Sin City Shocker: Binion's Horseshoe Forced To Close; Assets Seized

[stopbush]

They're the casino that sponsers the World Poker Championship on TV.

CASINO IN DEBT: Binion's forced to close
U.S. marshals enter property seeking $1.9 million in cash
Las vegas Review Journal Jan 10, 2004

Deputy U.S. marshals entered Binion's Horseshoe late Friday armed with two court orders authorizing them to seize up to $1.9 million in cash from the casino, an action that forced the closure of the 52-year-old property's casino.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?X67023607

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Well there goes the rest of the Binion family

Think I'll play "Born Under a Bad Sign" this AM in honor of them. DOn't fool with the union ..glad the pensions will get their money.

[mouse7]

2. Wow.

The Horseshoe had great steaks.

That's a real shocker. They couldn't have been in a lot of debt. They were a Downtown casino, and hadn't made any big builds or acquisitions the last time I checked.

Family owned. Should have been nothing but a cash cow.

[stopbush]

3. Read the article through the hyperlink

they were in big debt and not making payments to the union pension funds. I wouldn't be surprised in they were embezzling funds and looking out for #1.

[mouse7]

6. I did... still doesn't make sense

The Horseshoe shouldn't have had those kinds of debt problems. They had a very loyal clientele. Poker Players generally throw away all their winnings right there in the casino and Binions was THE Mecca of Poker.

Binion's didn't have the huge outlays on massive hotel complexes. They didn't need to have the big hotels. They had good traffic in the casino without it.

[radwriter0555]

4. LOL! the ONLY place that ever threw out my honey for card counting

DESERVES it!

Cheap ass bastards.

Cheesy club, no class. Nasty joint. In trouble for years.

[underpants]

5. I understand that the old strip is pretty much a sh*thole now

a co-worker goes there at least twice a year and he told me that the old strip is really crappy and filled with street hustlers handing out fliers for "escorts" and such.

I've never been we are going in April.

[mouse7]

7. That's the WHOLE strip

You get those escort fliers whether Downtown or in front of the Bellagio fountains.

Binion's had every casinos dream customer pattern. High roller traffic, and low overhead.

[BiggJawn]

8. It is...

Last year I was out there (hey! you're out there in April? Me too, 16-22 for the NAB show)
and did a LOT of walking. My boss was staying at the Stardust, Iwas at Aladdin, and the diference between the "new" strip and "old" was depressing.

South of the Bellagio I felt fine at night, up towards the Stardust I felt a little skittish even in daytime.
And the guys and gals handing out the "Ho Cards" work ALL up and down the strip!

There was a shooting in that one area, what do they call it? "Henry Street" or something like that, a gang-related gunfight in the east part of the city, and some guy found in the trunk of his burned-out rental car out in the desert....

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. Binion's was the best for the gambler

I like dowtown better than the strip...but 4 Queens is my second favorite and as for restaurants, HUGO's in Four Queens is as nice as many in the big houses.

[alwynsw]

10. Small correction

The Shoe is in the old Gulch - Glitter Gulch. It was never referred to as the strip. It's now "The Fremont Street Experience." The casinos are kind of dumpy, but the light show is a trip (every hour, on the hour, after dark). They're making a real effort to clean up the place.

As for the escorts: whay not just drive a little bit to Pahrump for the brothels if that's your fancy? If you don't like Pahrump, Nevada has about 20 others to suit your fancy.

Completely OT: one or two of the brothels was giving freebies to service personnel who could produce orders proving that they'd been in the fighting in Afganistan or Iraq. The owner said that if he had an ice cream stand, he'd give free cones, but since he had a brothel, he was giving free, uh, CONES!

No slam. Just a little info for the uninformed who may not want a huge taxi bill by ending up where they didn't want to be.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

11. Correct

and I do love the light show