Nature of Business and Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Nature of Business and Basis of Presentation

Overview

Golden Entertainment, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries own and operate a diversified entertainment platform, consisting of a portfolio of gaming assets that focus on resort casino operations and distributed gaming (including gaming in the Company’s branded taverns). Unless otherwise indicated, the terms “Golden” and the “Company,” refer to Golden Entertainment, Inc. together with its subsidiaries.

The Company conducts its business through two reportable operating segments: Casinos and Distributed Gaming. The Company’s Casinos segment involves the operation of ten resort casino properties in Nevada and Maryland, comprising:


The STRAT Hotel, Casino & SkyPod (“The STRAT”)			Las Vegas, Nevada
Arizona Charlie’s Boulder			Las Vegas, Nevada
Arizona Charlie’s Decatur			Las Vegas, Nevada
Aquarius Casino Resort (“Aquarius”)			Laughlin, Nevada
Colorado Belle Hotel & Casino Resort (“Colorado Belle”) (1)			Laughlin, Nevada
Edgewater Hotel & Casino Resort (“Edgewater”)			Laughlin, Nevada
Gold Town Casino			Pahrump, Nevada
Lakeside Casino & RV Park			Pahrump, Nevada
Pahrump Nugget Hotel Casino (“Pahrump Nugget”)			Pahrump, Nevada
Rocky Gap Casino Resort (“Rocky Gap”)			Flintstone, Maryland

(1)As a result of the impact of the 2019 novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, the operations of the Colorado Belle remain suspended.

The Company’s Distributed Gaming segment involves the installation, maintenance and operation of slots and amusement devices in non-casino locations such as restaurants, bars, taverns, convenience stores, liquor stores and grocery stores in Nevada and Montana, and the operation of branded taverns targeting local patrons located primarily in the greater Las Vegas, Nevada metropolitan area.

Impact of COVID-19

Since the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020, people across the globe have been advised to avoid non-essential travel, and steps have been taken by governmental authorities, including in the states in which the Company operates, to implement closures of non-essential operations to contain the spread of the virus. The pandemic has negatively impacted the global economy, disrupted global supply chains and created significant volatility and disruption of financial markets. Following emergency executive orders issued by the Governors of Nevada, Maryland and Montana in the week of March 16, 2020, all of the Company’s properties were temporarily closed to the public and the Distributed Gaming operations at third-party locations were suspended. The Company’s Distributed Gaming operations in Montana and Nevada resumed on May 4, 2020 and June 4, 2020, respectively, and the Company’s Casino operations in Nevada and Maryland resumed on June 4, 2020 and June 19, 2020, respectively. However, as a result of the impact of the pandemic, the operations of the Colorado Belle remain suspended. While all of the Company’s properties, except for the Colorado Belle, re-opened during the second quarter of 2020, the implementation of protocols intended to protect team members, gaming patrons and guests from potential COVID-19 exposure continues to limit the Company’s operations. These measures include enhanced sanitization, public gathering limitations on casino, tavern and venue capacity, patron social distancing requirements, restrictions on permitted hours of operations, limitations on casino operations, which include disabling electronic gaming machines, and face mask and temperature check requirements for patrons. Certain amenities at the Company’s casinos may remain closed or operate in a limited capacity, including restaurants, bars, and other food and beverage outlets, as well as table games, showrooms, meeting rooms, spas and pools. These measures limit the number of patrons that are able to attend these venues. The Company cannot predict when these restrictions on the Company’s operations will be eliminated.

On July 10, 2020, the Governor of Nevada issued an emergency executive order mandating the closure of bar tops and bar areas in restaurants, bars, pubs, taverns, breweries, distilleries, wineries and related facilities that are licensed to serve food in seven counties, including Clark County (the location of most of our branded taverns). In response to the Governor’s executive order, the Company immediately closed most of its tavern locations. The Company implemented modifications of the gaming areas in its taverns which allowed it to re-open its tavern locations beginning in late July 2020 and all of the tavern locations had re-opened by the end of September 2020.

