Primm is at its lowest operational point in history. Only one property has close to normal operations. The other two are barely open, even with the permanent closure of the Terrible’s casino, formerly the Gold Strike, in Jean. I don’t believe the only reason is lower demand.
Primm failed to capitalize on its new casino monopoly south of Las Vegas. I think there are several reasons for this.
There was a time about 15 years ago when Jean and Primm supported five casinos. Jean had Nevada Landing and Gold Strike. Primm has Buffalo Bill’s, Primm Valley Resort, and Whiskey Pete’s. Primm Valley was once called Primadonna.
Bring back the value
MGM Resorts owned all five Jean and Primm casinos at one point. The company sold all the properties, which seems to have contributed to the decline.
When MGM Resorts owned the Jean and Primm casinos, players could find many full-pay video poker options. This included the now-extinct full-pay Deuces Wild, 10/7 Double Bonus, Not So Ugly Ducks, and 9/6 Jacks or Better. These games have been missing from all these casinos for almost 10 years.
Players can still find two of these games and others that return 99.5% or more up Interstate 15 at M Resort and South Point. It is easy to see why high-volume video poker players do not stop or stay in Primm anymore.
The best video poker game Vegas Advantage found in Primm is 8/5 Bonus Poker (99.17%). That is only on the $5 denomination at Buffalo Bill’s. There is also 15/9 Deuces Wild (98.91%) on those machines. The $1 games we found are all 98% or lower. The $0.25 and $0.50 games that we found are all under 97%.
The players club is another problem. Video poker players only get 0.04% back in Primm. South Point’s players club is almost eight times better.
Table games are also a problem
The only live table games in Primm are at Buffalo Bill’s. The pit has limited hours. At our last check, the options are $10 Three Card Poker, $15 6/5 blackjack, double zero roulette, and 3-4-5 times craps. There are some electronic table games with minimum bets that are more comparable to the Strip than an isolated casino market that hopes to attract visitors from the highway.
South Point has $5 3/2 blackjack, double zero roulette, Three Card Poker, and Ultimate Texas Hold’em. Craps is usually $10. South Point also offers $10 baccarat and pai gow poker. M Resort has a similar table game selection with slightly higher limits. Both offer lower minimum bets on electronic table games than Primm.
Between the video poker, table games, and players clubs, it is easy to see why players drive another 30 minutes to Las Vegas casinos. If Primm wants more players to stop and stay, it must compete with the casinos along Interstate 15 in the southern part of the Las Vegas Valley.
Only one open hotel in Primm, while the website claims there are three
Buffalo Bill’s is the only open hotel in Primm. The hotels at Primm Valley and Whiskey Pete’s are only used for overflow. Website visitors wouldn’t know this. The closed hotels still have descriptions as if they are open. When a potential visitor tries to book a room at the two closed hotels, it leads to the Buffalo Bill’s booking engine. The only way the website visitor knows this is by the small Buffalo Bill’s logo on the page.
I would fix the website to reflect the hotel situation. This prevents confusion by potential guests and would highlight the remodeled rooms at Buffalo Bill’s.
Fix the table game listings on the website
The Primm website says that live table games are found at Primm Valley, implying the other two casinos don’t have any. Primm Valley last had table games in December 2022. All the table games are at Buffalo Bill’s. I would change the website to reflect this change from almost a year ago.
Correct inaccurate restaurant listings on the website
There are errors related to restaurant hours and what is open or closed. Some menus need to be included. Potential customers deciding to stop in Primm for a meal, only to discover the inaccuracies upon arrival, may never return since the website is unreliable.
Capitalize on the Jean casino and hotel closure
The Terrible’s casino in Jean closed in 2020. It will never reopen. The property will become warehouses. It appears to me that Primm, which technically has a Jean mailing address, has done nothing to attract that business. That is a failed SEO opportunity.
Primm could own all those keywords with minimal effort. Vegas Advantage gets many daily visitors who appear to be looking for the defunct Jean hotel and casino. I can’t find the word “Jean” anywhere on Primm’s website.
Jean’s casino made the same mistakes as Primm that helped put it out of business
When MGM Resorts owned the Gold Strike casino in Jean, there were dozens of video poker machines that returned 99.5% or better, including a bank of full-pay Deuces Wild. The pit offered $4 roulette and $5 3/2 blackjack, craps, and baccarat. There was $1 3/2 video blackjack.
The casino was relatively busy back then. People stopped on their way to Las Vegas and locals drove there as an escape.
JETT Gaming acquired Gold Strike from MGM Resorts in April 2015. It immediately removed all the 99.5% and better video poker. The craps table disappeared. All live blackjack payouts were downgraded to 6/5. Eventually, the video blackjack was downgraded to 6/5 and baccarat vanished.
Gold Strike, later rebranded as Terrible’s, saw its visitation collapse after these changes. The value was lost. Players from California drove by on their way to Las Vegas. Las Vegas locals stopped visiting. By the time the pandemic closed the property in March 2020, business declined so much that the company could not justify reopening it.
Primm followed the same operational path. It is easy for me to draw the connection between the loss of value there and declining visitation.
Primm Valley looks closed at night
When we visited Primm Valley during our casino record, it did not seem like Primm Valley was open. Our driver parked out front and we talked about whether it was worth the 20 steps to the door to find out if it was open.
Primm Valley was dark on the outside and the tint on the windows gave no hint that anything inside was open. The parking lot only had a few scattered cars. The entrance to Buffalo Bill’s was only slightly more inviting.
A sign on the Primm Valley door alerts sports bettors that the William Hill counter is closed and to go to Buffalo Bill’s. I decided to get out and pull on the door. It opened, so we played. We were the only people inside who did not work there. It looked a lot like this video:
Is Primm open?
Here are some of the common Primm questions we get asked:
- Is Buffalo Bill’s open or closed?
- Is Primm Valley open or closed?
- Is Whiskey Pete’s open or closed?
- Is the Desperado roller coaster operating?
The official Primm website does not show up in searches for most of these questions. Potential patrons must rely on third-party sites like Vegas Advantage for that information.
The answer to the casino questions is that Buffalo Bill’s, Primm Valley, and Whiskey Pete’s are all open. However, Primm Valley and Whiskey Pete’s have reduced operations. Both hotels and many restaurants are closed. Neither have live table games. The electronic ones are mostly or entirely gone from both, based on observations from our last visits. The bars are closed during slow hours.
Desperado roller coaster and other rides remain closed
The Desperado roller coaster and other amusement rides at Buffalo Bill’s closed about five years ago. The last time I looked, the log flume’s queue line had an arcade in it. The Frog Hopper machine was still in the back but it was not operating.
Considering the amusement rides closed before the pandemic, and there is no sign of it on the Primm website, it seems like a reasonable conclusion that it is permanently closed.
Google’s listing for it assumes the same. A search for its hours declares Desperado permanently closed. However, in February 2023, Affinity Gaming, the parent company of the Primm casinos, told The Nevada Independent that the roller coaster still works and receives monthly test runs. The intention is to reopen it one day.
Online reviews repeatedly cite hotel deficiencies
I don’t give much authority to review sites. However, the Primm ones show a pattern with pictures to back it up. I recommend reading reviews before booking a stay in Primm. This Yelp Buffalo Bill’s page is a great example.
Staffing is a problem that leads to the types of complaints in Primm reviews. It is tough to attract potential employees when the options are to live in a company apartment complex in the middle of the desert or commute 30 to 45 minutes each way from Las Vegas. However, it seems that spending a little more money on staffing could fix the hotel issues that are prominent in these reviews.
