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Workers apply finishing touches this week to the Wildfire Casino before its scheduled Thursday opening. The $11 million casino will take the place of Ernie's, slated to close next week. Photo by Steve Andrascik.

Wednesday, December 26, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Casino's changes complete

Wildfire to replace storied Ernie's bar

A locals slot bar on Rancho Drive is set to transform into the Wildfire Casino on Thursday.

The 43-year-old Ernie's bar opened in 1958 as the Buckhorn bar, a small outpost at the edge of Las Vegas that made its living selling beer to Nevada Test Site workers who drove by on their commutes.

The name was changed to Ernie's shortly after the bar opened, with the moniker coming from the name of a bartender popular with test site workers.

Ernie's has grown a bit since its humble opening, with 85 slot machines and a kitchen serving sandwiches and baby-back rib specials.

Las Vegan John Bauchman and his brother, James, bought Ernie's in August 1999, hoping to parlay the bar's gaming license into a bigger and more profitable business.

Just more than two years later, John Bauchman has invested $11 million building the Wildfire immediately north of Ernie's.

The Wildfire is slated to open Thursday at 9 p.m. Ernie's and Wildfire will both stay open for a week, connected by a walkway. Ernie's is scheduled to be demolished on Jan. 3, clearing the way for a new parking lot.

Bauchman hopes the property will attract casino workers driving to and from work on Rancho Drive, home to Santa Fe Station, the Fiesta, Texas Station and Palace Station.

The Wildfire also is targeting Las Vegans living in its immediate vicinity.

"What attracts a person to a place like the Wildfire?" Bauchman asked. "A place like this is more personal, and a player can be a big fish in a small pond. We'll know your name, and it's easy to get in and out of our parking lots."

Parking is one of the keys to the success of the small local casino niche, Bauchman said.

"Some locals don't want to spend five minutes walking to and from their cars," he explained. "We'll have all of the key things the locals casino has -- a wide variety of slots, blackjack, a cafe with good food at great prices and a sports book -- but it's easy to get in and out."

The Wildfire has 130 full- and part-time employees, more than four times the 32 workers Ernie's has.

Most of the new workers were recently laid off from Las Vegas casino jobs, Wildfire general manager George Thompson said.

"We made a commitment to hiring real people out of work rather than people looking for second jobs," Thompson said. "These additional jobs are real jobs for real people."

The casino will open with 220 slot and video poker machines and five blackjack tables. One of its distinguishing features is a walk-up sports book, a drive-through window connecting sports book clerks with bettors standing outside the casino.

The new casino is one of a growing number of small locals casinos moving into a market niche between neighborhood bars with a handful of video poker machines and the 2,000-plus slot machine locals casinos operated by Station Casinos and Coast Resorts.

Like Barley's and the Skyline in Henderson and the Key Largo on Paradise Road, the Wildfire has table games and a sports book to complement a wide array of slot machines.

"We consciously patterned a lot of what we did after Barley's," Bauchman explained. "We put in a bunch of really big screen TVs and put a patio on the outside of our cafe."

Bauchman's unconcerned about his big Rancho Drive competitors.

"We're not really in competition with Station Casinos," he said. "They've got more than 6,000 machines on Rancho, and I'm sure they're not real concerned about us. We're not advertising on TV. Instead, we're sending direct mail to the immediate area, emphasizing that we're small, warm and personal."

Food was one of Ernie's biggest draws and the Wildfire will continue some of Ernie's best dining promotions, Bauchman said.

"We'll have the $6.49 baby back rib dinner that Ernie's is well-known for, but we'll add an 18-ounce porterhouse steak at $4.95 and a thick-cut prime rib at $5.95," he said.