Renamed Horseshoe to host Poker Globe Series on Vegas Strip

A name paired with poker and Las Vegas lore now has a location on the neon-lit Strip

By

KEN RITTER Linked Press

March 25, 2023, 12:03 AM ET

• four min study

LAS VEGAS — A name paired with poker and Las Vegas lore now has a location on the neon-lit Strip following the rebranding of an iconic hotel with a memorable history at a crossroads shared with some of the most recognizable casinos in the planet.

The Horseshoe Las Vegas Hotel &amp Casino and its corporate owner, Caesars Entertainment Corp., hosted ceremonies Friday to mark the name alter from Bally’s Las Vegas, prior to it once more hosts the upcoming 54th annual Globe Series of Poker.

“Not only are we excited for guests to encounter the redesigned resort and its most recent offerings, but we are also proud to reintroduce the historic gaming brand to Las Vegas,” Jason Gregorec, Horseshoe senior vice president and common manager, stated in a statement.

The two,800-area home after was the MGM Grand Hotel, exactly where a historic fire in 1980 killed 87 men and women. It was Bally’s Las Vegas for 36 years.

Renovations and renaming harken back to Binion’s Horseshoe, a hotel and gambling hall in downtown’s “Glitter Gulch” exactly where the Globe Series of Poker started.

It also puts the Horseshoe marquee across the street from the Bellagio and its fountains, Caesars Palace and its statues and the glittery Flamingo Las Vegas.

Jack Binion, 86, a former casino executive and member of the American Gaming Association and Globe Series of Poker halls of fame, was set to present a fortunate horseshoe from his family’s ranch at an occasion also such as “Jubilee!” costumes recalling the feathery Bally’s revue that ran for 35 years prior to closing in 2016.

The 1st Globe Series of Poker in 1970 was hosted by Binion’s father, former Texas gambler Benny Binion, as an invitation-only game at his downtown Horseshoe, a 366-area hotel he opened in 1951.

Jack Binion and his brother, Ted Binion, worked at the downtown home, now identified as Binion’s Gambling Hall &amp Hotel and operated by the corporate owner of the neighboring 4 Queens. Ted Binion’s death in 1998 sparked a sensational murder trial and eventual acquittal in 2004 of his ex-stripper, reside-in girlfriend and her secret lover.

Harrah’s Entertainment acquired the poker tournament in 2004 and moved it to the Rio All-Suites Hotel &amp Casino. A year later, Harrah’s purchased Caesars Entertainment, which was bought in 2020 by Eldorado Resorts, now known as Caesars Entertainment Corp. Bally’s hotel-casino was element of that deal. The renaming started final year.

The tournament that created championship bracelets and Texas Hold ’em well-known now runs for far more than seven weeks. It drew practically 200,000 players final year to Bally’s and the adjacent Paris Las Vegas and awarded nearly $350 million in prizes. It is scheduled to start out this year on May possibly 30.

Immediately after it ends in July, officials stated an 18-table poker area will provide tournament-style play year-round.

The 26-story hotel now named Horseshoe opened in late 1973 as the MGM Grand. It had two,one hundred rooms and was a single of the biggest hotels in the planet.

The deadly fire seven years later was a single of the worst in U.S. history. It led to laws requiring fire security and sprinkler systems in hotels and higher-rises. The hotel was rebuilt and a second tower, adding 700 rooms, was completed in 1981.

Bally Manufacturing purchased the home in 1986. MGM Grand Inc. moved a block down the Strip and opened the film-themed MGM Grand Las Vegas resort in late 1993. That 30-floor home, with far more than five,000 rooms and emerald green exterior, opened as the biggest hotel complicated in the planet.

The Bally’s name is nevertheless anticipated to stay on the Las Vegas Strip at the aging, practically 1,500-area Tropicana resort, now owned by Rhode Island-primarily based Bally’s Corp.