Terrible's Hotel & Casino

Terrible's Hotel & Casino, formerly the Gold Strike Hotel and Gambling Hall, is a defunct casino hotel in Jean, Nevada, approximately 13 mi (21 km) north of the California state line, and about 32 miles (51 km) south of Downtown Las Vegas. It opened in 1987, and closed in 2020. It was owned and operated by JETT Gaming from 2015 until its closure. It had 811 rooms, several restaurants, and 40,006 square feet (3,716.7 m2) of gaming space.[1] The property is planned to be demolished and replaced with an industrial park.

Terrible's Hotel & Casino
Location Jean, Nevada, U.S.
Address 1 Main Street
Opening dateDecember 1987; 36 years ago (1987-12)
Closing dateMarch 2020; 4 years ago (2020-03)
ThemeOld West
No. of rooms811
Total gaming space40,006 sq ft (3,716.7 m2)
Casino typeLand-based
Previous namesGold Strike (1987–2018)

History

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Gold Strike facade, 2008

The Gold Strike was opened in December 1987 by Dave Belding and two other partners who owned the original Gold Strike Hotel near Boulder City.[2] After it did better business than expected, a sister property, the Nevada Landing Hotel and Casino, was developed on the other side of the freeway and opened in 1989.[2]

The two properties became part of the Gold Strike Resorts family of companies, which was acquired in 1995 by Circus Circus Enterprises (later named Mandalay Resort Group).[3][4] They were then acquired in 2005 by MGM Mirage (later named MGM Resorts International) as part of its buyout of Mandalay.[5]

In February 2007, MGM Mirage announced plans to close the Nevada Landing and build a master-planned community and a new casino hotel on the 166 acres (0.67 km2) it owned in the area, in a joint venture with American Nevada Corp. and the Cloobeck Cos. The Gold Strike would remain open.[6] The Nevada Landing closed in March 2007 and was demolished, leaving the Gold Strike as the only casino in Jean.[7] The planned redevelopment was canceled in 2008, however, because of the economic downturn.[8]

In October 2014, MGM agreed to sell the Gold Strike for $12 million[9] to JETT Gaming, owned by the Herbst family.[10] The sale was completed in May 2015.[11]

JETT Gaming performed upgrades and renovations to the property, including the installation of a new video marquee sign, the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, and a display of cars from popular movies.[12][13][14] On November 1, 2018, the name of the casino was changed from Gold Strike to Terrible's, the same name used by the Herbst family's convenience stores and gas stations.[15]

Terrible's and other state casinos closed temporarily in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada. In November 2021, it announced that the Terrible's closure was indefinite.[16] In February 2022, the property was sold for $45 million to real estate company Tolles Development, which planned to demolish it to make way for an industrial park.[17] Demolition began in December 2023, with the process taking up to three months to complete.[18][19]

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In April 2022, filmmakers filed plans to shoot an action film at the closed property. The film, Absolute Dominion, would be directed by Lexi Alexander and produced by Jason Blum. It would be set in 2085, with much of the human population killed by religious terrorists. The United Nations creates a martial arts tournament with the winner gaining "Absolute Dominion for one faith".[20][21]

References

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  1. ^ "Listing of Financial Statements Square Footage". Nevada Gaming Control Board. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Carl Yetzer (October 8, 1989). "High stakes at the border". San Bernardino County Sun – via Newspapers.com. (Part 2 of article)
  3. ^ "Circus Circus—owner of casino in Tunica—will buy Gold Strike". The Sun Herald. Biloxi, MS. AP. March 21, 1995 – via NewsBank.
  4. ^ David Cay Johnston (April 23, 1995). "Casino not bad gamble". Kansas City Star. New York Times – via NewsBank.
  5. ^ Liz Benston (April 26, 2005). "Historic acquisition final". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  6. ^ Stutz, Howard (February 13, 2007). "Nevada Landing about to sink". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on March 3, 2007. Retrieved March 26, 2007.
  7. ^ "Hard landing: Casino slowly being demolished". Las Vegas Business Press. May 12, 2008 – via NewsBank.
  8. ^ Howard Stutz (August 5, 2008). "MGM halts Jean project". Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
  9. ^ Form 10-K: Annual Report (Report). MGM Resorts International. March 2, 2015. p. 76. Retrieved April 6, 2015 – via EDGAR.
  10. ^ Morris, J.D. (October 16, 2014). "MGM Resorts selling Gold Strike in Jean". Vegas Inc. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  11. ^ Jones, Lars (May 4, 2015). "MGM/Jett Gaming LLC close on Gold Strike Casino". World Casino News. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  12. ^ Jordan Gartner. "Gold Strike hotel-casino in Jean is becoming Terrible's". KTNV-TV. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  13. ^ Christopher Lawrence (April 7, 2017). "5 cars from 'The Fast and the Furious' on display in Southern Nevada". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  14. ^ "After renovation, Gold Strike rebrands to Terrible's Hotel & Casino". CDC Gaming Reports. October 31, 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  15. ^ "Gold Strike hotel-casino in Jean to be rebranded as Terrible's". Las Vegas Review-Journal. October 17, 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  16. ^ "Terrible's Casino in Jean Hints at Permanent Closure". 28 November 2021.
  17. ^ Eli Segall (March 4, 2022). "Industrial park another step closer to replacing shuttered casino". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
  18. ^ Hemmersmeier, Sean (January 9, 2024). "I-15 landmark south of Vegas being demolished". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  19. ^ Moeller, Joe (January 6, 2024). "Demolition underway for Terrible's Hotel Casino near California border, what's next?". KTNV. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  20. ^ Seeman, Matthew (April 7, 2022). "Jason Blum movie production applies to film at shuttered Terrible's Casino in Jean". KSNV. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  21. ^ Segall, Eli (April 6, 2022). "Post-apocalyptic movie to film at closed casino near Las Vegas". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
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35°46′37″N 115°19′40″W / 35.77694°N 115.32778°W / 35.77694; -115.32778