It has been well known that Harrahs has sold Binions Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. Harrahs will be taking with them however, the World Series of Poker. This year only the final two days will be played at the horseshoe, and next year, none. In fact Harrahs has retained the rights to name "Horseshoe" and is planning on building a "Harrah's Hoseshoe" casino on the strip (or at least thats the rumor). So the WSOP will be on the strip when the new shoe is built and somewhere else in the meantime after this year. One would presume possibly Caesers in '06.

Also, the quality of poker downtown is heading down the tubes. The Nugget used to have a beautiful room which was big, had natural sunlight, and looked out onto the pool at the GN. It was not only the best physical room downtown, but one of the best in Vegas. That room is now gone and has been replaced with a noisy, cramped, "room" that is one tenth what it used to be. And I must say that the last few times I've been to Binions the quality of everything was also lowered. From the drink service to the managment to the dealers, although I still liked playing there, it seemed not as great as it once was. And with no WSOP, who will play there? Some of the locals and people that have been playing for longer surely. But not that new TV poker generation, they will want to play at that place they see on TV, and soon, that will not be downtown.

So where does that leave fremont street? Well it's been no secrect that downtown has already been in bad shape for a while, so much so that the mayor of Las Vegas has gone so far as to say that he might consider making brothels legal downtown (to spur economic growth). I think that such a decision would be the first domino to fall in the total destitusion of downtown. It's not that I'm totally against legalizing prostitution, it's just that I don't think that it's right for downtown.

So what's the solution? I say it's more poker rooms! Or at least one really good one. Poker is definetly hot right now and a lot of people are going to Vegas just to play it. So why not have a world class room downtown, that combined with the reasonable room rates downtown has might spur some growth and interest. Or at least have more rooms, that are of good quality and not just seemingly an after thought as so many strip casinos have done.

I for one love visiting downtown LV and though I alternate between staying downtown and on the strip, I must say I think I more look forward to my stays downtown. I really hope that that downtown can not only stay alive, but be a thriving destination. Is poker the whole answer? No, but I think it's a good place to start.