FULL TILT POKER BLOG

#926 – Binion’s is only “Mostly Dead”

Posted by Editor | Filed under Uncategorized

Stories circulating on the internet and word-of-mouth (or, more accurately, word-of-Tweet) say that Binion’s is closing. I don’t know if you consider this good news or bad news but that’s not entirely true. The hotel is closing. The coffee shop is closing. The keno parlor is closing. But the casino will remain open . . . at least for now.

According to reports in the Las Vegas newspapers and Associated Press, spokeswoman Lisa Robinson said that the hotel, coffee shop, and keno operations will seize on December 14.

December 14? That’s my birthday!

As an expert on all December 14 matters, I wonder whether the choice of date was intention. George Washington died on December 14. So did football player George Gipp. It’s also the date the last human walked on the moon and, depending on which calendar you use, the date in 1702 on which the Forty-seven Ronin avenged the death of their Master.

The volume of discussion created by this news just scratches the surface of the complicated relationship poker players have with the venerable property. After all, even though the casino isn’t closing down, this is not a good sign for its future. So even if reports of Binion’s closure are incorrect, they may be only premature. For me, the grieving process has already begun.

Lets’ start unsentimentally. The place was a cave. It was dark, dingy, and smelled bad. It had tradition and it had the Binion family, especially under the stewardship of Benny and his son Jack. (No disrespect to Jack’s siblings Ted or Becky, but I don’t think anyone can dispute that Benny gave the place its reputation and Jack was its most masterful operator.) With Benny gone and Jack forced out more than a decade ago, we can all agree that the place was ugly, dim, and borderline scary. And that was when Benny and Jack were running the joint. It’s gone way downhill since.

Like that story I’ve told about when I introduced my friend Ted to Freemont Street a few years ago. The casino was mostly dark and mostly empty, except for an army of guys wearing matching jump suits bearing the legend “Hard Count,” resembling like refugees from a chain-gang. When we exited the casino, some dude standing by the entrance approached us and asked, “Wanna buy some hotdogs?”

My favorite memories of the place, however, were from my early days writing about poker. I attended and played in the last World Series held entirely at the Horseshoe in 2004. In 2005, the last time the Final Table was played downtown, I was in my first year as a credentialed member of the media.

If I get the chance, I’ll rummage through my memories, old notebooks, and past articles and books to remind you about that time. Because love it or hate it, Binion’s Horseshoe made an indelible impression on me.

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