Las Vegas Casino Death Watch

The List

Last updated: January 17, 2012

Game Over:

Lady Luck

The Lady Luck closed in February 2006, allegedly for a year-long refit. It has already been way more than a year, with no end in sight. We keep hearing encouraging noises about work restarting on this place, but it means nothing to us until we actually see folks on site with hard hats making improvements.

Sahara

The Sahara closed on May 16. The owners said they'll reopen once the economy improves. However, the fact that they're selling off its contents indicates that this isn't all that likely.

Western

The Western Casino closed on January 17, 2012.

At Death's Door:

Riviera

The situation on the north end of the Strip continues to deteriorate. The Frontier site sits empty, the Echelon site is idle, no progress has been made on the Fontainebleau project, and now the Sahara has closed shop. Only the Riviera, Stratosphere, and Circus Circus remain north of Desert Inn Road, and these places are not close enough to each other to create any synergies. They may as well be off-Strip. The Riv has been struggling and doesn't have deep pockets to help get it through this rough patch in the economy.

In the Hospital:

Binion's

The hotel rooms closed "pending renovations." We're still waiting for the first piece of evidence that these renovations are occurring. We've heard rumors that they ran into some unexpected problems during the first phase and are thinking about how to proceed. By now they've had plenty of time to think about these things, and we still see no signs of action.

Fitzgerald's

An agreement has been struck to sell Fitzgerald's to the same ownership group that runs the Golden Gate. While they have no plans to close the casino, they have indicated that they have plans to rename the casino. While we don't expect that will lead to the destruction of the physical building, it does mean that at least in some sense, Fitzgerald's as we know it will cease to exist. So, this isn't a Death Watch item as in the Stardust, but it is a Death Watch item as in the Aladdin.

Hooters

Hooters has been facing some serious financial woes during the current downturn. Now it looks like they're going up for auction. What will happen with the almost certain change of ownership? We don't know.

LVH

The Las Vegas Hilton is now LVH since it lost the Hilton franchise. It looks like that LV Hilton is losing its Hilton franchise. Some folks are kicking the tires here, but if there isn't a suitor, things could get a little dicey.

Look Healthy, but Might Have a Hidden Tumor:

Bally's

Years ago there were rumors that the Bally's site might be a good place to put a Caesars Horseshoe branded casino. Parts of the site have also been bandied about as a place to put a new sports arena. This attracts our attention, but neither seems that likely, and we doubt there will be a demolition on this plot during the current economic environment.

Bill's Gamblin' Hall

This is the new name for what used to be the Barbary Coast. It may be around for a little while, but it's definitely not part of Caesars' long term plans.

Flamingo

We still think a major redevelopment involving the Flamingo is something Caesars would like to do some day, but the upgrades that are going to happen between now and 2013 are probably all that we'll see for a while.

Golden Gate

Owner Mark Brandenburg gets a partner in Derek Stevens, and the two of them will try to market the place as a boutique hotel. As they put more money into the place, they're hoping that this investment will pay off. Will it? I guess we'll see. Extra cash makes this place more stable, though.

Harrah's

Now that we've heard Caesars' plans for Linq, and since they don't seem to include changes to Harrah's, we expect that not much will happen to this place for a while. But, you never know.

Imperial Palace

Now that we've heard what Caesars' short term plans are for Linq, and since that doesn't seem to include a big boom for the IP, we can downgrade this one a bit. However, it is going to get a facelift and a name change, so those fans of the old IP might want to swing by before things change drastically.

Tropicana

The Tropicana is under new ownership. They've even spent some money to fix up the property. It looks nice, combining some of the nice old features with some fresh touches. It certainly upgrades the old gal. So far, the new management team has done everything they've said they'd do, so we tend to give them credit for a little stability for the time being. Moreover, the changes seem to have helped, so maybe in the near future the Trop comes off the list altogether.

Wild Wild West

Station Casinos had planned to replace this property with something bigger and better, but the economic downturn and Station's bankruptcy put the kibosh on that. We expect this will still happen some day, but not for a while.

Westin Casuarina

Columbia Sussex has chosen to not contest foreclosure proceedings against the place. By itself, that's not a big deal given that they purchased the place in 2005 at what, in retrospect, had to have been an unsustainable price. In the short term, we expect little to happen to this place, but we don't know for certain that it generates enough revenue to make running this place cheaper than shuttering it up. Because we can't be certain of this, we place it on our list.

Other Properties:

We don't think these places are going to vanish any time soon, but we've heard others talk about them as if they think they might. These are our thoughts.

Circus Circus

MGM Mirage has talked about developments in and around this property. The current party line is that Circus Circus would receive a make-over, but there's always the possibility that they will change their minds and include Circus Circus in "CityCenter II" at the north end of the Strip. However, all plans point to Circus Circus being around well beyond 2012.

Rio

There are rumors that the Rio might be for sale. If it does get sold, we doubt it would close down, even for a remodel. Of course, we think the chance that it will be sold is actually quite low at the moment, but you never know.

Planet Hollywood

The Aladdin is now officially Planet Hollywood. Lots of changes have occurred at this place. The question is, has the remodel fixed all the problems that plagued this place when it opened? We'll see. Things look "better" now, but it's way too early to call them "fixed". Now that it's a Harrah's, that probably puts it in roughly the same boat as Bally's, the Flamingo, and Harrah's.

Plaza

The Plaza has reopened after its big upgrade. Tamares sank a lot of money into the place, and the initial reviews are positive. We think they'll stand pat on this place for a while, and we think the upgrades will bring it enough attention to keep it off our list for at least a few years.

Stratosphere

Sure, it's been through some seriously troubled times, but we don't think anyone will be demolishing the tower any time soon. At least if they do topple it, it won't hit anything that wouldn't be better off crushed.