Sahara Las Vegas to Bid Farewell to Poker Room

Sahara Las Vegas, a casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip, just made headlines because of an unfortunate water stoppage. While the company managed to get the issue fixed, it hasn’t managed to deal with the leak of poker players toward other verticals.

As a result, the Sahara confirmed that it will be closing its poker room, replacing it with more slot machines.

Sahara to Turn Poker Room into Slots Space

As reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Sahara is set to bid farewell to its poker room on November 16.

Paul Hobson, the casino resort’s general manager spoke on the matter, elaborating that the area will be used for new “slot banks,” allowing Sahara Las Vegas’ visitors to be among the first to try out some of the latest games from the hottest provider.

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.

Paul Hobson, general manager, Sahara Las Vegas

Sahara’s poker room, for context, was a 7-table space with atmospheric light and several screens broadcasting sporting events. The room runs four poker tournaments a day but the casino is still likely unable to cope with the declining interest in poker.

Strip Casinos Are Putting an End to Poker Rooms

Sahara, however, is not the first property in Las Vegas to close its poker room. Poker in Las Vegas has been on the decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed many players online. Poker rooms have thus become something of a loss leader.

Yet, despite initial efforts to keep smaller poker rooms at least somewhat profitable, many big casinos have decided to simply replace them with more profitable products.

The Excalibur, which was one of the first properties to close its poker room, is currently hosting slot machine tournaments in the area. Its poker room was closed in 2020, at the peak of the pandemic, and was never reopened.

Around the same time, the now-demolished Tropicana and the Mirage also closed their poker rooms and likewise never reopened them.

Later that same year, Harrah’s also put its poker room out of its misery, turning it into a slot machine area for non-smokers. The area was eventually transformed into an electronic table game space.

A year later, Planet Hollywood followed the other casinos’ suit and traded its poker room for more slots. In November 2021, The Flamingo also closed its poker room but turned it into a sportsbook instead.

The latest casino to close its poker room was Caesars. In August, Caesars Palace temporarily replaced its own room with a slot machine area during the renovation of its high-limit slot area. Some fans, however, fear that the poker room will never be reopened, ending the property’s decades-long poker traditions.