On November 24, 2020, the Governor of Nevada issued an emergency executive order limiting occupancy in gaming areas and non-gaming businesses, including, but not limited to, retail stores, restaurants and bars, non-retail venues, pools and aquatic facilities, and other establishments in Nevada to 25% of the listed fire code capacity. On February 15, 2021 these restrictions were relaxed to allow the occupancy rate at gaming floors and food and beverage establishments, including restaurants, bars, pubs, wineries, distilleries and breweries, to increase to 35%, while permitted occupancy at retail stores, pools and aquatic facilities increased to 50% of the listed fire code capacity. On March 15, 2021 the Governor of Nevada further eased the occupancy limitations on the gaming properties by allowing the occupancy rate to go up to 50% of the listed fire code capacity. On May 1, 2021, the occupancy limitations for establishments located in Clark County were further eased by increasing to 80%, subject to state law considerations. It is uncertain when the COVID-19 mitigation measures in place as of the filing of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q will be further eased or eliminated.

With respect to the Company’s operations in Montana, on November 20, 2020, the Governor of Montana issued an emergency executive order limiting operating capacity in all restaurants and bars to 50%. In addition, the order required all such businesses to close between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am. In January 2021, the Governor of Montana rescinded the requirement for limited operating capacity, although certain restrictions at various counties remained in place as of March 31, 2021.

The Company’s Maryland operations have been subject to a reduced operating capacity requirement of 50% since re-opening on June 19, 2020. On November 17, 2020, the Governor of Maryland issued an emergency executive order further restricting food service establishments by requiring them to close from 10 pm to 6 am. During these closure hours, such establishments are allowed to take carry out and delivery orders off premises but such venues, including casinos, are not permitted to serve any beverages. On March 12, 2021, the Governor of Maryland rescinded all emergency executive orders related to COVID-19 limitations.

Temporary closures of the Company’s operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lease concessions for certain of the Company’s taverns and route locations. Such concessions provided for deferral and, in some instances, forgiveness of rent payments with no substantive amendments to the consideration due per the terms of the original contract and did not result in a substantial change in the Company’s obligations under such leases. The Company elected to account for the deferred rent as variable lease payments, which resulted in a reduction of rent expense in the amount of $1.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021. Rent expense that was not forgiven will be recorded in future periods as these deferred payments are paid to the Company’s lessors.

The disruptions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic continue to have an impact on the Company’s financial condition, as it is unknown when the pandemic will end, when or how quickly the current travel restrictions, occupancy and other limitations will be further eased or cease to be necessary, and how these uncertainties will impact the Company’s business and the willingness of customers to spend on travel and entertainment. In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company implemented various mitigating actions to preserve liquidity, including delaying material capital expenditures, reducing operating expenses and implementing a cost reduction program with respect to discretionary expenditures. Such measures remained in effect during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and as of March 31, 2021, the Company’s $200 million revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility”) was undrawn and available for borrowing. To further enhance its liquidity position or to finance any future acquisition or other business investment initiatives, the Company may obtain additional financing, which could consist of debt, convertible debt or equity financing from public or private credit and capital markets.

Basis of Presentation

The unaudited consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) applicable to interim financial information. Accordingly, certain information normally included in the annual financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) has been condensed and/or omitted. For further information, refer to the audited consolidated financial statements of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2020 and the notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Annual Report”) previously filed with the SEC. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments, which included only normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly the Company’s results for the periods presented. Results for interim periods should not be considered indicative of the results to be expected for the full year and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Annual Report.

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. All material intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Significant Accounting Policies

There have been no changes to the significant accounting policies disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report.

Net Income (Loss) Per Share

Basic net income (loss) per share is calculated by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted-average common shares outstanding. Diluted net income per share in profitable periods reflects the effect of all potentially dilutive common shares outstanding by dividing net income by the weighted-average of all common and potentially dilutive shares outstanding. In the event of a net loss, diluted shares are not considered because of their anti-dilutive effect. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the effect of all potential common share equivalents was anti-dilutive due to the Company being in net loss position, and therefore, all such shares were excluded from the computation of diluted weighted average shares outstanding. The amount of potential common share equivalents excluded was 1,141,739 for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

Reclassification of Prior Year Balances

Reclassifications were made to the Company’s prior period consolidated financial statements to conform to the current period presentation, where applicable.

Accounting Standards Issued and Adopted

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. The ASU was intended to simplify the accounting for income taxes by removing certain exceptions for investments, intraperiod allocations, and interim calculations, and added guidance to reduce the complexity of applying Topic 740. The Company adopted the standard effective January 1, 2021, and the adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements or disclosures.

Management does not believe that any other recently issued accounting standards that are not yet effective are likely to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.