Other bidders won other parts of the portfolio. The notices identify a $61.1 million credit bid by existing lenders for the Core Assets and a $26.25 million credit bid by the lenders' agent for Z Casino. Norwest Gaming and TIL Gaming Bidco won separate cardroom and software lots. The September and October auction results therefore describe several buyers and forms of consideration. The bid figures include cash, credit bids, and assumed liabilities; the sale agreements and closing records determine each completed transaction's terms. The later names 101 Gregory Street LLC as buyer, illustrating why an auction designation and an approved sale must be distinguished.
Eric Persson (CEO, 57.9% owner); Justin Beltram (COO, 12.8% owner)
Founded
2017
Headquarters
Kirkland, Washington
Gaming Properties
26 locations across Washington, Nevada, Colorado
Employees
~2,900
Estimated Assets
$100M–$500M
Estimated Liabilities
$100M–$500M
Total Secured Debt
~$306 million
DIP Facility
Up to $46.51 million in new money DIP loans (plus 2:1 roll-up of First Out Term Loans)
Bid Consideration
Cash, non-cash consideration, credit bids, and liability assumptions; see sale table
Case Snapshot
Debt-Financed Expansion and Founder Control
Eric Persson and Justin Beltram founded RunItOneTime LLC, doing business as Maverick Gaming, in 2017 after more than 30 years of combined gaming-industry experience at Las Vegas Sands, Bellagio, and Marina Bay Sands. Persson is also known as a high-stakes poker player. According to the first day declaration, Persson held 57.9% of the parent company's common stock and served as CEO.
The company's strategy centered on acquiring underperforming gaming assets and making operating changes. In Nevada, the Wendover properties that Maverick acquired had previously generated approximately $4 million in annual EBITDA; under Maverick's ownership, these properties produced in excess of $17 million in annual EBITDA. The company also doubled EBITDA at its Elko properties within the first year of ownership. These results were followed by an expansion financed through $306 million in debt across multiple loan facilities.
Property portfolio. By the petition date, Maverick Gaming operated across three states and multiple gaming formats. The Nevada holdings included the Wendover Nugget and Red Garter casinos in West Wendover, along with Maverick Casino & Hotel Elko, Gold Country Casino, and High Desert Inn in Elko. Colorado operations centered on the Grand Z Casino & Hotel, Dragon Tiger Casino, and Z Casino in Black Hawk and Central City. Washington operations comprised 17 operating cardrooms—licensed poker and table game facilities operating under state card room regulations—plus eight non-operating properties that had been closed to consolidate gaming revenue.
EGads! fabrication business. Maverick's portfolio also included EGads!, a Las Vegas-based casino fabrication business acquired in 2020 for approximately $11 million. EGads! was one of Maverick's more profitable segments: net revenue grew from $22.1 million in 2022 to $33.2 million in 2024, with EBITDA rising from $4.9 million to $10.6 million over the same period. The business was later sold through the bankruptcy auction.
Prepetition Capital Structure and Sale-Leaseback Obligations
The company's debt load at filing comprised multiple tranches with varying priority levels—a structure detailed in the first day declaration and resulting from a broad restructuring in April 2024.
Facility
Principal Amount
Priority
First Out Term Loans
$77,000,000
1st
Second Out Term Loans
$214,726,510
2nd
Third Out Term Loans
$202,257
3rd
Term B Loans
$13,925,702
4th
Total Secured Debt
$305,854,469
The prepetition credit facility was secured by a first priority security interest in substantially all of the debtors' assets. In addition to secured debt, trade claims outstanding as of the petition date totaled approximately $14.7 million.
