Replicate Pinnacle success

Dan Lee is trying to replicate at his new Colorado property the winning strategy he used at Pinnacle.

When he ran that regional gaming company, Lee decided to invest $370 million to build the largest casino resort in Lake Charles with 700 rooms.

The executive knew that Houston residents were making the two-hour trip to Lake Charles to play slots and table games. Lee figured they would prefer to stay the night if thereweremoretodothangamble.

The calculation proved correct. A decade on, the property generates about $150 million in cash flow, he said.

“It was the right call to realize that people traveling that far want something more than just gambling. That’s the same evolution of Las Vegas in the last 30 years,’’ he said.

“And yet, when you look to Cripple Creek, it doesn’t have that today. It really is just a town with slot machines. So we’re making basically the same bet we made in Lake Charles.’’

Denver is closer to Cripple Creek than Houston is to Lake Charles. The combined population surrounding Cripple Creek is about 5 million compared with 6 million for Lake Charles.

If Lee can deliver on Cripple Creek it will “put the company on the map’’ of gaming operators, he says.

That will give Lee more than just bragging rights. It could lift the valuation of his company closer to that of bigger names, generating wealth for his investors as well as himself.