When two of Main Street Deadwood's most visible properties changed hands this week, it marked the end of a 17-year run for one of Deadwood gambling's largest and longest-running operators.
Full House, a partnership of investors from Wall and Rapid City, opened the Gold Dust Casino back in April 1990, a few months after gambling became legal in Deadwood. The company later built the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites across the street.
On Wednesday, Full House's partners - Hugh Estes, Brad Estes, Stan Anderson, Dennis Anderson, Doug Estes and Harry Christianson - sold both the casino and the hotel to separate buyers in a two-step transaction.
Bill and Tom Wohlers, owners of an Iowa-based vending company, bought the sprawling Main Street casino. The hotel's new owner, meanwhile, is Aberdeen-based Lamont Companies. Lamont officials were not available for comment Thursday, but the firm reportedly has a number of lodging and dining properties.
The deal was a complicated transaction. It involved a third-party company that had originally signed the purchase agreement to buy both properties together. That deal was announced last winter, but it stalled. Hugh Estes said the current round of talks has been going on since April.
Stan Anderson and Hugh Estes said they did not set out to sell their Deadwood properties. A buyer came to them with an offer last winter, and they agreed to sell.
Although the casino and the hotel will have separate owners, Stan Anderson said they will continue to be run as one business. General manager Tom Nelson and the staff of 200 will operate the businesses.
"It will be quite seamless; nobody should notice a change," Anderson said.
Under South Dakota Gaming Commission rules, both businesses had to close briefly Wednesday while the cash was counted, ownership of the gambling machines and other details of the transaction were completed. That presented one problem for the Holiday Inn Express: Because it is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there were no locks on the doors, Anderson said. They had to bar the doors to complete the transaction.
The Full House partners still own some parking lots in the Deadwood area, but they are out of Deadwood gambling for the first time since April 1990.
Hugh Estes and Stan Anderson were nostalgic Thursday about leaving a business they've been involved in since the very beginning of Deadwood gambling. Estes praised Nelson and the staff at the two businesses and said he has developed a relationship of trust with everyone there. He said he will miss those relationships.
The partners said that they had no idea 17 years ago that the newly legal gambling would bloom into a full-blown industry that transformed the city.
"At the time, we thought we'd put a little money in it, buy a little spot, and we thought it'd be kind of fun to be in a casino business. … And of course, we went up there and bought the most expensive building on the street," Stan Anderson said with a chuckle.
"I did not envision the grandeur that developed - especially with the $5 limit," Estes said. When gambling began, betting in the poker, blackjack and slot machines was limited by state law to $5. That was raised to $100 in 2001. It helped spur new construction, especially of new hotels, in Deadwood.
And they believe Deadwood could see much more growth in the future. Lead has been selected for the National Science Foundation's deep underground science laboratory. Other investors are working on plans to turn the old Homestake slime plant into an entertainment venue. And Spearfish plans to lengthen its airport runway.
Together, they said, those developments could lead to a new round of growth in Deadwood.
Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com
