Caesars operates 34 casinos and resorts. Eldorado Resorts has 26 properties.

Locally, Caesars owns the Harrah's casino in Reno, as well as Harrah's and Harvey's in Stateline, on Lake Tahoe's South Shore. 

Also from a local standpoint, Eldorado Resorts owns the Eldorado, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus casinos in Reno, in addition to the Montbleu resort in Stateline.

In the 1970s, Gary Carano, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eldorado Resorts, Inc. wouldn't have imagined his family's company would one day be the talk of the gaming industry.

But nearly a half-century after his father, the late Don Carano, opened the Eldorado Hotel Casino in Reno, that's precisely what Eldorado Resorts Inc. became when it reached an agreement to purchase Caesars Entertainment.

"It's beyond belief in a way," Carano said. "At the same time, we're confident about where we are now and where we're going."

In the early 1970's I shared an office with Gary Carano at the Pioneer Inn in downtown Reno. Gary was fresh out of college and he was Casino Manager at this small casino owned by his father. I was a Blackjack/Craps dealer promoted to Keno Manager. Gary was great to work with, a very nice person. 

I left the Pioneer Inn to go to work at the Peppermill in 1982. The Pioneer Inn is now a parking lot.

While Eldorado shareholders will own a majority of the combined company - about 51% - the merged company will bear the Caesars name and have about 81,000 employees.

Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said it has "been incredible to see the growth and success of Eldorado Resorts through the years," calling it a "true homegrown success story."

Becky Harris of UNLV's International Center for Gaming Regulation said the rise of Eldorado Resorts is the epitome of "the Nevada dream."

"The Caranos are a hometown family that has grown Eldorado into this huge, successful company. It's quite the story," she said.