Once one of the premiere spots in Las Vegas, Binions
Casino Hotel was synonymous with great gambling.
As the city carved its identity out of the desert, Binions
Las Vegas was owned and operated by a legend, and catered
to some of the country’s biggest names in gambling,
not to mention the gangsters that were once a major part
of the city’s image. Eventually, the city’s
center migrated away from the downtown area, but the high
class gamblers (not to mention some of the mobsters) stuck
around for years afterward.
Binions Hotel is definitely one of the most unique in
Vegas. Mostly removed
from the neon and flash that define the city, Binions
is dedicated to the idea that gambling, not bright lights,
bring in the customers. Binions Casino Hotel was
once again thrown into the spotlight with the huge marketing
success known as the World Series of Poker. And
though that has moved effortlessly to the Rio,
Binions Hotel still has one of the most popular poker
rooms in all of Las Vegas. It seems that tradition
is hard to kill, even in a city as noted for ephemeral
joys as Sin City. It doesn’t hurt that there
are 25 tables available for operation, a huge amount,
even by Vegas standards.
Though losing the World Series was a huge blow to Binions
Las Vegas, it remains one of the top reference points
for any true gambler, and continues to bring in plenty
of tourists, despite its non-strip location. The
name sells, even if no one with the last name Binion has
any affiliation to the company anymore. And for
a new generation, the hotel’s regal past is more
or less meaningless. They come for the poker, for
a break from the usual of the Las
Vegas strip, for the value that downtown Las Vegas
offers.
Nowadays, Binions Casino Hotel has revamped its image
(though has done little to remodel the casino since its
heyday, preferring a more sophisticated, old world look
to its interior) as a middle-class hangout – giving
up on competing with Vegas mainstays like the Bellagio,
the Paris or Caesars,
Binions has given itself completely to the growing popularity
of poker, primarily Texas Hold ‘Em - both limit
and no-limit. For many, playing cards at Binions
Las Vegas - where the World Series was invented, after
all – is like playing guitar at a Rock and Roll
camp. The memories of the greatest poker players
of all time seem inextricable from the dark cedar, brick
walls and soft felt of the tables. It’s this
kind of reverence that seems totally misplaced in a town
like Las Vegas, but is right at home within the remembrances
of past greatness that has passed through Binions Hotel.
And if the current setup is any indication, there is plenty
chance that there will be further examples of greatness
to add with the passage of time.