April 2024 restructuring. The April 2024 Fourth Amendment to the prepetition credit agreement attempted to address the company's financial challenges by: (a) converting the existing $55 million revolver into fully funded First Out Term Loans, plus $10 million new money and $12 million consideration for lenders' agreement; (b) exchanging the then-$258 million term B loan into Second Out Term Loans at a 15% discount and Third Out Term Loans at a 10% discount; (c) permitting paid-in-kind interest on Second Out and Third Out Term Loans through December 2024; (d) loosening financial maintenance covenants; and (e) extending maturities to June 2028. Approximately $14 million in existing term B loans held by non-consenting lenders retained their existing position behind the Priority Term Loans.
Blue Owl Master Lease. Between 2022 and 2023, as revenues declined, Maverick sold multiple Washington and Nevada properties to affiliates of Blue Owl Capital Inc. for approximately $205 million in aggregate through sale-leaseback transactions and leased them back under a master lease arrangement. The transactions occurred in four tranches: $110.3 million in September 2022 for Coyote Bob's, Casino Caribbean (Yakima), Crazy Moose (Pasco), Great American Everett, and Macau Casino Lakewood; $47.3 million in October 2022 for Great American Tukwila, Gold Country Inn, Maverick Casino Elko, and a Mobil gas station in Elko; $40.5 million in June 2023 for Riverside Casino, Chips Casino, and Palace Casino; and $7.0 million in July 2023 for All Star Casino, for a combined $205.1 million.
The Blue Owl Master Lease carried an initial 40-year term with optional 20-year renewal periods. As of the petition date, total rent payments under the lease were approximately $17.8 million annually. The lease was later restructured through a post-petition rent-deferral settlement, discussed below.
Angelo Gordon Lease. Separately, in September 2021, Maverick sold the land under the Wendover Nugget Hotel & Casino, Red Garter Hotel & Casino, Grand Z Casino Hotel, and Johnny Z's Casino to affiliates of Angelo, Gordon & Co. for approximately $93 million, entering into a 20-year sale-leaseback arrangement with four optional seven-year renewal terms. Annual rent payments under the Angelo Gordon Lease totaled approximately $8.5 million. The debtors later sought and obtained court approval to assume the Angelo Gordon master lease as part of the bankruptcy process.
Capital gains tax liability. The sale-leaseback transactions also generated approximately $26 million in capital gains taxes for tax years 2022 and 2023. The company sought to address these liabilities through an offer-in-compromise submitted to the IRS in October 2024, making eight payments before the petition date.
Tribal Competition, Fixed Costs, and Operational Setbacks
Tribal gaming disadvantage. Maverick's Washington cardrooms faced competition from tribal casinos that operate with tax-exempt status and fewer gaming restrictions, allowing them to invest in facilities and promotions while non-tribal operators like Maverick bear full tax burdens and regulatory constraints. State gaming restrictions on card rooms—prohibiting slot machines, roulette, craps, sports betting, and consumer credit—do not apply to tribal casinos. Since 2020, several key tribal casino competitors expanded operations into parts of Washington where Maverick operated. Maverick filed a lawsuit against the federal government challenging aspects of tribal gaming regulation. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear that challenge in October 2025, leaving the tribal gaming framework intact.
COVID-19 and Colorado operational setbacks. The pandemic and associated restrictions hampered Maverick's growth during its early expansion phase. Washington cardrooms were closed for multiple months following shelter-in-place mandates; when allowed to reopen, the company was required to operate outdoors in parking lot tents, and once indoor operations resumed, 25% of casino walls were required to remain open-air for circulation, reducing customer traffic and revenue. Beginning in 2022, a series of operational problems in Colorado added to the company's challenges: a slot system upgrade disrupted slot machine operations for weeks, "free play" offers under the customer loyalty rewards program reduced profitability for four to five months, and a newly created sports betting operation generated nearly $1 million in losses before the program was terminated. The March 2022 reopening and expansion of competitor Monarch Casino Resort Spa in Black Hawk diverted higher-end business that had accounted for much of Maverick's slot and table game revenue.
Minimum wage pressure. The Tukwila, Washington market experienced minimum wage increases of 46% between 2022 and 2025, compared to 15% for the remainder of Washington State, adding labor cost pressure to Maverick's key revenue-generating Washington properties.
