Three Las Vegas Strip Casinos Celebrate 25th AnniversariesParis, Venetian, Mandalay Bay Played Role In Sin City’s Poker Scene |
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This year marks a milestone for a lot of the Las Vegas Strip – the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Paris, Venetian, and Mandalay Bay resorts. The unveiling of these three properties became the first time three megaresorts debuted in the same year and cost a collective $3.2 billion (more than $6 billion today) to build.
These casinos changed the face of Las Vegas and also how some in the industry did business, transitioning away even more from solely focusing on gaming revenue and offering other experiences for guests.
“The debut of these three properties generated excitement, drawing both repeat visitors and new tourists on an international scale,” former gaming executive and industry consultant and educator Robert Ambrose recently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“They also provided expanded convention space and hotel rooms at a time when Las Vegas needed it most. This expansion sparked a ripple effect throughout the local hospitality industry, accelerating what was then called the ‘non-gaming experience’ — focused on entertainment, dining and shopping. Today, this concept has evolved into what we now know as the ‘integrated resort experience.’”
Paris, Venetian, and Mandalay Bay added about 350,000 square feet of casino gaming space to the city along with 500,000 square feet of convention and meeting space and an additional 9,100 hotel rooms. Economically, the new properties also brought in an additional 13,000 jobs.
The debuts followed other properties opening in the 1990s seeking higher-end customers. The Bellagio debuted its famous fountain in 1998, which followed the New York-New York and Monte Carlo the year prior.
Poker Experience
Since opening their doors, these properties have also been an important part of the poker world. The Venetian hosts major tournament events like the World Poker Tour, Card Player Poker Tour, and others throughout the year. The property also recently unveiled an even larger poker room, complete with 50 tables and 14,000 square feet of space.
While Paris doesn’t have a poker room, the property now co-hosts the annual _World Series of Poker _with the Horseshoe (formerly Bally’s). The series has drawn record numbers since moving to the Strip in 2022 and brought in almost 230,000 entries this year.
Mandalay Bay has also housed a small poker room since the property opened in 1999 and was once the site of a WPT event back in 2006.
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