Primm casino closes temporarily
A rural desert casino at the state line between Nevada and California has closed, at least for the time being.
Whiskey Pete’s casino-hotel in Primm is temporarily closing, according to the property’s parent company, Affinity Interactive. The 47-year-old casino shut its doors on Tuesday.
Affinity operates two additional properties in the unincorporated town of Primm— Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino and Primm Valley Resort & Casino. Las Vegas-based Affinity also operates the Silver Sevens casino-hotel.
“As an initial step in the realigning of Primm Valley Resorts to meet the changing consumer demand, Affinity Interactive has temporarily closed Whiskey Pete’s Casino in order to feature new and ongoing investments at Primm Resorts and Buffalo Bill’s,” Scott Butera, Affinity’s chief executive officer, said in a provided statement. “The team has been working on developing amenities that will better fit our new and current customers.”
The Primm resorts have fallen on hard times in recent years. Once a favored destination for travelers between Southern California and Nevada, the gambling outpost struggled to compete with newer and larger tribal casinos in the Golden State. COVID-19 dealt another blow to Primm’s viability, affecting not just the casino hotels but the outlet mall as well.
Residents of Southern Nevada will occasionally make the trip to Primm to purchase lottery tickets at a small store located just on the other side of the California state line, attracting throngs of people when jackpots climb.
Whiskey Pete’s was opened in 1977 by Ernest Primm. The 16-story castle-themed tower has 777 hotel rooms.
David Danzis can be contacted at ddanzis@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0378. Follow AC2Vegas_Danzis on X.