Herbst family tentatively ready to open new casino

David Strow

Friday, Dec. 1, 2000 | 10:32 a.m.

Pending final approvals by Clark County officials, the Herbst family hopes to open its $65 million Terrible's hotel-casino near the Strip on Wednesday evening.

Tests by the Clark County Fire Department and Health Department are now proceeding, and General Manager Mark Sterbens said he's optimistic the property could open at 6 p.m. on Dec. 6. But in light of the 16-hour delay the Aladdin experienced at its August opening, he's not yet willing to confirm Wednesday as the opening date.

"They (the tests) are all scheduled, but you know how these things go," Sterbens said. "Everything needs to be signed off before we can open."

Sterbens said he hopes to have a firm opening date by Monday. The property is seeking Federal Aviation Administration approval for a pre-opening fireworks show.

The 400-room hotel-casino, located at the intersection of Paradise and Flamingo roads, will be the largest owned by Herbst brothers Ed, Tim and Troy. The three, all in their 30s, currently own two smaller casinos in Pahrump and the E-T-T slot route chain, one of the largest in Nevada. The Herbst family also owns the Terrible's chain of convenience stores and gas stations.

Though just a half-mile from the Strip, the Herbsts plan to draw about 80 percent of their business from the locals market. Despite the growing market share of competitor Station Casinos Inc., the Herbsts are optimistic that heavy local traffic coming by their site will translate into big business.

"We're in the (gas) station business," Ed Herbst said. "When we look at corners, we look at traffic."

Still, the owners believe tourists as well as locals will be attracted by such staples as loose slots, double-deck blackjack games and hotel rooms starting at $45 a night.

"We can't compete with a Station or Coast (Resorts)," Herbst said. "But we're from Las Vegas, we know what local people like. We're price-conscious operators."

And when Strip tourists come, they'll see something that's yet to appear on the Strip -- slot machines using so-called "coinless" ticket-pay technology developed by International Game Technology. About 90 percent of the property's 750 slots will make most payments with negotiable tickets, not coins. The tickets can then be inserted into the bill acceptor of another slot for credits, or taken to a cashier's cage and cashed.

Coin payments will still be made for amounts under $1.95 for nickel machines, $9.75 for quarter machines, and $19 for dollar machines.

Sterbens said the decision to invest so heavily in IGT's "EZ Pay" system was based on the success of the Suncoast, which opened in September with a slot floor consisting almost entirely of ticket-pay systems.

"This should become the new wave of the industry," Sterbens said.

Terrible's will be the last casino to open in Las Vegas in 2000. The next near-Strip property planned is The Palms, a locals oriented hotel-casino scheduled to open on Flamingo Road near the Rio in December 2001. That property will be owned by the Maloof family, developers of the Fiesta in North Las Vegas.