Nevada Gaming Commission Greenlights Marriott’s Temporary Casino

By John Isaac,
Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac is an editor with many years of experience in the gambling industry. He writes expert articles on card games like blackjack and poker. In addition, he is also well aware of the US gambling laws and the Indian and Dutch gambling markets. You can rely on verified information and insightful details.

• Twitter
• Email

More About John Isaac

Last updated: May 22, 2023

The Beach nightclub’s previous premises have been approved for Marriott International to temporarily construct a pop-up casino there. On Tuesday, May 23, the casino will be open for a brief period from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. In a recent meeting, the Nevada Gaming Commission gave Marriott International the go-ahead for the pop-up casino. These temporary casinos are a distinctive feature of Las Vegas casino culture.

They were made possible by local laws that mandate eight hours of gambling every 18 months on the premises of shuttered casinos. The site owners are allowed to keep their priceless grandfathered, unrestricted gambling licenses thanks to this rule. Since Nevada stopped granting them in the 1990s, these licenses are again in great demand.

Marriott’s Pop-up Casino Set to Open on May 23, Limited Hours

The public will be able to gamble at Marriott’s temporary casino, which will include at least 16 slot machines located in a tent. This will be the tenth time in 17 years that a temporary casino has been set up on the vacant property next to Paradise Road at 365 Convention Center Drive.

Near the site, Marriott already manages five hotels totaling 16 acres.

Marriott aims to combine these properties into a bigger resort that may also contain gaming facilities. Attorney Dennis Neilander, who represented Marriott, was advised by the Gambling Commission that it would be impossible to keep a gambling license permanently.

The committee highlighted that Marriott needed to show that it was making headway toward a future plan. The pandemic closure and a weak economy, according to Neilander, are to blame for the delays in Marriott’s plans. Additionally, the corporation is forbidden from sharing particular information or timetables by a nondisclosure agreement with potential developers.

The only thing that could stand in the way of Marriott’s ambitions is the fact that they do not own the lot next to Piero’s Italian Cuisine.

A Little Bit of History

Since 1962, the former Villa d’Este, a favorite hangout of the Rat Pack and Elvis Presley, has been home to Piero’s, which has been functioning there since 1987. The 1960 structure, which was first known as Coach & Four, was eventually transformed into the race novel Sport of Kings. The property, however, has had several difficulties and ownership changes throughout the years.

The land used for the pop-up casino was originally created in 1979 for a casino with a New Orleans motif named the Deville. Frank Carroll, the property’s owner, was unable to secure a casino license for it, so he decided to sell it to Irving Brand, a pharmaceutical producer who was having a similar problem. In 1992, Sport of Kings, owned by two British bookmaker brothers, opened its doors. Sport of Kings was unfortunately forced to close down just seven months later due to undercapitalization.

The Beach, which debuted in 1994, was home to Las Vegas’s first man-made beach with imported sand. The Beach nightclub’s shutdown in 2006 was caused by a decline in interest as more notable beach locations appeared, such as Mandalay Bay’s beach in 1999.

Commission Urges Marriott to Develop Long-Term Plan for Site

Although the Gaming Commission unanimously approved Marriott’s pop-up casino, the commissioners agree that the property requires a long-term solution rather than continuing to host pop-up casinos indefinitely. Notably, the location has promise for Marriott’s future expansion ambitions, but it could be difficult to negotiate with or buy the neighboring property where Piero’s is now located.

Overall, Marriott International’s foray into the world of pop-up casinos adds a new chapter to the tale of this dynamic locale to eventually develop it into a larger resort with gaming amenities. What will eventually happen is yet to be seen!