Things were going well at the Desert palm, revenues were going up, expense were coming down, and his employees’ biggest complaint was that they were too busy. Reading the local paper one morning, Hoffman saw that the Regency was going out of business. Wasting no time, he arranged a meeting with Larry Long, owner of the Regency, to inquire what the selling price of the casino would be. Long said he would take $2 million, which Hoffman countered with $1.5 million. Long agreed to sell for that amount. The handshake deal would only last as long as other, higher offers were not received.