HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT The front entrance to the Saddle West Casino, a Pahrump establishment for 35 years. Advertisement

Anthony Marnell III, said he didn't really plan to sell the Saddle West Hotel and Casino.

The chairman of Marnell Sher Gaming LLC made the decision after an informal conversation with Blake Sartini, chief executive officer of Golden Gaming Inc.

Pahrump residents shouldn't look to see the takeover to happen right away, however. Golden Gaming hasn't even applied for the gaming license for the Saddle West casino yet.

Golden's acquisition of the Pahrump Nugget Hotel and Gambling Hall last year was announced in June, but wasn't concluded until after the Nevada Gaming Commission approved their license in November.

Marnell Sher Gaming LLC had just acquired the Saddle West in June 2006, about the same time the announcement came that the Pahrump Nugget would change hands. The Saddle West had been run by the long time owners, the Duesing Family Trust and the Shinehouse Family Trust.

"We didn't really intend to sell it, in the life cycle of when you look at these investments," Marnell said. "Blake and I have been friends for a long time. We do a couple, different social things together. We just got to talking, what he's doing with his businesses and what I'm trying to do with mine.

"We got to talking about it and it seemed like a perfect property for him and it was a good deal for our group to sell the property to him and move on to the M Resort we're building in Las Vegas and the two Laughlin properties," he said.

Marnell leads a group that acquired the Laughlin-based Colorado Belle and Edgewater hotel-casinos from MGM Mirage for $200 million, a deal which was approved by the gaming commission last May.

Marnell is a software company founder and son of casino construction pioneer Tony Marnell, who built the Rio Hotel Casino in Las Vegas before it was sold to Harrah's Entertainment Inc. in 1999.

Marnell is currently developing The M Resort, an 80 acre mixed use development, on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and St. Rose Parkway in Las Vegas. It will include an Italian contemporary designed resort, spa and casino.

"A lot of it has to do with time and energy. If you want to do things right, it takes as much energy to run the Saddle West as it does the M Resort," Marnell said. "As we're moving on to a bigger property, it made more sense to focus on M Resort."

The Las Vegas Sun reported last May, that Marnell Sher Gaming LLC spent $7 million renovating the Saddle West, a Pahrump property 35 years old. That included renovating the bar and refurbishing the casino interior with new wallpaper, a new paint job and new columns. Marnell said they also painted the outside, refurbished the buffet lines and the kitchens.

"That was another thing that made the property attractive for Blake. There's not a lot of work to do with the existing property," he said.

Christopher Abraham, vice-president of marketing for Golden Gaming LLC, said it's too early to state what the company plans to do with the Saddle West.

Golden Gaming expects to turn in its application for the gaming license for the Saddle West by the end of the year. He speculated it would be the middle of 2008 before the gaming license is approved and Golden Gaming can take over the property.

""We really like the market in Pahrump. We have a great team at the Nugget. The community has responded very well to what we've done with the Nugget as far as the operations, the changes we've made," Abraham said.

Golden Gaming LLC invested a great deal in the Pahrump Nugget, he said. That included replacing the food court with a poker room, refurbishing the steak house, a renovated sports book and a number of other improvements.

The Saddle West will be the fifth casino in the Golden Gaming group. The company also owns the Mardi Gras Casino, Golden Gates Casino and Golden Gulch Casino, which feature low stakes gambling in Black Hawk, Colo.

The company also owns the Golden Tavern Group, with 45 drinking establishments including the PTs Pub chain and they have Nevada's third largest slot route operation with 2,500 machines.

Golden Gaming Inc., established in 2001, has more than 2,200 employees.

Dennis Neilander, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said gaming companies can acquire a property through a stock purchase, in which the license would stay intact, or an asset purchase. Both actions, the asset purchase or the stock purchase, require approval by the Nevada Gaming Commission, he said.

"They did not file an application yet, but that's not uncommon. A lot of time people don't want to go through all the trouble of filling out the application until they got a firm deal," Neilander said.

He said the approval of the license is a pretty simple process usually taking about six months for someone who's already licensed with the Gaming Control Board.

Until that time Neilander said Golden Gaming Inc. can't be involved in running the Saddle West. They can, however, observe the operation.

Abraham said he can't speak for Marnell, but referred to the projects Marnell Sher Gaming already has in the works, like the M Resort.

"They have a billion dollar project in the works in Las Vegas, they have some projects they're working on in Laughlin as well. I'm not sure how much of a priority the property was to them, but to us, the Pahrump Nugget is a very high priority and we have made some great improvements," Abraham said.

"The Saddle West, with the hotel rooms, the real estate and the great team members and great product they have, makes a great deal of sense to us from a company standpoint," he said.

Golden Gaming Inc. will acquire 155 more hotel rooms at the Saddle West, to complement the 70 rooms at the Pahrump Nugget. The Saddle West also comes with 80 recreational-vehicle spaces, 550 gaming machines, 10 table games, a sports book, catering and banquet space.

Golden Gaming will become the largest employer in Pahrump with the acquisition. The Pahrump Nugget has over 300 employees, General Manager Jeremy Jenson said, the Saddle West has another 230.

"Our primary focus now is on understanding exactly what's there and then understanding what we'll have to go through," Abraham said.

Marnell was happy to see the Saddle West will be in good hands with Golden Gaming Inc.

"It's always important to me to make sure the properties we own are putting them in the hands of good people. I don't think you could find a better operator with a good vision that has great resources," Marnell said of Golden Gaming Inc.