Financial deterioration and rent default. EBITDA declined 68% over two years, falling from $52.1 million in 2021 to $18.5 million in 2022 and $16.5 million in 2023. By April 2025, Maverick ceased rent payments under the Blue Owl Master Lease; as of the petition date, the company owed approximately $5.9 million in unpaid rent to Blue Owl, and the declaration listed another $1.5 million rent installment for August 1, 2025.
Path to chapter 11 and the Transaction Support Agreement
Negotiations with the ad hoc group of secured lenders began in earnest in January 2025, as Maverick's management simultaneously pursued third-party financing opportunities. The ad hoc group delivered a term sheet proposal on February 23, 2025, but the company's financial position continued to deteriorate. Events of default occurred in May 2025—the prepetition agent declared an Event of Default on May 12 and a covenant default followed on May 15—and standstill agreements allowed negotiations to continue until the parties reached agreement on June 25, 2025.
Special committee. In June 2025, the company formed a special committee comprising two recently appointed independent directors, Lawrence Perkins and Tobias Keller, to evaluate strategic alternatives. The special committee concluded that no viable third-party capital sources were available on the timeline necessary to maintain operations as a going concern.
Cardroom closures. Simultaneously with the bankruptcy filing, Maverick announced immediate closure of four Washington cardrooms: Dragon Tiger Casino (Mountlake Terrace), Palace Casino (Lakewood), Silver Dollar (Renton), and Roman Casino (Seattle).
Transaction support agreement. The June 25, 2025 transaction support agreement between Maverick, its majority shareholder Eric Persson, and lenders holding approximately 78% of First Out Term Loans and 70% of Second Out Term Loans outlined terms for a pre-negotiated restructuring. The TSA segmented the company's business into three categories: PokerCo (Aces Poker Lakewood, Aces Poker Mountlake Terrace, Caribbean Casino, and Caribbean Cardroom), slated for a 363 sale with Persson as $13 million stalking horse; LeaseCo (properties subject to the Blue Owl Master Lease), for which the parties would negotiate a lease amendment or modification; and MainCo (the remaining businesses, interests, and assets), to be sold under section 363 via lender credit bid or converted to equity under a plan. The agreement also contemplated a licensing arrangement under which Persson's entity would receive a non-exclusive license for certain intellectual property in exchange for $100,000 plus a revenue-sharing arrangement entitling the debtors to 25% of adjusted EBITDA from poker partnerships using the IP for three years.
DIP facility. The DIP motion proposed new money DIP loans plus a roll-up of First Out Term Loans on a 2-to-1 basis. The interim order authorized $8.5 million in new money DIP loans, and the final order raised the aggregate new money DIP loans authorized to up to $46.51 million, funded in three tranches: $8.5 million on an interim basis, an additional $10.5 million on a further interim basis, and up to $27.51 million more upon the final order. Key terms included:
Term
Details
New Money
Up to $46.51 million (aggregate: $8.5M interim + $10.5M second interim + up to $27.51M final)
Roll-Up
First Out Term Loans at a 2:1 ratio (2x new money DIP loans funded)
The court entered the interim DIP order on July 16, 2025, a second interim order on August 6, 2025, and the final order on August 27, 2025. Under the DIP final order, prepetition secured parties received replacement liens, a superpriority administrative claim junior to the DIP claims, and cash payment of professional fees as adequate protection for the use of cash collateral.
Sale motion and bidding procedures. The August 1, 2025 sale motion outlined a bidding process that led to a September 19, 2025 auction, approximately 67 days after the filing. The court entered the bidding procedures order on August 28, 2025. Ahead of the auction, a prospective bidder objected to the bidding procedures, arguing the debtors had not provided the due diligence necessary for outsiders to compete.
