There are more poker rooms in Las Vegas then in any other city in the world. If we have our count correct, there are 55 open and operating poker rooms in the greater Las Vegas area. But with the state of the U.S. economy, including the cost of gasoline to get all of those nearby Californians to Las Vegas; all is not well in the center of the gaming world.
Here is a current report on the poker economy in Las Vegas.
NEW ROOMS: Later this month the Eastside Cannery will open on the (naturally) East side of town. This is the first new casino opening in this area in a little over ten years. The Eastside Cannery Casino includes a "First Class Poker" room.
NEWLY, REMODELED ROOMS: Fresh locations and new tables have popped up at the Stratosphere and Sunset Station. The Orleans and Golden Nugget also had major face lifts in the last year.
FUTURE ROOMS: The Encore, Steve Wynn's second tower, did not go through with plans to have a poker room bigger and better than the one already in Wynn. MGM's City Center casino Aria, however, still plans to include a World Class Poker room that will rival Bellagio and Venetian as the premiere rooms in the city.
NEW and ELECTRONIC ROOMS?: Rumors continue to swirl that the new Station Casino at Aliante in North Las Vegas will open this fall with a completely electronic poker room. This has not been confirmed but as it turns out, Aliante would not be the first poker room in Las Vegas to embrace dealer-less electronic tables.
OLD/NEW ELECTRONIC ROOM: The Excalibur Hotel and Casino announced yesterday that they are closing the old poker room and opening a brand new, all-electronic room before the end of the month. This will be the first electronic poker room in Las Vegas.
LIMITED HOURS: Several poker rooms have gone to a late night "empty room" close, which simply means that after midnight if no tables are in action; the room closes until sometime the next morning. Both Treasure Island and Riviera have made this move and more rooms are expected to follow.
CLOSING ROOMS: There are always rumors about poker rooms about to close. Some are rumors and some are clearly leaks from corporate headquarters. Currently on the death watch list: Paris, Tropicana, Plaza and Hooters. On the doubtful list is a long-standing rumor that Caesars Palace management wants the huge space now occupied by the poker room for something more income producing, however, this remains only a rumor.
It would appear that poker in Las Vegas has hit its first downturn in at least three years. That being said overall gaming revenues are down this fall in Las Vegas. While late summer revenues are generally lower in the scorching Nevada desert, these are yearly comparisons and clearly poker players are not playing like they were just a year ago.
