Bingo Returning to Las Vegas Strip After More than a Decade

Grandmas, grab your daubers. You’re wanted in Las Vegas again. Circus Circus is bringing bingo back to the Strip for the first time in more than a decade. The games will start mid-February 2026 in a 225-seat hall in on the casino’s second floor.

Circus Circus opened in 1968. (Image: Shutterstock)

Bingo never really left Las Vegas. Locals still play at off-Strip joints such as Palace Station (which was preceded by the Bingo Palace), Red Rock, South Point, Cannery and the Suncoast (where regulars play in a 9,170 square-foot hall underneath a 17-foot bouncing bingo ball chandelier).

But on the Strip, the game flatlined when the Riviera closed in 2015 — after filling the bingo void left by the Frontier’s 2007 closure.

The lottery-style game of chance — in which players mark (daub) numbers on a card, aiming to complete a winning pattern and shout “Bingo!” to claim a prize — will never give baccarat or blackjack a run for its money.

However, paired with Circus Circus’ rare free parking, it promises to lure thousands of older locals back into the fading clown house who haven’t been to the Strip in decades — in addition to a few nostalgic tourists.

Accidental Nostalgia

Bingo and a smoke at the Golden Nugget in February 1947. (Image: Jon Brenneis via vintagelasvegas.com)

The addition of bingo also helps Circus Circus lean into the accidental monopoly it now has on Las Vegas nostalgia — a monopoly it achieved simply by being one of the oldest non-imploded Strip properties and neglecting to upgrade most of its games for decades.

The casino, which opened in 1968, is the only one to still feature coin-operated slots south of downtown.

The new bingo hall will serve hot dogs, pretzels, nachos, beer, and cocktails — the staples of bingo nights gone by, though at 2025 prices. And thanks to Gen Z’s ironic embrace of retro kitsch, hipsters may even show up for Instagram fodder. (Watch for hashtags like #DauberLife and #BingoIsBack.)

Six daily sessions will run $30 per pack, covering 10 games: regular rounds, a bonus, and a coverall. Extra packs will cost another $30, while bonus and coverall games can be bought à la carte for $10 or $20. Cash prizes start at $50 and climb to $1,500 for coveralls.

Circus Circus isn’t stopping there. A month after the bingo launch, the casino floor will expand, featuring coin‑op slots relocated from Slots‑A‑Fun.

Sometimes, stepping forward means stepping backward.

Corey Levitan joined Casino.org in 2022 after a long career covering Las Vegas. He currently covers entertainment, dining and gaming news in Las Vegas.

Corey spent six years covering the Vegas Strip for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where he also wrote the most popular humor column in the city’s history. (For “Fear and Loafing,” he tried out 176 Vegas jobs, including poker player, blackjack dealer and Follie Bergere dancer.)

Corey has won more than 100 local, state and national awards for his journalism, which has also appeared in Rolling Stone, New York Magazine and the New York Post.

Corey is a New York native whose hobbies include playing guitar, trying to be a better husband, and arguing with strangers on Facebook.

Contact Corey at corey@casino.org.

Comments icon

Conversation (0)

+ Add a comment

Be the first to comment on this article.

Write a comment

Your email address will not be published.