Primm was an inexpensive, beloved Vegas different. Then, new California casinos killed it

Once upon a time, Primm, Nev., had three bustling on line casino resorts, shiny fuel stations, a curler coaster and Bonnie and Clyde’s “death car.”

It was a bit surreal, mentioned former customer John Honell of West Covina: “You had this whole complex in the middle of the desert.”

Southern Californians touring the arid stretches of the I-15 would see Primm pop up. As he drove to Sin City for bowling tournaments, Honell would cease and “drop a few coins” into the slot machines. It was a playing oasis — rather less flashy and a bit of extra inexpensive than Vegas and 45 minutes nearer.

“I guess it worked for a while,” mentioned Honell, 85.

But not. The final of the three on line casino resorts will shut on July 4, proprietor Affinity Gaming confirmed to The Times this week.

Honell, an everyday within the Seventies, noticed the expansion of a desert gamble: the enlargement of the Primm property, within the dusty city as soon as often called State Line, from Whiskey Pete’s fuel station, bar and slot machines into three busy resorts.

The Nevada playing hub south of Las Vegas alongside the 15 Freeway seems completed, although. Southern Californians who appreciated that it was a shorter drive than Vegas can now discover playing even nearer, at tribal casinos.

Las Vegas insider publication Las Vegas Locally posted a termination letter from Affinity Gaming’s affiliate, Primadonna Co., to workers who labored at Primm Valley.

With the on line casino closing down July 4, all employment will finish that day too.

Affinity Gaming declined to make an official remark.

The castle-shaped Whiskey Pete’s opened in 1977, adopted by Primm Valley in 1990 and Buffalo Bill’s in 1994. Whiskey Pete’s was the first casino to close, in December 2024. Buffalo Bill’s Resort ended 24/7 operations on July 6, solely opening when the on line casino’s live performance venue, the Star of the Desert Arena, hosted particular occasions.

David G. Schwartz, a gaming historian and professor on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, mentioned Primm’s casinos have been “built for an entirely different world.”

“Southern California is a huge market for Las Vegas and, in particular, it was once very attractive for those in the Inland Empire,” Schwartz mentioned. “It was a way to trim 45 minutes off the drive — it was a 2-hour drive. It’s different math.”

Lights glow on the Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino signal on July 6 in Primm, Nev.

(Bridget Bennett / For The Times)

Primm was as soon as one in every of Nevada’s extra widespread playing resorts, a cheaper, barely extra kitschy different to Las Vegas that benefited from being nearer to Southern California.

Primm Valley, Whiskey Pete’s and Buffalo Bill’s all hosted at one time the famed Bonnie and Clyde V-8 Ford riddled with more than 100 bullets in 1934.

Whiskey Pete’s provided a fast and inexpensive 24-hour IHOP, compared to Vegas’ pricier buffets, and Californians and Nevadans visited Primm Valley’s 100-store outlet mall, supported by customers who have been introduced by bus to the mall without spending a dime.

The three resorts loved enlargement and progress all through the 2010s by using low costs, gimmicks and points of interest to lure friends.

Buffalo Bill’s was the largest of the trio, boasting a buffalo-shaped pool and 592 rooms at its opening (the Bellagio has nearly 4,000 rooms) and ultimately increasing to 1,242 rooms.

Buffalo Bill’s and its sister resorts closed in March 2020 when the pandemic hit, reopening between December 2022 and 2023. But they struggled to draw clients.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic damage all Nevada casinos, that was solely a part of the explanation for Primm’s decline. Schwartz mentioned tribal casinos in Southern California noticed their prospects soar as Primm’s inns teeter-tottered.

California voters handed Proposition 1A in 2000, which allowed tribal casinos to operate slot machines and erased limits on card games.

“Many of those people Primm was drawing from began to stay in Southern California, where the drives are just much shorter and the amenities much closer,” Schwartz mentioned. “You see the same issue playing out at Laughlin along the Arizona border and Reno and Tahoe in Northern California.”

Shortly after Proposition 1A’s passage, San Manuel was one in every of a number of tribal casinos in San Bernardino and Riverside counties that declared an arms race with Nevada.

Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, run by the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, opened in December 2004. The tribe was the fourth between 2002 and 2004 to open or increase its operations, together with Agua Caliente in Palm Springs, Morongo in Cabazon and the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians in Temecula.

Most of those casinos have continued to construct and increase their operations as income has continued to move.

The Southern California tribal resorts are categorized by the National Indian Gaming Commission, a gaming regulatory physique, to be within the Sacramento area, which incorporates all resorts in California and Northern Nevada.

In 2014, the combined casinos contributed $7.9 billion in gross gaming income.

Ten years later, 87 tribal operations all through two states combined for $12.1 billion, marking a modest 1.4% enhance from 2023.

Yaamava’ Resort & Casino, run by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, sits in Highland, about 200 miles from Primm however lower than half that distance from downtown L.A.

Yaamava’ accomplished a $760-million enlargement in 2021, which added a 17-floor tower, three bars and about 1,700 new slots.

The 7,400 slot machines at Yaamava’ make the casino the West Coast’s largest, with 4,000 extra slots than its Vegas friends. By square footage of gaming area, Yaamava is No. 4 within the nation and nonetheless the largest on the West Coast.

“The decline has been part of a larger trend,” Schwartz mentioned of Primm. “People are choosing options that most appeal to them.”