Think Big, Win Bigger
A sit down with Dan Groesbeck, vice president of Nevada Distributed Gaming, Golden Entertainment, Inc.
PT’s Taverns Debuts Groundbreaking Giant Keno Progressive
By Steve Kieva
On Oct. 22, gaming leader Golden Entertainment, Inc.’s PT’s Taverns, Nevada’s largest tavern operator, launched its trailblazing Giant Keno Progressive across 65 southern Nevada locations. This marks the first time a collection of taverns in Nevada has offered a keno jackpot of this size.
For its inaugural launch, the Giant Keno Progressive 10-spot keno jackpot starts at $100,000 and grows daily up to $200,000. After a jackpot is won, it resets to $10,000, beginning to grow again across the 65 participating PT’s Taverns locations.
“PT’s Taverns has always been at the forefront of creating the best locals’ tavern experience, and the Giant Keno Progressive is our biggest step yet,” said Blake Sartini II, chief operating officer for Golden Entertainment. “With jackpots that can reach $200,000, we’re offering the largest keno progressive ever introduced in a Nevada tavern. It’s an exciting milestone for PT’s Taverns and our guests, who can now enjoy Strip-level progressive action right in their neighborhood.”
Players can wager just $1 on clearly marked bartop machines at any PT’s Tavern location, including PT’s Pub, Sierra Junction, PT’s Place, PT’s Ranch, Lucky’s, Great American Pub, Sean Patrick’s, PT’s Gold, Sierra Gold and SG Bar. Once a jackpot is claimed, it resets and begins building again, ensuring a continuous stream of winning opportunities. With a starting jackpot nearly 10 times larger than most taverns and casinos offer for a 10-spot keno game, the Giant Keno Progressive offers a one-of-a-kind chance to win life-changing payouts from a small wager.
The program has already launched across 50 PT’s Tavern locations and more than 650 interconnected gaming devices in the Las Vegas Valley. It is now available at 65 PT’s Taverns locations, connecting more than 820 video poker and keno machines, the largest number of linked games ever in a restricted gaming environment in Nevada.
“Our Giant Keno Progressive and expanded lineup of linked progressives are designed to transform tavern gaming,” said Dan Groesbeck, vice president of Nevada distributed gaming for Golden Entertainment. “More locations mean more games, faster-growing jackpots, and more winners. This rollout represents a major evolution in how progressives can create excitement and community in a tavern setting.”
In addition to the Giant Keno Progressive, PT’s Taverns is expanding its lineup of linked keno and video poker jackpots. Guests can easily identify bartop machines eligible for the Giant Keno Progressive and other linked jackpots by signage within each tavern.
Keno Linked Progressives:
- 7-spot progressive begins at $7,000 on a $1 wager.
- 9-spot progressive begins at $10,000 on a $1 wager.
- Both progressives are linked across 65 PT’s Taverns locations, growing quickly with each play.
- Two recent 9-spot jackpots have already paid out more than $17,000 and $44,000 each.
Video Poker Linked Progressives:
- Royal flush jackpots begin at $1,000 on quarter machines and $4,000 on dollar machines.
- Progressives are linked across specific groups of PT’s Taverns, ensuring rapid growth and more frequent winners.
Here is some additional information about P.T’s Taverns. My personal favorite is S Bar. It’s a huge restaurant with many large-screen TVs for watching sports. It has a private viewing room for special events. The food is spectacular, especially their wings.
P.T.’s Taverns is Nevada’s largest traditional tavern operator with over 70 locations throughout the state. They include all PT’s Pub, Sierra Junction, PT’s Place, PT’s Ranch, Lucky’s, Great American Pub, Sean Patrick’s, PT’s Gold, Sierra Gold and SG Bar taverns.
The subtle differences in menu items and drinks are noticeable at each “branch” of P.T’s Tavern, making a visit to each one unique.
All PT’s Taverns offer HDTVs throughout each tavern, making PT’s a locals’ favorite for cheering on Las Vegas’ home teams, including the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Las Vegas Aces and UNLV Rebels. Signature cocktails, as well as a variety of PT’s craft and imported beer, are available at all locations. Select PT’s Taverns serve a variety of dishes, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. PT’s award-winning Half-Off Happy Hour is offered twice daily, from 5-7 p.m. and midnight-2 a.m., at all PT’s locations.
I had an opportunity to ask Dan Groesbeck, vice president of Nevada Distributed Gaming, Golden Entertainment, Inc. some questions:
CP: How did the concept of Giant Keno Progressive originate?
DG: PT’s has always been about serving the neighborhood, and the PT’s Giant Keno Progressive came directly from that focus. Our PT’s Taverns patrons can now win a 10-spot keno progressive jackpot up to $200,000 at only a $1 bet. We wanted to give our regular guests this meaningful, high-excitement experience: a chance at a life-changing win without leaving their local tavern. By linking machines across 65 locations, we created the first of its kind keno and video poker progressive program, with the largest tavern jackpots in Nevada taverns, which still feels rooted in the places our guests already call home.
In addition to our PT’s Giant Keno Progressive 10-Spot keno jackpot, we also have a new PT’s Linked Progressive program that we launched simultaneously. PT’s Linked Progressives include a 7-spot keno progressive beginning at $7,000 and a 9-spot keno progressive beginning at $10,000. They also include dollar and quarter poker progressive jackpots on royal flushes and four aces with a kicker (2, 3 or 4). Since these progressives are linked across groups of our PT’s Taverns locations, it ensures rapid growth and more frequent winners around the Las Vegas area.
