CARSON CITY -- A plan by Boyd Gaming Corp. to sell its 1,350-room South Coast hotel-casino in Las Vegas to veteran Nevada gambling figure Michael Gaughan was endorsed Wednesday by the state Gaming Control Board.

Gaughan is the founder and former operator of Coast Casinos, which Boyd Gaming acquired two years ago in a $1.3 billion merger. He also oversaw the $600 million construction of the South Coast -- which he's getting through a sale and turnover of his Boyd stock, worth an estimated $512 million.

Under the deal, which is subject to a final vote Oct. 19 by the Control Board's parent state Gaming Commission, Gaughan will end up with a new resort debt-free and without any partners -- as he had with Coast casinos.

Business at the South Coast, which opened in December, has been soft, but Gaughan expressed confidence that he can turn it around. He also has said he didn't enjoy the corporate life he led since the Boyd merger and wanted to return to running his own business.