will help fund community colleges. But the bulk of extra profits generated from the changes that took effect last week probably will end up in places such as Indianapolis, Las Vegas and St. Louis.
Golden-based Jacobs Entertainment is the lone local company among the top five casino operators in Black Hawk and Central City, where the majority of gambling revenues are generated. Cripple Creek, west of Colorado Springs, is the third gambling city in Colorado.
Asked whether the company’s financial health has greater impact on Colorado because of its hometown roots, Jacobs president Steve Roark said, “You bet it does.”
“We’re not the largest company in Colorado, but we’re significant,” Roark said.
The gambling changes may help casinos draw more gamblers from outside the Denver metro area. But it won’t turn Black Hawk, Central City or Cripple Creek into a destination like Las Vegas, said industry analyst and consultant William Palermo.
“Would somebody from Chicago fly to Denver to play craps at Black Hawk? I doubt it,” Palermo said. “I see the area as more of a regional draw than a destination unto itself.”
A few smaller casinos in Gilpin County are still owned by local families, and some are uneasy about who will ultimately benefit the most from new gambling regulations.
Ross Grimes, whose family owns the Famous Bonanza and Easy Street casinos in Central City, said he wonders “whether this is once again really only designed for the big casinos.”
“If it brings more people, we’ll get our share of that,” he said. “I just have a conservative and careful position as to how it will affect our casinos.”
Absent from the state’s high-country gambling are some of the best-known names in Vegas, such as MGM Mirage, Harrah’s, Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts.
But the five largest operators in Gilpin County collectively employ more than 3,000 workers in Colorado. A look at Colorado’s big five:
Jacobs Entertainment
The company was formed when the Jacobs family, the former owner of Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians, bought publicly traded Black Hawk Gaming & Development in 2002. The family took the company private.
Though chief executive Jeffrey Jacobs resides in West Palm Beach, Fla., he kept the company’s headquarters in Golden. Jacobs Entertainment also operates three casinos in Nevada, a racetrack in Virginia and video-gambling facilities in Louisiana.
Ameristar Casinos
Based in Las Vegas, Ameristar doesn’t actually run a casino in the gambling capital of the world but instead has eight properties in seven smaller markets.
The public company, founded in 1954, entered Colorado with its acquisition of the Mountain High Casino in 2004 for about $120 million from Windsor Woodmont, a local investment group that filed for bankruptcy despite having Hyatt as a manager.
JPMorgan analyst Joseph Greff lifted Ameristar’s rating last month based on the state’s change to 24-hour gambling and the upcoming opening of its new $235 million hotel in Black Hawk.
The company’s stock has risen more than 120 percent this year, double the industry average of 52 percent. Ameristar completed a private offering of $650 million in senior unsecured notes in May, using it to retire revolving loans.
Isle of Capri Casinos
Isle of Capri Casinos Inc., based in St. Louis, is the belle of the ball among casino operators, shown by a stock that has risen 200 percent in the past year.
The company runs 15 casinos in six states and the Bahamas. Its properties are mostly small locales such as Lake Charles, La., and Booneville, Mo. Isle sold its last overseas casino in Coventry, England, in April after Prime Minister Gordon Brown blocked measures to loosen gambling laws.
The refocus on a domestic strategy has paid off. Isle’s fourth-quarter profits came in at 46 cents a share, compared with the loss of 3 cents a share analysts had expected.
The Isle Casino Hotel Black Hawk was built in 1998, with the hotel added in 2000. In 2002, the company acquired Colorado Central Station, recently rebranded as Lady Luck.
Golden Gaming
Privately held Golden Gaming Inc. operates three casinos in Black Hawk — the Golden Mardi Gras, Golden Gates and Golden Gulch.
Blake Sartini, who founded the Las Vegas-based company in 2001, became familiar with Colorado’s gambling market while working for the Station Casinos group. He initially planned to buy only the Mardi Gras but ultimately purchased the two others at the same time, in 2005.
Golden Gaming bought the Mardi Gras from the Magness family, which spent $70 million to build the casino.
The company also operates a casino in Pahrump, Nev., and is Nevada’s largest tavern operator with a chain of 40 locations.
Centaur
Fortune Valley, the state’s fifth-largest casino, with more than 800 slot machines and table games, is owned by Indianapolis-based Centaur. The private company purchased Fortune Valley, formerly called Harveys Wagon Wheel, from Harrah’s in 2002.
Centaur operates a racino — a racetrack with casino-style gambling — in Indianapolis and has another under development in Pennsylvania. Roderick Ratcliff, a longtime horse-racing investor, is Centaur’s chief executive.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com
Power players holding the purse strings
Top five casino operators in Gilpin County (ranked by total games, which include slot machines and table games):
Isle of Capri Casinos
Ticker symbol: ISLE
Headquarters: St. Louis
Properties: Isle Casino Hotel and Lady Luck in Black Hawk
Black Hawk employees: 870
Games: 1,998
Top local executive: John Bohannon
Ameristar Casinos
Ticker symbol: ASCA
Headquarters: Las Vegas
Properties: Ameristar Casino Black Hawk
Black Hawk employees: 550
Games: 1,639
Top local executive: Reggie Fullwood
Jacobs Entertainment
Private
Headquarters: Golden
Properties: The Lodge and Gilpin casinos in Black Hawk
Black Hawk employees: 650
Games: 1,385
Top local executive: Steve Roark
Golden Gaming
Private
Headquarters: Las Vegas
Properties: Golden Mardi Gras, Golden Gates and Golden Gulch casinos in Black Hawk
Black Hawk employees: 500
Games: 1,127
Top local executive: Jef Bauer
Centaur
Private
Headquarters: Indianapolis
Property: Fortune Valley in Central City
Central City employees: 500
Games: 822
Top local executive: Lisa Boyer
Sources: Companies, Colorado Division of Gaming; note: Total games are as of June 1.
