Poker News / Matthew Pitt / 02 December 2009 / Leave a comment

Binion's, formerly known as Binion's Horseshoe, located in Downtown, Las Vegas will be closing its hotel down on December 14, citing a poor economy for the decision.

When Binion's was first opened in 1951 by founder Benny Binion, the casino was a haven for gamblers. Instead of shows, Binion's put the emphasis on gambling and had table limits at the craps table ten times higher than anywhere else in Las Vegas. When these limits proved extremely popular, Benny Binion then scrapped any table limits, meaning gamblers could wager any amount they liked.

Binion's is most famous for being the original home of the World Series of Poker. First held in 1970, when six of the best known poker players played for the titles, the WSOP was slow to take off and twelve years after its conception only 52 players participated. However, since then the number of players, especially in the Main Event, has sky-rocketed and when the official final Main Event was held in 2004, there were 2,576 players took part.

Harrah's Entertainment bought Binion's in 2004 when it was suffering finance issues and retained the rights to the Horseshoe and WSOP brands before selling the casino to MTR Gaming Group. As a gesture, they allowed the final two days of the 2005 Main Event take place at Binion's but every other event in the series, and every single WSOP event since has been held at the Harrah's owned The Rio.

The rooms at Binion's have always been budget and at time of writing cost $21-$23 during the week and $49-$54 at the weekends. The hotel has very few facilities including a lack of wifi, televisions controlled by dials on the front of them and 1990's style credit card internet booths. This lack of modernisation has ultimately being Binion's downfall.

Initial reports reveal 100 of the 800-strong workforce will be made redundant, 12.5% of them, though employees working in the casino and Binion's Ranch Steakhouse on the 24th floor of the building, will keep their jobs.

We reported revenues in Las Vegas have been falling for more than the past year and this is just another blow to the gambling Mecca. How long the historic Binion's will survive after this is anyone's guess, I for one hope the will continue trading for many years to come.