Several Nevada casinos remain shuttered despite lifted restrictions
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everal Nevada casinos remain closed despite the state’s full reopening on June 1. Some won’t reopen for at least another year, while others have closed permanently.
As of June 1, Gov. Steve Sisolak lifted capacity limits and social distancing requirements in the state. Las Vegas casinos had been operating under capacity restrictions since reopening last summer.
Off the Strip, Boyd Gaming Corp.’s Main Street Station and Eastside Cannery remain closed. Both properties have been shuttered since March 2020. Last year, Boyd executives said that Main Street Station would open sometime this year, as reported by Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Others will stay closed for another six months to a year, possibly more. This month, Station Casinos’ Texas Station and Fiesta Rancho casinos placed their “non-restricted gaming, non-restricted gaming liquor and full liquor off-sale business licenses” on hold for the second year in a row — through June 4, 2022 — citing the state’s “uncertain economic conditions.” The licenses can be placed on hold for a maximum of two consecutive years.
The two North Las Vegas casinos’ sibling casino, Fiesta Henderson on Lake Mead Parkway, also remains temporarily closed. The Henderson casino received approval from City Council in May to maintain its nonoperational status until the end of the year. Since COVID-19 restrictions have been relaxed, Station Casinos has reopened Boulder Station, Sunset Station, Santa Fe Station, Palace Station, Wildfire Gaming, Green Valley Ranch and Red Rock Resort.
Palms, which was bought from Red Rock Resorts by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians for $650 million in May, remains closed, according to the casino’s website. Cal-Nev-Ari Casino and Bar remained open during the day but only because it also operates as a post office. Cal-Nev-Ari reopened its bar April 1, but its gaming area remains closed.
In Northern Nevada, two casinos shut their doors for good last year. Harrah’s Reno, whose owner, Caesars Entertainment, had announced plans to sell to Las Vegas developer Chris Beavor, founder of CAI Investments, for $50 million in January 2020, shuttered in the early days of the pandemic. Lakeside Inn and Casino in Stateline shut its doors for good in 2020.
In mid-March 2021, 13 Nevada casinos were still closed. Since then, two have reopened. After more than a year of closure, the former Eldorado Casino reopened on April 1 as The Pass. The former Eldorado, then owned by Boyd Gaming Corp., closed in March 2020 because of the pandemic. Boyd Gaming sold Eldorado to Joe DeSimone in December 2020.
In addition, Say When Casino in tiny McDermitt, which sits on the Oregon border, brought back its casino and bar in mid-April, according to the business’ Facebook account.
After being sold early in the pandemic, the Siegel Slots and Suites apartment complex’s casino will reopen and rebrand as Dotty’s in the coming months, according to Siegel spokesman Michael Crandall.
