Primm is a small casino market on the Nevada-California border along Interstate 15. It is a 30-minute drive south of the Las Vegas Strip.
Primm boomed during the 1990s into the 2000s. California tribal casinos growing into destination resorts and mismanagement of Primm casinos caused Primm’s reputation to drop. While the Las Vegas tourism market grew over the last 10 years, Primm has become nearly deserted.
In December 2024, Whiskey Pete’s closed after 47 years of operation. It began as a roadside gas station with gambling and later expanded into a resort. In July 2025, Buffalo Bill’s ceased most operations. Its casino only opens on certain weekends, mostly related to concerts at the Star of the Desert Arena. That leaves Primm Valley Resort as the only full-time gaming property in the area.
Primm’s demand shrank during the 2010s. The tram that connected the properties stopped running in 2015. Table game hours shortened.
The biggest blow was the closure of the amusement park at Buffalo Bill’s. It was home to Desparado, once the tallest roller coaster in the world. It also had an interactive Wild West log flume ride, a sky drop, and Frog Hopper. Hours became limited in 2018 before the amusement park completely closed in 2019.
The sky drop was dismantled and the Frog Hopper disappeared. The log flume and roller coaster are still intact but appear inoperable.
Big Changes Since the Pandemic Closure
All three Primm casinos closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as ordered by Governor Steve Sisolak at the time. When casinos were permitted to open three months later, Whiskey Pete’s and Primm Valley Resort did. However, Buffalo Bill’s remained closed until 2022. Primm Valley Resort’s casino, hotel, and restaurants opened, while Whiskey Pete’s only had a casino and restaurants. Its hotel remained closed.
All three casinos had live table games when 2020 started. After the closure, only Primm Valley had a pit. When Buffalo Bill’s reopened in 2022, table games moved there and closed at Primm Valley Resort, which also shuttered its hotel and restaurants. Primm Valley became a near-ghost town overnight, much like its connecting mall, which only has one tenant today. The casino remained open. However, it had few customers. The parking lot was always empty and poorly lit at night, giving the appearance it was closed.
Reading about Primm is like reading about Tunica MS casinos. A few river floods, a downturn in the housing market and increasing pressure from more states nearby opening newer casinos, and the luster of Tunica was gone. Some really sobering videos on YT if you search.
We’ll definitely check it out, Jim – there’s definitely some historical casino markets that are on the decline.