At the end of November, The Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel & Casino became the latest to close its poker room permanently.
While the Flamingo Poker Room wasn’t the most prestigious in Sin City, it does mark the third poker room to close its doors this year and the 39th poker room to close shop in the last 10 years according to John Mehaffey at Vegas Advantage.
Originally, the Flamingo announced in September alongside Bally’s that they would close their poker room temporarily. At the time, there was little reason not to take this announcement at its word due to potential staffing issues with the World Series of Poker, which alongside the Flamingo and Bally’s is owned by Caesars Entertainment, was making its triumphant return.
However, the Flamingo announced to its employees that what was originally a temporary closure was now a permanent one just three days before it was scheduled to reopen.
Las Vegas Remains the Poker Mecca
Throughout most of our lifetimes, Las Vegas has been known as the live poker mecca of the world. This will likely not change with Vegas hosting some of the biggest cash games and events including the World Series of Poker, which coincidentally just announced that will be moving from the Rio All Suites Hotel & Casino to Bally’s and Paris starting in 2022.
While places like the ARIA Poker Room, the Venetian Poker Room, the Bellagio Poker Room are amongst those best known for high stakes poker, the Flamingo Poker Room was best suited to those with much smaller bankrolls with $1/$2 no-limit hold’em and $3/$6 limit hold’em being the prominent cash games held alongside multiple small stakes tournaments held each day.
The high-stakes poker scene appears to be thriving as can be evidenced with the nosebleed games not only at the WSOP but also with new innovations including the PokerGO Tour.
However, lower-stakes players appear to have fewer options as the days go on. This year witnessed not only the closure of the Flamingo Poker Room but also the poker rooms at both the Silver Sevens and Planet Hollywood, which is owned by Caesars Entertainment like the WSOP and the Flamingo. Planet Hollywood hit the hearts of many poker tourists as it provided lower-stakes players an amazing option throughout the WSOP for many years. Perhaps it was the COVID pandemic that was the final nail in the coffin for all three poker rooms as each reopened after regulations were lifted only to close their doors permanently.
Las Vegas Remains the Poker Mecca
Other poker rooms at Las Vegas casinos didn’t even give it a go after local coronavirus regulations were lifted with 10 poker rooms permanently closed as of March 2020 including the legendary Binion’s Poker Room. Poker rooms at the Cannery, Club Fortune, the Excalibur, the Green Valley Ranch, Harrah’s, the Mirage, the Palace Station, the Rio, and Sam’s Town.
- Flamingo (November 2021)
- Silver Sevens (August 2021)
- Planet Hollywood (July 2021)
- Binion’s (March 2020)
- Cannery (March 2020)
- Club Fortune (March 2020)
- Excalibur (March 2020)
- Green Valley Ranch (March 2020)
- Harrah’s (March 2020)
- Mirage (March 2020)
- Palace Station (March 2020)
- Rio (March 2020)
- Sam’s Town (March 2020)
Landscape Will Continue to Evolve
There are still plenty of options for poker players despite the plethora of smaller poker rooms closing shop. Casinos that attract higher-stakes players almost always have tables for lower-stakes players as well and many tournaments festivals, including the WSOP, have found a way to be more inclusive for lower-stakes players both with their direct bracelet offerings and side events including the popular Daily Deepstacks.
It is likely that Las Vegas will witness more poker rooms in Las Vegas close rather than open for years to come. Several reasons lead to this author’s opinion including more options locally, uncertainty with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and casinos potentially finding it more profitable to host other games instead of poker. This doesn’t mean the poker world is crashing as it merely just means a shift in the landscape as the demand for poker still remains strong.
