Sahara Becomes Latest Las Vegas Casino To Close Poker RoomSame Old Story: Cardroom Closed For More Slot Machines |
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The Las Vegas Strip will soon have one less poker room. The Sahara, located at the far north end of the Strip, announced last week that its seven-table room would be shut down Nov. 16 to make room for more slot machines.
“When it debuts in mid-December, the enhanced offerings will include dedicated slot banks where players can be some of the first in Las Vegas to play the newest test games from top gaming content providers,” the casino’s general manager Paul Hobson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “More details about this latest Sahara innovation will be announced soon.”
The room, which re-opened in February 2020, offered cash games and several lower buy-in tournaments throughout the week, including a crazy pineapple event, but failed to get the necessary traffic to continue.
Just The Latest Poker Room Shutdown
With the advent of online poker, Las Vegas has seen many poker rooms closed in recent years, including several during the COVID pandemic. Treasure Island also shuttered its poker room in 2018.
In recent years the Mirage, Excalibur, the Tropicana, the Flamingo, Harrah’s, the Cannery, Green Valley Ranch, and the Cannery have stopped offering poker. Binion’s, which launched the World Series of Poker in 1970, closed their poker room in March 2020.
Caesars Palace recently closed the property’s poker room as well to temporarily house high-stakes slots as the casino renovates that area of the property. However, that room is expected to reopen when the work is complete.
The poker room closures have affected Atlantic City as well. The Tropicana is now the only location on the Boardwalk offering poker. The cardroom at Caesars/Wild Wild West closed during the pandemic and never reopened. Ocean Resort also closed its poker venue before the pandemic. The Borgata remains a leader in poker away from the Boardwalk with 52 tables, while Harrah’s houses a 10-table room.
Also in the northeast, Encore Boston Harbor closed its poker room during the pandemic but reopened in 2022 to complaints of excessive rake.
Las Vegas players at least have some hope for a few new rooms in the coming years. Bally’s is expected to add a poker room to the casino project to be built on the site of the new stadium for the Oakland A’s baseball team.
The Seminoles are also currently redeveloping the Mirage into a Hard Rock property. The tribal operator has a substantial poker scene in Florida, so there is also at least a chance the Vegas plans call for poker as well.
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