Persson-managed buyers. Persson identified himself as manager of the PokerCo buyer, Maverick Gaming LLC. He also signed as manager of the EGads buyer, Maverick Specialty Fabrication & Design LLC. The October auction notice named Maverick Gaming LLC as the successful EGads bidder. The November sale order named Maverick Specialty Fabrication & Design LLC as the approved EGads buyer. These documents identify different entities; the PokerCo and EGads approvals also cover separate contracts.
PokerCo and EGads Sales and the Teamsters Challenge
The PokerCo and EGads sale orders named buyers managed by Eric Persson. The buyer of the PokerCo assets carries the "Maverick Gaming LLC" name that the debtor itself used within the eight years before the petition, even though the debtor now proceeds under the caption RunItOneTime LLC—a naming overlap that runs through the sale disputes described below.
PokerCo approval. On September 23, 2025, Persson signed a declaration in support of the PokerCo sale, attesting that neither he nor the buyer—Maverick Gaming LLC, an entity of which he serves as manager—controlled or exerted undue influence over the debtors, and that the $28 million purchase price, comprising cash and non-cash consideration, resulted from arm's-length negotiations. The court approved the PokerCo sale on September 24, 2025.
EGads! approval. On November 19, 2025, the court approved the sale of the EGads! casino-interiors and signage business to Maverick Specialty Fabrication & Design LLC. The agreement specified a $1.4 million base price, plus an accounts-receivable adjustment, cure costs, and assumed liabilities. The $1.4 million base price matched the winning bid noticed after the October 2025 selected-assets auction.
Teamsters challenge.International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 117 moved to reconsider the PokerCo sale order on October 8, 2025, arguing the bankruptcy court lacked jurisdiction to rule that the buyer was not a successor or alter ego of the debtors under federal labor law, and that the ruling issued without the fact-specific analysis the NLRB requires. The union's motion described the debtors as "a collection of corporations connected to majority owner Eric Persson" and alleged Persson stated he would avoid hiring union members for more than fifty percent of PokerCo positions to sidestep successorship obligations. The debtors objected, arguing the union had notice of the sale's free-and-clear terms and neither objected nor appeared at the sale hearing, and that the no-successor-liability finding was confined to the sale transaction rather than a blanket, forward-looking shield. The court denied the reconsideration motion on January 26, 2026, leaving the PokerCo sale intact.
Teamsters settlement. The union's separate grievance and unfair-labor-practice charge against the debtors were resolved through a court-approved settlement entered April 9, 2026, granting a single grievant an allowed general unsecured claim of $95,000 in full and final satisfaction of the grievance and ULP charge, with releases binding on the debtors, their estates, the grievant, and the union.
Blue Owl Lease Restructuring, Asset Dispositions, and the Path to a Plan
With the September 2025 auction complete, the case shifted from a sale process to a series of post-closing settlements that gradually defined the debtors' remaining liabilities and the path toward a plan.
Blue Owl rent-relief settlement. By December 2025, the debtors owed Blue Owl affiliates Project Evergreen WA LLC and Project Evergreen NV Owner LLC not less than $5,070,165.84 in past-due Master Lease obligations. Blue Owl agreed to defer a portion of monthly base rent across the eleven remaining Master Lease properties—Coyote, Yakima, Pasco, Everett, Gold Elko, Maverick Elko, Tukwila, Riverside, Chips, Palace, and All Star—for twelve months, retroactive to December 1, 2025 if timely approved. The agreed order, entered December 17, 2025, established parallel "Rejection" and "Transfer" procedures: the debtors could surrender a property to Blue Owl within 60 days of a rejection request, or hand operations to a replacement operator within 30 days of a transfer request. The settlement sought $11.5 million in aggregate rent relief.
