CARSON CITY -- Acquisition of the Pahrump Nugget Hotel and Gambling Hall by Golden Gaming was endorsed Wednesday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Privately held Golden Gaming, which has operations in Nevada and Colorado, is buying the Nugget for an undisclosed price from Generation 2000, whose owners include Bill Richardson and members of U.S. Sen. John Ensign's family.

The board's parent state Gaming Commission will have final say on the deal at an Oct. 19 meeting. The Pahrump Nugget, built in 2001 on part of a 38-acre site, has 70 rooms, 553 slot machines, 10 table games, a sports book, poker room, restaurants, bowling alleys and banquet space.

Golden Gaming, headed by Blake Sartini, operates three casinos in Black Hawk, Colo. and is Nevada's largest tavern operator with 43 establishments under the name PT's Gold and PT's Pub. It also operates some 2,500 slot machines at more than 200 locations throughout Nevada.

Sartini said the property, located on the main intersection in Pahrump, is a good investment because of the area's booming economy. It's about an hour's drive from Las Vegas.

The deal is "a good one for the company and a good one for Pahrump, said Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander.

The Control Board also recommended Reno-based GameTech International for licensing as a gambling device manufacturer and distributor and operator of inter-casino linked systems and mobile gambling systems -- after a long discussion about past problems.

The board's vote was 2-1, with board member Mark Clayton voting "no." While company officials said major progress has been made in complying with regulatory standards, Clayton said, "To me, it's still a work in progress."