Something got me thinking about how poker rooms have changed since I moved to town in July, 2006. I started down a mental list of casinos, and could think of only a handful in which there has not been an opening, closing, or move of the poker room in the time I've lived here.
What follows is my attempt to catalog such changes. This is all done from memory, and will undoubtedly have a few errors, but the point still stands: Nothing in Vegas is forever, including poker rooms.
Aliante Station: Opened, then moved.
Aria: Opened.
Arizona Charlie's--Decatur: Moved twice.
Bally's: No change.
Bellagio: No change.
Bill's: Opened, then moved.
Binion's: Moved.
Boulder Station: No change.
Caesars Palace: Opened.
Cannery: Moved three times.
Circus Circus: No change.
Club Fortune: Moved.
Eastside Cannery: Opened, then moved.
El Cortez: No change.
Excalibur: Moved; then fired dealers, went to electronic tables, then went back to live dealers.
Fiesta Henderson: Moved twice, then closed.
Fiesta Rancho: Closed.
Fitzgerald's: No change.
Flamingo: No change.
Gold Coast: Moved, then closed.
Golden Nugget: Moved.
Green Valley Ranch: Moved.
Hacienda: Closed.
Hard Rock: Opened, then moved.
Harrah's: No change.
Hilton: Closed.
Hooters (formerly San Remo): Opened.
Imperial Palace: Moved three times.
Jokers Wild: Moved.
Luxor: Moved twice.
M Resort: Opened.
Mandalay Bay: No change.
MGM Grand: No change.
Mirage: No change.
Monte Carlo: No change.
Orleans: No change.
O'Shea's: Opened.
Nevada Palace: Casino closed (later reopened as Eastside Cannery).
Palace Station: No change.
Palms: No change.
Paris: Moved, then closed.
Planet Hollywood (formerly Aladdin): Moved three times.
Plaza: Closed (I think).
Poker Palace: No change.
Railroad Pass: Closed.
Rampart: Opened, then closed.
Red Rock: No change (opened shortly before I arrived).
Rio: No change.
Riviera: Moved.
Sahara: No change.
Sam's Town: Moved.
Santa Fe Station: Moved.
Silverton: Moved twice.
South Point (formerly South Coast): Moved.
Speedway: Closed.
Stardust: Casino closed.
Stratosphere: Moved.
Suncoast: Moved.
Sunset Station: Moved.
Terrible's: Opened.
Texas Station: No change.
Treasure Island: No change.
Tropicana: Closed (reported to be reopening soon).
Tuscany: Closed, then reopened.
Venetian: No change. (Opened shortly before I arrived.)
Wynn: No change.
That's 66 properties I've listed, of which only 22 I classify as "no change" in the past 4 1/2 years. (Of course, they've all had changes in personnel, in games spread, in rules, number of tables, tournament schedule, etc. I'm talking about opening, closing, or moving, plus the one unique type of change listed for the Excalibur.)
Monday, February 21, 2011
The only thing that's constant is change
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15 comments:
Interesting list.
The one thing about which I was going to ask, you noted in your parenthetical comment at the end of the post that you were not tracking. I was wondering how many rooms have made significant upsizes or downsizes during the sample period (e.g., Hard Rock moved, but I believe it also downsized).
It was hard enough on my poor, addled, almost-50-effing-year-old brain to come up with what I did. Trying to guess who might have upsized or downsized significantly would short-circuit me for sure.
Gold Coast closed a couple weeks ago. Now it's a broken slot dumping ground. Signs urge visitors to play Orleans a mile away.
Thanks. I did hear something about that, but then forgot. Post corrected.
I believe Bills has moved.
Yep. Fixed. Thanks.
Maybe you should list the Stardust as imploded.
The room at the IP has moved three times since you've been here. Started upstairs, moved to front of building, moved to area directly next to bar, moved back to front of building.
I like the first idea - track how many have grown/shrunk in the last few years. Like you, however, I doubt my age-addled, sun-baked brain has sufficient power to come up with all of those ;)
I'm taking your word for it, and noted three moves for IP in the post now. I had heard that from others, but I waited a long time before I finally went there, so only knew it from next to the bar.
The Cannery Poker room has moved back to the Pit. Obviously you would not have personal knowledge of that fact.
I was surprised to see you note that AZ charlies boulder closed. I didn't think they ever had a room.
You say AZ Charlies Decatur has not changed, but in fact it has. The room moved for a while to small area near the pit, and then moved back to its current location. I'm not certain fo the dates but i am sure that the second move was just in the past couple of years.
Also I'm pretty sure the Riviera Room moved once in this time frame. I remember it opening up in an area closer to the pit and then moving but I can't be certain if that was before or after 2006.
I also seem to remember hearing about a poker table or two at the Las Vegas Club -- not sure how long that lasted.
And I read a report that the poker table at the Town Tavern is no more.
Also I thought that the room at Aliante Station has moved form its original location... but i could be wrong
I am handicapped by the fact that there are some rooms I virtually never go to. Been to all of them at least once, but for many it is only once.
I think I did see something in ads about Cannery's "new" poker room, so I'll change that. AZ Charlies Boulder was just based on having read something about it around the time I moved here and was looking online for recommendations of where to play--but I could easily be misremembering that. AZ Charlies Decatur is one of those "one time was enough" places for me, but I'll take your word for the change. Aliante I went to a couple of times, but both right after opening--it's just too inconvenient to get to for me to bother with. I'll ask Missing Flops--he plays there all the time.
Yup, Aliante did. The original room is now a bingo room.
Hey Grump,
I got your message on Twitter and checked out this list.
As your post stated, you are looking specifically for post-2006 transitions. This is key, as even a year prior would severely altar your list (the vast majority of these rooms opened between 2004-2005).
Here are some changes as far as I am aware of:
Airzona Charlie's Boulder has not had a poker room at all.
Cannery has moved 3 times. Pit to hallway then back to pit.
I was not aware of Circus Circus moving since 2006. It moved from it's ORIGINAL location, but that was quite a while ago.
Eastside Cannery has moved since it first opened. It is now in what was once the Keno lounge.
Excalibur has moved several times, but since 2006, it has moved once, to it's current location.
Monte Carlo has not moved. It has been in it's current location since the resort opened.
Nevada Palace, much like Stardust didn't just close their poker room. Their entire property was demolished.
Planet Hollwood has moved 4 times, but possibly only 3 since 2006. Aladdin had it under Sinbad's Lounge, then it went upstairs, then it went in front of PF Changes, then it went to it's current location.
As far as I know, Plaza is still operational, but it would not surprise me if it has indeed closed.
Riviera has moved once.
Santa Fe Station has moved once.
Silverton has only moved once, AFAIK.
Thanks. I listed Silverton as moving twice because it spent several months in a temporary location in the middle of the casino floor while the new wing was being built.
Since 2004, the Golden Nugget has moved twice. They were by the pool and then moved over to where the current sportsbook is before moving again to their current home.
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