Continued asset dispositions and operating closures. The debtors kept monetizing non-core real estate into 2026. After compelling performance under a repurchase option covering Poulsbo/Indianola-area property that Justin Beltram was obligated to convey, the debtors closed a sale of that property on February 20, 2026. The Goldie's Business sale to TIL Gaming Bidco LLC closed on March 2, 2026. On June 11, 2026, the court approved the private sale of two vacant Colorado parcels in Gilpin County—39.85 and 1.19 acres held by debtor affiliate Colorado MG 1031, LLC—to G3 Gaming LLC for an aggregate $750,000, sold as-is and free and clear of liens under section 363(f). Although the debtors initially intended to keep all casinos open during the restructuring, that position shifted as the case progressed: Maverick permanently closed its , laying off roughly 65 dealers, servers, cooks, cashiers, and security staff effective June 30, 2026 under a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, after a closure originally scheduled for December 2, 2025 was delayed while the company pursued a possible sale of the property.
Exclusivity extended twice. The court granted a second extension of exclusivity on March 3, 2026, running the exclusive filing period through May 11, 2026 and solicitation through July 9, 2026. Citing continued settlement negotiations, the debtors obtained a third extension on May 13, 2026, pushing the exclusive plan-filing period to August 10, 2026 and solicitation to October 7, 2026.
Global settlement, SBA/PPP resolution, and pending plan. Days after the third exclusivity extension, a May 2026 stipulation among the debtors, the ad hoc group of secured lenders, the DIP and prepetition agents, and the official committee of unsecured creditors resolved the committee's challenge rights and set the framework for a confirmable "Settlement Plan." Under the agreed order entered May 19, 2026, the parties established a $1.6 million chapter 11 Process Cap—drawn from unused critical-vendor and professional-fee budget amounts plus up to $300,000 each from the DIP secured parties and the committee—and a $1.5 million GUC Trust holding cash and certain estate causes of action for general unsecured creditors. In exchange, the committee irrevocably waived its challenge rights under the DIP order and the MainCo sale order, and the DIP secured parties and prepetition lenders waived their own recovery from the GUC Trust or estate-cause proceeds. On June 29, 2026, the court separately approved a settlement resolving litigation with the U.S. Small Business Administration over $11.57 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans that the SBA had denied forgiveness for under Interim Final Rule 7; the SBA agreed to forgive $9.44 million of the loans, while the remaining $2.13 million was fixed and allowed as general unsecured claims against six debtor affiliates, including Red Garter Operator LLC ($566,972) and Maverick Lakewood LLC ($570,370). As of early July 2026, the debtors had not filed a chapter 11 plan or disclosure statement; the found the extension in the best interests of the debtors, their estates, and creditors, tying confirmation of a Settlement Plan to the August 10, 2026 exclusive filing deadline and the October 7, 2026 solicitation deadline.
Fee escalation. Professional fees climbed steadily through the case. KPMG's first interim application for the period through October 31, 2025 sought $1.21 million in fees, and Hunton Andrews Kurth's second interim application for November 2025 through January 2026 sought $1.17 million. By mid-2026 the professionals were filing third and fourth interim applications—Hunton's third interim, KPMG's third interim, and GLC's fourth interim—reflecting continued plan-and-settlement work.
Key Timeline
Date
Event
2017
Maverick Gaming founded by Eric Persson and Justin Beltram
September 2021
Angelo Gordon sale-leaseback ($93 million)
September 2022 – July 2023
Blue Owl sale-leaseback transactions ($205 million total)
EGads sale order; general claims bar date (5:00 p.m. Central)
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Maverick Gaming file for bankruptcy?
Maverick filed after accumulating approximately $306 million in secured debt, falling $5.9 million behind on a $17.8 million annual sale-leaseback rent obligation to Blue Owl, and facing competition from tax-exempt tribal casinos in Washington. EBITDA declined from $52.1 million in 2021 to $16.5 million in 2023. S&P Global Ratings characterized the capital structure as "unsustainable," and the company was unable to make debt service payments starting in May 2025.
What is the transaction support agreement?
