By Editor,Wilko Martinez-Cachero

Copyright dailymail

A famous gambling hotspot renowned as a better-value Las Vegas is dying, with its most best-known resort and mall both on the brink of closing forever.

Primm, Nevada, used to thrive as a low-cost Vegas alternative but now appears to be on its last legs.

About 40 minutes from Sin City, the tiny town once offered $20 hotel rooms, $7 prime rib dinners, the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the world and a 380,000-square-foot outlet mall.

Visitors could stay at Whiskey Pete’s, a castle-shaped resort that became an iconic landmark. Many enjoyed Primm Valley Resort, whose attractions included the actual Bonnie and Clyde ‘death car’ in which the armed robbers were killed.

Also iconic was Buffalo Bill’s – a huge resort opened in 1994 with its own rollercoaster called Desperado that was once the world’s tallest and fastest.

And Primm had a hugely popular premium outlets discount mall.

But it has suffered a frightening and seemingly terminal decline.

Whiskey Pete’s closed last year, with Buffalo Bill’s recently ceasing 24/7 operations. It will now only open for special events like concerts or conferences.

The resort’s yellow rollercoaster has long been abandoned and sits decaying above the dying resort in a fresh reminder of just how far Primm has fallen.

Things are just as bad at the outlet mall, which is now down to its last store.

A proliferation of Indian casinos are mainly to blame for Primm’s decline, locals believe.

California voters passed a proposition in 2000 that allowed Native Americans to dramatically-enhance casino offerings in the Golden State.

Yaamava Resort & Casino in Highland, California, has since expanded hugely and draws many of the Californian gamblers who once frequented Primm.

The Covid pandemic has also been blamed for putting people off visiting. Others suggest Primm’s proximity to Vegas means gamblers may choose to keep on driving and just go to Sin City instead.

That theory comes despite Vegas itself suffering falling tourism numbers amid anger over rip-off prices.

Affinity Gaming – which operates three Primm resorts including Buffalo Bill’s – tried to strike an optimistic note about the future of the city.

Scott Butera, Affinity’s CEO and president, said that they were ‘in the process of doing a major repositioning at Primm’ during a Nevada Gaming Commission meeting in February.

He said: ‘When Primm was first developed, it was really a destination resort area for Southern Californians from Los Angeles (or) the Mojave area.

‘Now they have their own casinos. They have quite large, nice casinos out there.’

Primm officials hope they can begin marketing the city as a venue to host conferences like Vegas has, with considerable success.

A new airport is being built just outside the town, raising hopes that Primm will become a desirable destination once more.

When emailing with Clark County commissioners about Whiskey Pete’s closure, Affinity’s senior vice president and general counsel Erin Barnett wrote: ‘In recent years, and particularly post-pandemic, the traffic at the state line has proved to be heavily weighted towards weekend activity and is insufficient to support three full-time casino properties.

‘The positive news is that, expected development of an airport and ancillary businesses has created the prospect of a resurgence for the area in the coming years.’

Affinity will spend at least $9-10 million to ‘reinvigorate’ Primm, although some of the old attractions might not make the cut.

A $4million marquee sign to ‘show off’ the company’s casinos, plus potentially other businesses around town, is being built.

Which Butera touted in February: ‘If you drive by, you might see there’s construction of what will be a 100×60-foot marquee sign that will help draw attention to the property and bring people into the property.’

The company also invested $5-6million in ‘new slot product,’ Butera said, and has already replaced 12 percent of their slot machines.

He added: ‘The idea is to ‘create experiences where people who have been on long drives can not only get gas to recharge their car but also have something nice to eat.

‘Have a little bit of fun at a casino and then move on.’

That is what the town used to be like 20 years ago when one could gamble, shop and eat in one go.

‘I stayed one night at Whiskey Pete’s in June because I realized I was waaaaay too tired and hungover to drive all the way home. I had a really great time – met some colorful characters and drank free drinks at the bar,’ one TripAdvisor user said in 2005.

‘We just returned from Las Vegas and believe that it is a very fun inexpensive night in this area with the 3 CASINOS and SHOPPING + the TRAM is fun too!! At $15 weeknight rates at Whiskey Pete’s (Travelworm) you really can’t go wrong – pretty nice room for the $,’ another added.

About 50,000 cars per day are estimated to pass by Primm, although they might never get a chance to see the once-famed Desperado rollercoaster.

In November, Butera told the Nevada Independent: ‘Is that the best place for us to use our money? We’re doing surveys and thinking of everything. We’re going to make Primm a fun, exciting place. Does that include the rollercoaster?