Debacle of the Day: Oyo Casino Halts Liquor Sales (Again)

By Scott Roeben, on October 24 2026
3 min read 1 comment
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As we were the first to report, Oyo (a/k/a Palette, a/k/a Collection O) has stopped selling and serving liquor. Again.

The casino on Tropicana Avenue suspended alcohol sales on Oct. 23, 2026, making Oyo the only casino in America where you can’t get booze.

A casino without liquor is like a vegetarian steakhouse. You can still go there, but why would anyone do that?

“Scrod” is a jocular, nonstandard variant of the past participle “screwed,” functioning as a predicate adjective, and is thus perfectly acceptable in throwing A.I.-assisted shade at Oyo.

This is the second time in a year Oyo has found itself in this situation. We broke the story of the first liquor fiasco in October 2025.

That pause in the hooch supply was the result of the hotel operator, Highgate, being shown the door after its handling of a cybersecurity incident.

Oyo has made no official statements about the liquor kerfuffle, but when we stopped in, a representative at the resort attributed the situation to an “insurance lapse.” Another source told us the problem involves taxes. We’ve also heard the issue is related to licensing.

The trifecta of “WTF is going on at Oyo?”

Don’t get us started.

During our short visit to Oyo, several employees admitted they have no idea what’s going on, but agree tourists tend to consider liquor part of their casino experience, thus explaining the light business levels at Oyo. They’re always light, but now they’re even lighter.

At Oyo, there’s an entire conference room devoted to sad trombone storage.

The last time this happened, Oyo’s “alcoholus interruptus” lasted about 10 days before service resumed.

If you’ve been living under a rock, this isn’t the first drama involving Oyo.

In August 2026, Oyo made headlines for a brouhaha involving deceptive hotel listings under the names Palette and Collection O.

Oyo created images with those brands and put them on major travel booking sites, including Expedia and Booking.com, despite neither operating as a separate hotel at the Oyo location. It was a weak and transparent ploy to sidestep Oyo’s terrible reviews.

Vegas Starfish helped bring the situation to public attention. We covered the debacle in our Aug. 13, 2026 story.

Oyo’s parent company, Prism, attributed the situation to problems involving planned branding changes and said the listings should not have been available before renovations. There have been zero moves to rebrand Oyo. In other words, Prism is full of shit.

Fallout of that foofaraw included the reported departure of the casino’s operator, Paragon. Yes, we said “foofaraw.” It was either that or boondoggle. Imbroglio was second runner-up. Bring back “foofaraw” into public discourse we often say, because we clearly never want to have sex again.

We subsequently confirmed Fifth Street Gaming, the company behind the casino at Downtown Grand, intended to take over Oyo’s gaming operations, subject to regulatory approval. Fifth Street Gaming CEO and co-founder Seth Schorr confirmed the plans to us in August 2026.

We pinged Schorr about the current situation, but haven’t heard back. He might be busy cringing.

No lines at Oyo, so there’s that.

Oyo remains a mess, with no real hope in sight. The casino does sit next to a potential A’s ballpark, but even if it’s completed, it won’t open until 2028.

In the meantime, Oyo’s challenges are real. Liquor is a big part of any casino’s bottom line.

Yes, one can have fun in a casino without liquor. One can also have fun in a brothel without sex. But brothels can’t stay afloat by selling hamburgers at the bar.

Big thanks to Anthony E. on Twitter for his tip about Oyo’s liquor stoppage.

Check back for further news on Oyo’s latest flap. Also acceptable: fracas, donnybrook, ruckus, comedy of errors or cat rodeo.