US District Judge upholds Carson City casino license transfer

A ruling by the Carson City Board of Supervisors that allows the Horseshoe Club to transfer its unrestricted gaming license to the new Silver Bullet casino has been upheld by US District Judge James Wilson.

One of the issues with the license transfer was the lack of hotels rooms at the now closed Horseshoe casino. The Carson Nugget, Gold Dust West, and Casino Fandango casinos were all required to provide a minimum of 100 hotel rooms in order to get their licenses and filed suit when the Silver Bullet casino license was approved without meeting that requirement for new casinos.

The former Horseshoe Club was in operation from the 1970s until it closed in 2014 and had grandfather rights because it was already open when the hotel ordinance went into effect.

The casino’s opponents also argued that the transfer was illegal because the Horseshoe Club had filed to dissolve operations and had not paid its quarterly gaming fees for almost two years. Lawyers for the existing casinos contend that the license was void and that the Board’s transference of the license was arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion. They also argued that granting the license without requiring the minimum 100 hotel rooms gave the Silver Bullet an unfair economic advantage.

In upholding the Board’s decision, Judge Wilson ruled that the supervisors control gaming in Nevada’s capital city and were within their power to grant, revoke, deny, or transfer a license from one entity to another. He allowed that although Horseshoe was behind on quarterly gaming payments the arrears could be brought to date even though Horseshoe had effectively been dissolved as a business.

In his ruling, the judge stated that: “Substantial evidence supports the board’s grant of Horseshoe Club’s grandfathered gaming license to Silver Bullet,” according to a report in the Nevada Appeal.

He also noted that the license had not been transferred until after the state Gaming Commission approved Silver Bullet’s gaming license.

More:  Pilot Games Backs Minnesota Wild to Support Youth Hockey

The H 7BALL orshoe Club had been operated by Nevada Treasure Chest, Inc., since 1975 until it closed unexpectedly. A sign on the door at the time stated,  “temporarily closed until further notice.”

It is unclear if the plaintiffs plan to appeal the judge’s ruling.

Carson City is the capital of Nevada and is located about 30 miles south of Reno.