Affinity in turn bought Golden's three casinos in Black Hawk, which were valued at a total of $76–92 million. Golden Gaming agreed in January 2015 to merge with Lakes Entertainment. Sartini would own 35% of the company and serve as its chief executive officer. The merger was completed on August 3, 2015, establishing Golden Entertainment. The company expanded into Montana in 2016, purchasing slot routes with 2,800 machines for a total of $45 million. In June 2017, Golden Entertainment was granted a license for slot route operations in Illinois. This marked the fourth state Golden is licensed. In October 2017, Golden Entertainment acquired American Casino & Entertainment Properties for $850 million, which expanded the company's casino portfolio by four: the Stratosphere, Arizona Charlie's Boulder, Arizona Charlie's Decatur and the Aquarius Casino Resort. The following year, the company announced a $140 million renovation of the Stratosphere. In January 2019, the company bought the Colorado Belle and Edgewater casinos in Laughlin, Nevada from Marnell Gaming (owner and operator of Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks) for $190 million. Slot route operator with over 9000 machines in Nevada and more than 2,800 games in Montana