CARSON CITY -- Nevada regulators voted Wednesday to recommend veteran gambling figure Tom Celani to operate Frank Sinatra's old Cal-Neva casino on Lake Tahoe's north shore -- and Celani says he'll spend millions on upgrades and promote the resort's "Rat Pack" history.

Also recommended by the state Gaming Control Board was a $148 million acquisition of the Sands Regent hotel-casino in Reno and properties in Sparks, Dayton and Verdi by Las Vegas-based Herbst Gaming.

The board, whose recommendations will be reviewed by its parent state Gaming Commission Dec. 21, also supported a $27.5 million deal by Southern Nevada real estate investor and businessman Jeffrey Fine to acquire the Silver Nugget and Opera House in North Las Vegas.

Celani, who parlayed his family's Detroit beer distributorship into many casino and gambling equipment ventures, has held 20 gambling-related licenses around the country. He's up for his first Nevada license.

After the board vote, Celani said he's a "big fan" of the Cal-Neva's 80-year history and plans to spend up to $7 million in upgrading the casino, which he's leasing for about $500,000 a year.

His investment is subject to owner Namwest's expected major upgrades to the resort it bought for $30 million last year from Chuck Bluth.

The original Cal-Nevada was built in 1926. Sinatra owned it during the early 1960s, when its celebrity guests included Marilyn Monroe and Sinatra's Rat Pack pals.

Sinatra lost his Cal-Neva license after regulators learned that Mafia boss Sam "Momo" Giancana had been at the club. He got another state license in 1981 for a Las Vegas venture following a lengthy regulatory probe.

Control Board member Bobby Siller said there had been a "gloom and doom" attitude in Northern Nevada as a result of economic pressures, such as expansion of Indian gambling in California, but that has changed with the Reno-area resorts becoming more competitive.

Besides the Sands Regent in Reno, the merger involves the Gold Ranch resort in Verdi, Rail City Casino in Sparks and the Depot Casino and Red Hawk Sports Bar in Dayton. The deal takes one of northern Nevada's most prominent publicly traded companies private.

Herbst also recently announced plans to acquire three casinos in the Southern Nevada town of Primm for $400 million from casino giant MGM Mirage. The properties include Whiskey Pete's Primm Valley and Buffalo Bill's hotel-casinos off Interstate 15, on the Nevada-California state line about 40 miles south of Las Vegas.

Plans for the Silver Nugget, located in a heavily Hispanic area, include efforts to draw more Hispanics into the resort. Joe Valdes, a longtime gaming figure, will oversee the venture.

Fine's father, Mark Fine, was involved in the early development of Summerlin and Green Valley in the Las Vegas area. He also was head of the Greenspun family's development arm. Brian Greenspun, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun, is Jeffrey Fine's uncle.