Resorts World is shutting down its poker rooms on March 30, marking another contraction in live poker offerings along the Las Vegas Strip.
The closure comes amid a broader downturn in Sin City tourism and gaming revenue, with Las Vegas Strip earnings falling 11% year over year and visitor counts dropping 7.5% in 2025 compared to the prior year, raising fresh questions about the future of in-person gambling in Nevada.
A Resorts World representative confirmed the decision to Fox News Digital, stating the poker rooms will be discontinued on March 30. The representative added, "However, we will be introducing new gaming opportunities to replace the poker room." No further details were provided about what those new offerings would entail.
According to the blog Vital Vegas, once Resorts World's poker room goes dark, just eight poker rooms will remain open on the Las Vegas Strip. That's a remarkably thin roster for a city once synonymous with the game. The trend reflects a wider pattern in which traditional table games are losing ground to other forms of entertainment and wagering.
The numbers from the Nevada Gaming Control Board paint a sobering picture. Las Vegas Strip gaming revenue in January 2026 came in at $747,655,527 — down from $840,093,428 in January 2025, representing an 11% year-over-year decline. These are not marginal shifts; they signal a structural change in how and where people choose to gamble.
Statewide, the picture isn't much brighter. Total gaming win for Nevada's nonrestricted gaming licensees in January of this year was roughly $1.35 billion, a 6.55% drop compared to the same month last year, according to NGCB data. When revenue falls that consistently, it stops being a blip and starts being a trend.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority released its year-end summary for 2025, and the results were stark. A total of 38,545,700 people visited Las Vegas in 2025, down 7.5% from 2024. That puts visitor volume at levels that closely mirror those seen in 2000, 2002, and 2003 — more than two decades ago.
For context, the highest visitation year ever recorded in Las Vegas was 2019, when 42,523,700 people came through. The gap between 2019's peak and 2025's figure represents nearly four million fewer visitors. That's a meaningful decline with real consequences for the broader Nevada economy.
Officials have reportedly been considering strategies to reverse the slide, including a reported $6 million plan aimed at winning back Canadian visitors. Whether such targeted spending can meaningfully move the needle remains to be seen, but the urgency is clearly growing.
The shift toward digital wagering may be one of the most powerful forces reshaping Las Vegas. Grand View Research projects the online gambling market will reach $22.2 million in revenue by 2030. While that figure may seem modest compared to brick-and-mortar totals, the trajectory is what matters — and it's pointing sharply upward.
Conservative activist and host of "The Robby Starbuck Show," Robby Starbuck, previously told Fox News Digital that in-person gambling is becoming less popular — particularly among younger adults. "Now nearly everyone under 40 who bets seems to do it online," Starbuck said. He went further, noting, "I don't know one person under age 40 who goes to Vegas regularly to bet or play slots." It's an anecdotal observation, but one that aligns closely with the revenue and visitation data from official sources.
Starbucks also suggested the trend has staying power: "This trend will continue with younger people because, honestly, our minds are wired differently." Whether or not one agrees with the framing, the behavioral shift is undeniable. Convenience wins in a free market, and a smartphone app will always be more convenient than a plane ticket to Nevada.
From a free-market perspective, this isn't necessarily a tragedy — it's creative destruction in action. Consumers are voting with their wallets and their thumbs. Casinos that adapt will survive; those that cling to legacy models may find themselves following the poker rooms into obsolescence.
For investors and anyone watching the gaming sector, the takeaway is clear: brick-and-mortar gaming faces persistent headwinds, and the growth story has moved online. Las Vegas will always be an entertainment destination, but betting on its poker tables — literally or figuratively — looks increasingly like a losing hand. The smart money is paying attention to where the next generation actually spends.