Casinos in Primm clear final hurdle to be saved by Las Vegas company

Primm was down to it’s last hand.Now, the fading casino town on the California-Nevada border is staying in the game.Nevada gambling regulators have approved Terrible’s Gaming to take over the remaining casino and retail operations in the struggling desert outpost, saving more than 300 jobs and keeping the longtime Interstate 15 pit stop from going dark over the Fourth of July weekend.The Primm takeover appeared on Thursday’s Nevada Gaming Commission agenda before regulators approved the deal later that day according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.Terrible’s is set to assume control of several Primm businesses on July 1, just days before the remaining operations were scheduled to shutdown for good.The Nevada Gaming Control Board recommended approval Thursday morning before the Nevada Gaming Commission signed off later in the day, clearing the final major hurdle for the takeover, the outlet reported.The deal gives Terrible’s a limited one-year license, meaning the company will have to return to regulators next year with a clearer picture of its long-term plans for the once-bustling casino stopover.For now, the goal is simple: keep Primm alive.Tim Herbst, part of the family behind Terrible Herbst Oil Co.and Terrible’s Gaming, told regulators the company stepped in after learning that hundreds of workers were on track to lose their jobs — and that many employees living in company housing were also facing eviction.Herbst described the rescue as “Nevadans helping Nevadans,” the Review-Journal reported.The takeover is expected to keep more than 300 employees on the payroll and allow workings living in Primm’s employee housing to stay put.Terrible’s plans to keep Primm Valley Resort hotel-casino open, along with the gas station, convenience store and other retail operations.

The company will later evaluate what to do with Buffalo Bill’s and Whiskey Pete’s, the other two once-famous casino properties that helped turn Primm into a kutschy mini-Veg...