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Renamed Horseshoe to Make History as Poker World Series Hits Vegas Strip

by Lucas Garcia
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The Horseshoe Las Vegas Hotel & Casino is now open at a popular spot in Las Vegas that’s close to big casinos, and there was a ceremony to celebrate it! It used to be called Bally’s Las Vegas. Soon the 54th annual World Series of Poker will come here for a tournament.

The Horseshoe Resort is reopening after being completely redesigned with new features, and everyone is excited about it. Jason Gregorec who manages the resort said that this makes them proud to bring back an old gaming brand in Las Vegas.

The hotel has 2,800 rooms and used to be called the MGM Grand Hotel, but 36 years ago it changed its name. Sadly, a fire happened there 40 years ago where 87 people lost their lives.

Renovations and renaming at the Horseshoe make it look like the spot where the World Series of Poker began. It’s now across from other famous hotels in Las Vegas – like the Bellagio with its fountains, Caesars Palace with its statues, and the sparkly Flamingo Las Vegas.

Jack Binion, who is 86-years-old and famous for his work as a casino executive and member of the American Gaming Association and World Series of Poker Hall of Fame, is going to give out a special horseshoe from his family’s ranch at an event. That same event will also feature costumes from the show “Jubilee!” which was very popular before it ended in 2016.

In 1970, a famous ex-gambler from Texas called Benny Binion hosted an exclusive poker tournament. The venue for this event was his very own Horseshoe Hotel located downtown which had 366 rooms and he opened it in 1951.

Jack and his brother Ted worked at the hotel now known as Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel, which is owned by somebody else who also owns a neighbouring building called ‘Four Queens’. In 1998, Ted Binion died. Because of this his former girlfriend (who used to be a dancer)and her secret boyfriend were put on trial. Eventually they were found not guilty in 2004.

In 2004, Harrah’s Entertainment got the poker tournament and moved it to the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino. A year after that, Harrah’s purchased Caesars Entertainment, which was then bought by Eldorado Resorts in 2020 and became known as Caesars Entertainment Corp. with Bally’s hotel-casino part of the deal. The renaming started last year.

The tournament that made championship bracelets and Texas Hold ’em popular now lasts for seven weeks. Last year, it attracted almost 200,000 people to Bally’s and the closeby Paris Las Vegas and gave out about $350 million in rewards. This year, it will start on May 30th.

When it ends in July, there will be an 18-table poker room open all year round to offer tournaments-style play.

The Horseshoe is an 26-story building that was opened back in late 1973 use to be called the MGM Grand. It had more than 2,000 rooms, making it one of the biggest hotels in the world.

Unfortunately, seven years later there was a very large fire that caused a lot of destruction and for many people who were inside were also killed. This deadly event led to new laws being passed which requires fire safety measures and sprinklers to be installed in all high rises and hotels. The hotel was eventually rebuilt and another 700 room tower was added once everything was completed in 1981.

In 1986, Bally Manufacturing bought a property in Las Vegas. Then MGM Grand Inc. moved one block away and opened the world’s biggest hotel ever called MGM Grand Las Vegas resort with over 5,000 rooms and an emerald green exterior in late 1993. Even today, people still recognize this property as “Bally’s” since it is now owned by Bally’s Corp from Rhode Island who also owns Tropicana resort – a nearly 1,500-roomed aging building in the area.

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