Failed Las Vegas Poker Rooms
Poker in Las Vegas has seen better days. A few major poker rooms host a majority of the Las Vegas poker action. The lack of online poker availability to most players in the country has lowered the demand for it for Las Vegas tourists. This has caused some Las Vegas poker rooms to call it quits.
Linq Poker Room
The Linq was once known as The Quad and Imperial Palace. During the Imperial Palace days, the poker room sat just inside the front doors to the right. This attracted all sorts of action. During its transition to The Quad, the poker room was moved to the third floor of the property. This presented a challenging situation as it was unable to attract random passersby into the room. Once the remodel was completed, the room was relocated to the first floor. By then, the damage was done. The poker room was closed in January 2015. It reopened a few months later and closed again in August 2016. Former players are referred to the Harrah’s poker room.
Texas Station Poker Room
The Texas Station poker room dealt its last hand in August 2014. The Rancho Strip casino drew little action from the locals in the North Las Vegas area. The property is owned by Station Casinos, which now refers poker players to Santa Fe Station or Palace Station.
Sunset Station Poker Room
Also a Station Casinos property, this poker room ceased operations in May 2014. The poker room at Sunset Station struggled to even get one game off the ground most days. Players that once gave action to this room were sent to Green Valley Ranch, also owned by Station Casinos.
Palms Poker Room
The Palms poker room may be the nicest poker room to fail in the history of Las Vegas. It was managed by Cantor Gaming, known today as CG Technologies. It failed in May 2014.
The Palms poker room was a part of the Cantor sports book at Palms. It was surrounded by the state of the art entertainment system expected in a sports book of this caliber. Somehow, it failed to draw players. This section is now the seating area for VIP sports bettors.
El Cortez Poker Room
The El Cortez poker room was a unique spectacle. It offered a $1-$6 spread limit game with a single $1 blind. The rake was a unique $3.50, with an additional $.50 that went into a jackpot. The two highest hands in a day split the jackpot drop. There was also a $1-$4 Seven Card Stud high game that ran on Saturdays for decades. The Seven Card Stud players disagreed with the room’s management and the game collapsed.
Jackie Gaughan played in the spread limit game, almost until the day he died. He was famous for developing many of the downtown Las Vegas properties and lived in the penthouse suite at El Cortez. He openly discussed the throwback days of Las Vegas to any player that asked about it. The El Cortez poker room closed on December 31, 2013.
Circus Circus Poker Room
The Circus Circus poker room was a throwback to the days of the Stardust Casino and Resort. The games from the closed casino moved over to Circus Circus. In September 2013, MGM Resorts decided to drop the poker room. The area is now used as a players club center.
M Resort Poker Room
The M Resort opened at the peak of the Las Vegas economy. As the bust ballooned, M Resort suffered greatly, as its location is not practical for most Las Vegas residents. Its poker room declined due to poor management and an even worse location.
Better poker rooms at Green Valley Ranch and South Point prevented the M Resort from ever being a serious contender in the Las Vegas poker market. In August 2013, the poker room finally closed, after being unable to average one cash game per day.
Riviera Poker Room
The poker room at Riviera struggled for years to draw players. The casino could never figure out how to draw players outside of the billiards tournaments that often visited the property. The poker room even resorted to taking a $2 jackpot drop, typically a death knell. It threw in the towel in June 2013.
Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall Poker Room
Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall was on the former site of Barbary Coast. Caesars shuttered the property to make room for The Cromwell, which opened without a poker room.
Tropicana Poker Room
The Tropicana in Las Vegas could write a book about how not to manage a poker room. The resort’s poker room was a train wreck from day one. Not only did it sign Jamie Gold as its ambassador, it tanked a tournament series and took a $3 jackpot drop to fund prop players. It rightfully found its demise in September 2012.
Plaza Poker Room
Plaza was a booming poker room up until the mid 2000’s. The casino closed its poker room after a 2010 renovation. Plaza brought back Poker Pro electronic tables in 2012. These were popular for tournaments. Pokertek, the company that manufactured Poker Pro tables, was acquired by a third party. The new owners did not attempt to get licensed in Nevada and the poker room closed in 2016.
Aliante Casino Poker Room
Aliante Casino spread a live poker room until the company was acquired by creditors in the Station Casinos bankruptcy. The poker room closed but was replaced by an electronic poker room in 2015. Like Plaza, the owner of the Poker Pro machines decided not to get licensed in Nevada and the poker room closed.
Hooters Poker Room
The poker room at Hooters spread just two tables. Its only game was $1/$2 No Limit Texas Hold’em. The room was dark most hours of the day. The lack of traffic caused casino management to close the room and replace it with a promotional area.
Eastside Cannery
Eastside Cannery is a small locals casino on Boulder Highway. It spread four tables. The main game was $2-$6 Spread Limit Texas Hold’em in its table gane pit. The room was dark for a majority of the day. The casino decided to close the room in April 2016.
Hard Rock
The poker room at Hard Rock was not so much a room as it was a section of the table games pit. There was rarely more than one game running at a time. Hard Rock only offered private tournaments. Most of the action was at cash games. Hard Rock closed its poker room in March 2017.
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is in a transitional stage. It will become The Park sometime in 2018 after an extensive remodel. The new casino brand will not have a poker room. The one at Monte Carlo folded in April 2017. The main games were 2-6 spread limit and 1/2 no limit Texas Hold’em.
Luxor
The Luxor poker room struggled for many of its last years. It was one of three poker rooms within the corridor that connected Mandalay Bay and Excalibur. MGM Resorts management decided to close the Luxor poker room in June 2017. This decision made sense as players could easily walk to two other poker rooms without going outside. The main game was 1/2 No Limit Texas Hold’em.