I know this concept recently debuted in late October, how is it doing?
It’s off to a very strong start. Since launching across 65 locations and more than 820 machines, we’ve seen great participation and growing momentum. We’re almost to our first 30-day mark in November, and we’ve already had two 9-spot progressive keno hits and over 30 7-spot keno progressive hits, totaling more than $250,000 in progressive jackpots in just the first month alone! The program is accomplishing exactly what we wanted—more linked locations and machines for the biggest progressive keno and video poker jackpots ever in Nevada taverns.
How has the PT’s brand expanded or developed over the years?
Our PT’s Taverns’ brand is centered around a simple, core idea: locals serving locals. PT’s Taverns are where regulars can gather, enjoy good food and drinks, catch a game and play in a comfortable, familiar setting. As we’ve expanded our taverns and offerings, that community focus hasn’t changed. We’ve stayed true to the neighborhood-tavern identity while adding new gaming and hospitality programs that continue to strengthen our guests’ connections with their local PT’s. Our commitment remains to serving top-quality brands and providing community service and value. We are still the only tavern in Nevada to offer half-off happy hours for every drink type and spirit we offer twice daily (even the good stuff!), and we have monthly food specials, drink specials and game-day menus.
We’re proud partners of local Vegas-area sports teams including University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) and Vegas Golden Knights and support local area schools and nonprofits like our upcoming 27th Annual 98.5 KLUC “Chet Buchanan Show” Toy Drive, which culminates on Dec. 11. Last year, our PT’s Taverns raised $30,000 in cash donations, 682 bikes and 1719 toys for our Las Vegas-area kids!
There are many different versions/variations of the original PT’s Taverns. What was the purpose in all the different names as opposed to only having one name?
Each of our tavern brands has its own personality, but they all fall under the PT’s Taverns umbrella and share the same commitment to value, hospitality and gaming. The different names let us tailor the setting and some unique menu items to the neighborhood and vibe, such as a more sports-forward, casual hangout like Great American Pub or PT’s Pub; a more elevated feel at Sierra Gold, PT’s Gold and SG Bar; or a classic Irish-pub atmosphere at Sean Patrick’s. No matter which tavern you walk into, you’ll find the same quality, service and local-friendly experience our guests expect. It’s all about giving each community a place that feels right for them. Plus, all our PT’s Taverns locations are united under our True Rewards loyalty program, which ensures our members can earn and redeem points and other benefits across not only our 70+ taverns, but also our other eight Nevada-based casinos and resorts in Las Vegas, Laughlin and Pahrump.
How much does the menu vary from place to place? Are there any items that are on every tavern’s menu?
Our menus vary by brand, location and neighborhood preferences. Some taverns offer more specialty items, while others lean into classic bar fare. Sean Patrick’s, for example, serves up Irish pub staples like corned beef & cabbage and bangers & mash, plus our PT’s take on Irish pub grub like Reuben egg rolls and Drunk’n Skins. Across all PT’s Taverns we feature core favorites—heaping burgers, our amazing Golden wings, signature pizzas and a lineup of craft beers on tap. You’ll also find our Pub Supreme Pizza on every tavern menu with house-made pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, Italian sausage, bell pepper, red onion, mushrooms and black olives. Our menus vary seasonally and for special days of the year, too. To kick off the new year, we have a New Year’s Day, also National Hangover Day, combo special on Thursday, Jan. 1, with our indulgent Hangover Burger, fries, and choice of a bloody mary or mimosa for just $15.
Hangover Burger: blackened burger patty on a toasted brioche bun, stacked with lettuce, tomato, bacon, cheddar, fried egg, crispy onions and PT’s signature burger sauce.
What are your three best-selling menu items?
We have a number of fan favorites across all our neighborhood menus. Three of the top sellers include our Pub Classic Burger, our Golden Wings and our Carne Asada Cheese Bites.
Pub Classic Burger: two quarter-pound patties, PT’s signature burger sauce, lettuce, tomato, pickle and red onion piled on a brioche bun.
Golden Wings: our traditional bone-in wings and boneless wings are served plain or tossed in any of our signature sauces or spice blends, such as buffalo, Nashville hot, Cajun spice, honey chipotle, mango habanero, mesquite BBQ, lemon pepper and garlic Parmesan, just to name a few. They’re available in multiple sizes like snack, share and gameday packs, and served up with ranch or bleu cheese, carrots, celery sticks and a side of fries.
Carne Asada Cheese Bites: crispy cheese curds filled with marinated steak, served with sides of pico de gallo and chipotle ranch.
A lot of tourists don’t want to venture off of The Strip. How would you convince them to make that trip to a PT’s Tavern?
I’d tell them this: step away from the Strip excitement for a moment and experience neighborhood comfort, local charm and the chance to win big on a simple $1 wager. At PT’s Taverns, you get friendly service, great food and drinks deals, and now the largest progressive jackpot you’ll find in a tavern setting, all in one spot. It feels like your favorite hometown bar: great drinks, burgers, wings and pizzas, and all the games on TV with the thrills of keno and video poker games added in. We’re local, family founded and owned, and we’ll treat you like part of our extended Nevada family too!
