Rocky Mountain Loose
The two Cripple Creek casinos of Rocky Mountain Gaming achieve the Strictly Slots Loose Slots Certification
By Frank Legato
On South Las Vegas Boulevard, five miles south of the cluster of casino resorts that cater to tourists on the Las Vegas Strip, sits one of the most player-friendly casinos in Las Vegas—the South Point. The casino is a big draw for Las Vegas locals, as well as visitors looking for a fair deal at the games.
That fair deal goes back to Michael Gaughan, the South Point’s 81-year-old owner. Gaughan—the son of Jackie Gaughan, the legendary owner of the El Cortez casino in Downtown Las Vegas—had been the owner of Coast Casinos, which catered to locals with loose slots, liberal table odds and inexpensive rooms in popular haunts including Barbary Coast, Gold Coast and the Orleans for the last two decades of the 20th century.
Since Coast was sold to locals rival Boyd Gaming in 2004, it has maintained its position as the No. 2 locals brand, behind Station Casinos. Gaughan, however, preferred the traditional style of owner-operator casinos to the corporate culture of Boyd. In 2006, he bought the year-old South Coast, at the time the brand’s newest entry, and rebranded it as the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa. He left Boyd to settle into the old style of a casino operated by its owner.
Gaughan has maintained a gambler-friendly policy at the South Point, including some of the loosest slots in town, along with full-pay video poker. It is a philosophy he taught to his son, Michael Gaughan III, who has built his own resume as a veteran casino operator, including 15 years with Coast Casinos, four years as president of Gaughan Gaming, and top management posts at South Point and the Rampart in Las Vegas, where he was general manager.
It’s no surprise, then, that the younger Gaughan’s latest venture, Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Gaming, is the newest operator to achieve the Loose Slots Certification from Strictly Slots.
The Loose Slots Certification is achieved by submitting operator statistics on payback percentages, also known as return-to-player or RTP, for verification. The statistics reported to regulatory authorities show slot hold, the percentage of wagers kept by the casinos as “casino win.” The inverse of those numbers is the RTP. The Loose Slot Certification is awarded when the numbers clearly show an operator is firmly ahead of its market in the percentage of wagers returned to players.
In this case, the market is Cripple Creek, CO, a historic mining town with nine casinos, mostly along the town’s scenic main street, Bennett Avenue. Several years ago, Gaughan joined with veteran casino executive David Ross—who worked with him and his father at Coast Casinos (where he was COO) and is currently president and board member at the Rampart in the Las Vegas suburbs—to seek out opportunities in Colorado.
They found the perfect opportunity in 2023 with Joseph J. Canfora, former owner of the Wildwood Casino in Cripple Creek and a veteran of Station Casinos and Horseshoe Gaming. With Canfora and Andrew Jones, another casino veteran who had worked with Canfora for years, they acquired two Cripple Creek casinos—Johnny Nolon’s Casino and Colorado Grande Casino—and placed them under the new operating company, Rocky Mountain Gaming, LLC.
Johnny Nolon’s is one of Cripple Creek’s original casinos. It sits in the center of the town’s casino district, along with the Colorado Grande. Since the acquisition, Rocky Mountain Gaming has emphasized its policy of offering the loosest slots in town.
“I was surprised when David and Michael first approached me with the opportunity to get back into the Cripple Creek market,” Canfora said in a press statement at the time of the acquisition. “After thinking about it, I realized that Johnny Nolon’s and Colorado Grande presented the opportunity to maintain the old Cripple Creek casino feel that the locals had grown accustomed to.”
Loose Slots Tradition
The partners are now applying the Gaughan/Ross loose slots tradition to the Cripple Creek market, which draws drive-in business from nearby Colorado Springs, and a little farther out, from Black Hawk and Denver.
Ross notes that catering to locals means offering loose slots—a notion he says was set in stone when he and Gaughan were at Coast Casinos. “We had five casinos at Coast before Boyd Gaming bought us, and we always had the loosest slots in [Nevada casino region] ‘Balance of County,’ by two full percentage points,” he says.
“Michael’s father ingrained on us that we are in the locals market, and customers are coming here 15 or 20 times a month, so we always had the lowest [casino] hold in the market. We’ve always brought that same philosophy with us, so it’s no shock that we were going to bring that to Colorado.”
That philosophy was plainly evident from the one year of statistics examined and verified by Strictly Slots. “We provided the gaming tax returns we filed with Colorado every month, from the beginning of 2024,” explains Jones. “The state publishes market results, with the overall coin-in, win and hold percentages for the Cripple Creek market. It can clearly be seen that compared to the rest of the market, our [slots] have been consistently looser.”
Johnny Nolon’s and the Colorado Grande have fewer than 400 slots between them, but customers know they’re getting the fairest shake on those slots that Cripple Creek has to offer. Both casinos also include video poker with the highest-returning pay schedules. Players return again and again for the loose slots, along with great food at café-style eateries.
“Joe Canfora cut his teeth at Station while Mike and I were working for his father at Coast, and to us, it’s all about value with respect to gaming and food-and-beverage offerings,” Ross says.
Ross adds that currently, the partners are working on refining the two properties’ slot clubs, with the goal of eventually uniting the two casinos under one card system. The food offerings will be integral to the perks offered through points earned in the club. “Andy and I are working with management to redo the menus, come out with daily specials, and revamp the offering, and we’re going to launch a new player’s club, probably in the first quarter of next year,” Ross says.
Meanwhile, the Cripple Creek market is growing, with regional casino operator Full House Resorts bringing in new business with its Chamonix Casino Hotel, opened last year. “[Full House CEO] Dan Lee is expanding the market with Chamonix,” Ross says. “It’s a tremendous investment in the community.”
The Chamonix and the Golden Nugget, another longtime Cripple Creek offering, anchor either side of the town’s casino row. In the middle, the two casinos of Rocky Mountain Gaming will continue to cater to customers who can always count on the best gamble in town.
“Rocky Mountain Gaming’s commitment to its players shines brightly through their participation in Strictly Slots’ Loose Slots Certification,” says Strictly Slots Publisher Lisa Robertson-Dziedzic.
“Today’s players are more informed and selective than ever, and programs like this help them identify where they can maximize their entertainment and value. By certifying the slots at their two Cripple Creek casinos—Johnny Nolon’s and Colorado Grande—through our program, Rocky Mountain Gaming is sending a strong message: they value their players and are dedicated to offering an exceptional gaming experience.”
