Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

v3.6.0.2
SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]  
SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION
SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

2015 Equity Incentive Plan. On March 31, 2015, our board of directors adopted the Full House Resorts, Inc. 2015 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”). Our stockholders approved the 2015 Plan on May 5, 2015, terminating our Amended and Restated 2006 Incentive Compensation Plan (the "2006 Plan"). The 2015 Plan includes shares reserved for issuance of up to 1,400,000 new shares to directors, employees and consultants and allows for a variety of forms of awards, including stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, dividend equivalents and performance-based compensation. Stock option awards have maximum 10-year terms and all awards issued thus far vest on an accelerated basis if there is a change in control of the Company, unless the awards are assumed by the successor as defined.

In May 2016, the Company issued stock options to purchase 420,000 shares of our common stock to various employees of the Company, all of which have an exercise price of $1.70 per share, a price higher than the Company's closing price on the day of grant. These stock options all vest in equal amounts over three years from the date of grant. As a part of its compensation package for serving on the Company's board of directors, the Company also issued stock options to purchase 74,116 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $1.70 per share subject to a one-year vesting period, and 49,413 shares of common stock, which vested immediately, to Full House board members. As of December 31, 2016, we had 443,756 share-based awards available for grant from the 2015 Plan.

Prior to the adoption of the 2015 Plan and outside of the 2006 Plan, in order to recruit our executive officers, we issued 943,834 non-qualified stock options to Daniel R. Lee, our Chief Executive Officer and President, and 300,000 non-qualified stock options to Lewis Fanger, our Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Messrs. Lee and Fanger's stock options vested with respect to 25% of the shares on the first anniversary of their respective grant dates, and continue to vest with respect to an additional 1/48th of the shares on each monthly anniversary thereafter.

Stock Options. The following table summarizes information related to our common stock options:
 
Number
of Stock
Options
 
Weighted
Average
Exercise Price
Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term
(in years)
Aggregate Instrinsic Value
Options outstanding at January 1, 2016
1,563,834

 
$
1.33

 
 
Granted
494,116

 
$
1.70

 
 
Exercised

 

 
 
Canceled/Forfeited

 

 
 
Options outstanding at December 31, 2016
2,057,950

 
$
1.42

8.38
$
2,025,090

Options exercisable at December 31, 2016
741,994

 
$
1.31

8.02
$
808,311



As of December 31, 2016, 741,994 stock options had vested, the remainder were unvested, and none of the unvested options are estimated to be forfeited.

As of December 31, 2016, there was approximately $0.6 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock options granted by the Company. This unrecognized compensation cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.88 years.

Compensation Cost.  Compensation expense for the periods ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 was $0.4 million and $0.3 million, respectively. These costs are recognized on a straight-line basis over the vesting period of the awards net of estimated forfeitures and are included in selling, general and administrative expense on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

We estimated the fair value of each stock option award on the grant date using the Black-Scholes valuation model. Option valuation models require the input of highly subjective assumptions, and changes in assumptions used can materially affect the fair value estimate. Option valuation weighted-average assumptions were as follows:
 
For the year ended December 31,
 
2016
 
2015
Expected volatility
43.87%
 
51.3%
Expected dividend yield
—%
 
—%
Expected term (in years)
1.85
 
4.4
Weighted average risk free rate
1.41%
 
1.34%


The weighted-average grant date fair value of options granted during the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 was $0.67 and $0.60 per share.

Expected volatility is based on the historical volatility of our stock price. Dividend yield is based on the estimate of annual dividends expected to be paid at the time of the grant. The expected term considers the contractual term of the option as well as historical exercise and forfeiture behavior.  The risk-free interest rate is based on the rates in effect on the grant date for U.S. Treasury instruments with maturities matching the relevant expected term of the award.