Anyone have an idea how much would it cost to buy a casino? Obviously it varies and someone has to be willing to sell it.

How does one go about doing this?

Is it possible to just start a casino in Nevada? California?

I'm having a hard time finding information on this topic.

Define "Casino". I know people who have opened small Casinos in Florida. A hundred or so Electronic Slots. 8 Table Card Room. A few Hundred Grand. Add on for Bar/Restaurant & Liquor License.

MGM's half is for sale $250 million. of course you would then be on the line for half of the debt, which is probably why its still for sale

A card room for casino OP?

cardrooms can be opened fairly easily/cheaply in comparison to a full blown casino. I've been in the rankiest little cardrooms that had little more than four or five fold up tables with nine foldup chairs and a automated drink fountain

You coulda picked up Hooters at auction in February pretty cheaply. "Court papers earlier in the case had placed a $46.6 million value on the property, rising to $63.9 million when all its inventory and back accounts were included." http://www.lvrj.com/business/main-le...139549213.html

"Riviera Holdings Corp. of Las Vegas is selling its casino in Black Hawk, Colo., for $76 million" http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/se...ing-las-vegas/

"sources said Harrah's would take over the property for about $50 million" referring to Binions back in 2004. http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_ho.../23056029.html

Now, if you're going for a little more upscale in a major down market we have, "MGM Mirage will give Ruffin a $20 million discount on the $775 million purchase price if he pays all cash for the Treasure Island resort." http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009...-hands-friday/

You could start your own casino on a shoestring budget - it's been done before, quite successfully: Two Rooks Casino

Here's a nice sounding one in Croatia. Lot's of hot women there, too.

http://www.mergernetwork.com/buy-bus...rope/20708.htm

Well, if the Mega-Millions comes up in Washington, I may have a go at this.

I figure (back of envelope) that you're looking at around $3M to get started with a chance of staying in business, and possibly another $500K - $1M for the first year, depending on how long it takes to get cash-flow-positive. This is assuming that you are starting from scratch; if you are buying out an existing operation, I suspect you are looking at more like $5-8M.

Strikes me that starting a card-room is cheaper than a casino, and probably of a similar cost to starting a small 20 table restaurant.

You need to figure out how you are going to make money at this, and how much money you need to make to stay afloat before the gaming equivalent of Gordon Ramsey shows up on your doorstep and swears at you.

• You will probably need/want a liquor license, which may be a hassle right there.
  
• You will need a public card room license.
  
• You'll need staff; dealers, floor, servers, cleaners, maintenance, bouncer (er, security), back-room people (admin, maintenance, IT...). Maybe not too many to start with.
  
• You'll need gambling licenses for the owner, card room employees, etc.
  
• Are you going to be open all hours, or just nights/weekends/some fraction? Affects staff costs, cleaning, maintenance...
  
• Are you going to serve food? What sort? How much? You'll need food handling permits and licenses. Or you might be able to do a deal with some local eatery to service your building but that will also cost and you'll still need the permits.
  
  
• You'll need a location. Here in scenic Western Washington, there are a lot of card-rooms and 'casinos' around and a few up for sale at any given time. Some are about the size of a Denny's and have about the same ambiance. You're probably better off buying an existing building and refurbing it. Might be worth finding out why the current casino went tits-up.
  
• You'll need chips, racks, cards, uniforms for the staff.
  
• You'll need insurance, both for the building and the staff and the patrons.
  
• You'll need an advertizing and PR budget, to get butts in seats.

Quite possibly, this is the most inane OP question in B&M in quite some time.

Simply asking this question shows how far off the OP is in his understanding. It isn't a matter of how much it costs. It is a matter of how to make a profit. The reality is that in the last 20 years, it has been a matter of finding a market where the boundaries of entry are high and exploiting them as quickly as possible. The best place in the world to have a casino at the moment is in Macau. The downside is that you have to make it worthwhile for people or to risk yourself to have a bill sent to their family for the bullet put in the back of your head.