A card room in Clovis to get new owners after the state steps in and forces sale

The 500 Club card room in Clovis, whose ownership has been under a cloud since the state shut down gambling for 15 days last year, should soon have new owners.

By a vote of 4-1 Monday, the Clovis City Council approved the transfer of the 500 Club license at 771 W. Shaw Ave. to new owners. Mayor Bob Whalen, a card room skeptic, voted no.

Owner Louis Sarantos is selling the casino to Michael LeBlanc and Kevin Barclay, owners of K & M Casinos Inc. The Clovis Police Department did a background check on the new owners and “they came back completely clean,” said Assistant City Manager John Holt.

The license transfer is required for the sale to go through, but approval by the California Gambling Control Commission is also required and could take six months.

Currently, the city gets license fee revenue from the card room of about $420,000 per year. That’s now likely to go up.

In a 3-2 vote Monday, the Clovis council approved a new license fee. Pegged to gross revenues, the new system will be phased in over three years and is forecast to eventually increase revenues by an additional $250,000 per year.

The Sarantos family has a long history in Clovis. The family began renting the 500 Club building at 500 Clovis Ave. in 1953, according to a city staff report.

In 1974, Louis and George Sarantos bought the club from their parents. In 2009, Louis Sarantos bought out his partner and built a new casino at Shaw and Willow Avenues, expanding to 18 tables.

The old building on Clovis Avenue has stayed open as a bar and grill and and will continue to be owned by the Sarantos family after the casino is sold.

Last year, the state ordered the card room closed Aug. 16. The Gambling Control Commission said Sarantos didn’t have enough money to cover chips in use, failed to provide requested financial documents and failed to disclose loans from people who should have had card room licenses and been listed as ownership partners.

In December, the state Department of Justice reached a settlement with Sarantos. Under the settlement, the state revoked his license but reinstated it so he could sell the business.

Last year, the 500 Club, which includes a restaurant, employed about 265 people.

This story was originally published January 9, 2018 at 2:57 PM with the headline "A card room in Clovis to get new owners after the state steps in and forces sale."