On June 25, 2025, Maverick executed a TSA with its majority shareholder and lenders holding approximately 78% of First Out Term Loans and 70% of Second Out Term Loans. The agreement segmented the company's business into PokerCo, LeaseCo, and MainCo, with different disposition paths for each segment, and established a framework for DIP financing, sale procedures, and professional retentions.
Which Persson-managed entities appear in the PokerCo and EGads sale records?
Between 2021 and 2023, Maverick sold properties to Blue Owl and Angelo Gordon and leased them back. The Blue Owl transactions generated $205 million and required $17.8 million in annual rent; the Angelo Gordon transaction generated $93 million and required $8.5 million in annual rent. By April 2025, Maverick stopped making Blue Owl rent payments, accruing $5.9 million in arrears by the filing date. The sale-leasebacks also generated $26 million in capital gains tax liability. In December 2025, Blue Owl agreed to defer a portion of monthly rent for twelve months across the eleven remaining leased properties.
What is the total value of the sales?
The auction notices reported a $28 million cash-and-non-cash PokerCo bid and a $26.25 million Z Casino credit bid. The October notice reported a $61.1 million Core Assets credit bid and smaller cash and liability-assumption transactions. The table above separates the announced winning bids by asset and buyer; it does not report net cash proceeds.
Who is the claims agent, and what are the bar dates?
Kroll Restructuring Administration LLC serves as claims and noticing agent in the chapter 11 case, handling case noticing and maintaining the claims register. The bar date notice set November 19, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. Central as the general claims bar date and January 12, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Central as the governmental bar date.
Has Maverick Gaming filed a chapter 11 plan?
Not as of early July 2026. A May 2026 global settlement stipulation among the debtors, secured lenders, and the unsecured creditors' committee established a $1.6 million chapter 11 Process Cap and a $1.5 million GUC Trust for general unsecured creditors, setting the framework for a confirmable "Settlement Plan." The debtors' exclusive plan-filing period runs through August 10, 2026, with exclusive solicitation extended to October 7, 2026.
bar date notice /documents/ccb33df5-0e78-4d1d-917f-f763bf43c7ae/
Las Vegas Sands, Bellagio, and Marina Bay Sands https://www.vegasslotsonline.com/news/2025/07/16/high-stakes-poker-player-eric-perssons-casino-empire-files-for-bankruptcy/
high-stakes poker player https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/poker-player-eric-persson-maverick-gaming-bankruptcy-filing
Wendover Nugget and Red Garter casinos in West Wendover https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/maverick-gaming-which-owns-5-nevada-casinos-files-for-bankruptcy
leaving the tribal gaming framework intact https://www.thedailyworld.com/2025/10/07/tribes-hail-u-s-supreme-court-dismissal-of-maverick-gamings-lawsuit-attacking-sovereignty/
immediate closure of four Washington cardrooms https://myedmondsnews.com/2025/07/maverick-gaming-shuts-down-mlts-dragon-tiger-casino-one-of-four-statewide/
objected to the bidding procedures https://www.law360.com/bankruptcy-authority/articles/2389730/maverick-gaming-bidder-cries-foul-over-ch-11-sale-process
described the debtors https://www.law360.com/employment-authority/articles/2397985/teamsters-want-court-to-reconsider-maverick-gaming-sale
sought $11.5 million in aggregate rent relief https://www.law360.com/bankruptcy-authority/articles/2421112/maverick-gaming-seeks-11-5m-rent-relief-in-settlement
Silver Dollar SeaTac Casino near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport https://www.independent.co.uk/us/money/maverick-gaming-silver-dollar-seatac-casino-closing-b2964666.html
Ropes & Gray LLP and Porter Hedges LLP https://www.ropesgray.com/en/news-and-events/news/2025/07/ropes-gray-llp-advises-ad-hoc-group-of-lenders-in-maverick-gaming-chapter-11
This article was researched and written with AI assistance, using court filings, public records, and news sources. AI-generated content can contain errors. Verify all information against primary sources before relying on it. This is not legal or financial advice. See the disclaimer.