California border casino deal OK’d for Terrible’s takeover of Primm’s

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-Vegas on the California border.

The approval caps a dramatic reversal for the tiny town formerly known as State Line, which looked doomed in early may when Affinity Gaming and its parent company, Z Capital, announced plans to permanently close the remaining Primm operations.

A May 5 termination notice said Primm Valley Resort, Buffalo Bill’s, Whiskey Pete’s, the Primm Center and the Flying J truck stop would all close by July 4. Around 344 workers were expected to lose their jobs.

Tenants living in employee housing tied to the casino operations were also told to vacate their apartments by July 6.

The shutdown would have gutted one of Nevada’s strangest border towns — a place built less like a traditional community and more like a desert welcome mat for gamblers, truckers and road-trippers rolling in from Southern California.

But the town also leaned into its novelty status with attractions that felt built for a pit stop, including the Bonnie and Clyde “death car” display and the Desperado rollercoaster towering over the desert.

But Primm’s place in the Vegas trip routine changed as the years wore on.

What was once a convenient first gambling stop for Californians became easier to skip, especially as large tribal casinos expanded across Southern California and have many gamblers an option much closer than the Nevada border.

Tourism slowdowns during the pandemic only deepened the damage, and the Primm casino cluster continued to shrink.

Whiskey Pete’s closed in December 2024, while Buffalo Bill’s jhad been operating mostly around special events. Primm Valley Resort was the last full-time casino still running when the shutdown notice was dealt.

The Primm family, which owns the land, publicly pleaded for a solution after the closure announcement and later reached an agreement with Terrible’s.

Herbst said the company’s first priority is stabilizing the businessesand keeping workers from missing paychecks.

Longer term, Terrible’s and the Primm family are expected to explore possible investments, infrastructure upgrades, new amenities and other improvements that could give the aging border stop a more sustainable future.

In the meantime, Terrible’s is focused on the millions of drivers who still pass the town each year on I-15.

Terrible’s is one of Nevada’s most recognizable roadside brands, with gas stations, convenience stores, car washes, travel centers and gaming operations across several states.

The Herbst family also has history near the border. The company previously operated a casino in nearby Jean, before losing control of the business after a bankruptcy reorganization.

Now, Terrible’s is back — and Primm has avoided, at least for now, becoming another abandoned stop in the Mojave.

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