Affinity Announces Closure of Vegas-Adjacent Primm Valley Resort
After a years-long death spiral, Affinity Interactive (once Affinity Gaming) has announced the official end of the once-beloved Primm.
The company will close Primm Valley Resort & Casino, the third and final casino in the town about 45 minutes from Las Vegas. Whiskey Pete’s closed in December 2024. Buffalo Bill’s closed in July 2025, but has been used for special events ever since.
It’s all closing, along with Primm Center (a multi-purpose arena and event venue) and Flying J (a large truck stop and travel plaza). Number of people losing their jobs: 344. We hope to come up with a bright side by the time we’re done with our story, but the prospects are pretty bleak at this juncture.
According to a letter first shared by our friend @LasVegasLocally, employees have been informed the closure is expected to result in permanent layoffs effective July 4, 2026.
That’s right. Independence Day. Hey, at least it wasn’t Christmas.
The truth is Primm has been circling the drain for years. There’s no one factor that doomed this Las Vegas pre-gaming bathroom stop. It was death by a thousand cuts.
The biggest factor in the demise of Primm and its three casinos: The proliferation of tribal casinos in Southern California. Names like Pechanga, Morongo and Yaamava will forever be etched into the memories of Primm employees, and not in a good way.
Over time, as demand declined, parts of Primm were shut down (like the Desperado roller coaster), which gave folks fewer reasons to stop.
One Affinity executive told us the average time a traveler spends in Primm is 45 minutes. Gas, bathroom, fast food, moving on.
COVID was a big hit for Primm, too, and it never recovered.
Also contributing to the demise of Primm: The much-discussed decline in mid-market gambling customers. It’s complicated. Just Google the “K-shaped economy.”
The most recent of the “thousand cuts” is related to interstate travel from Southern California (wherein a good number of Latinos reside) during a federal immigration crackdown. Citizens and non-citizens have been nervous about crossing state lines, so Primm has suffered further. Gas prices haven’t helped, of course.
The writing has been on the wall for years, though. When Affinity killed off the last remaining live table games in Primm, they took the “casino” out of Primm Valley Resort & Casino, and the end was inevitable.
On a related note, Affinity Interactive recently announced two new executive appointments; Pat Murphy as chief financial officer (CFO) and Chad Brown as chief marketing officer (CMO). Imagine it being your first week of work as CFO and you get to oversee the firing of 300-plus people.
There are a few lingering questions about Primm. Specifically, 1) what happens with the lottery store so popular with Las Vegas residents, and 2) what happens to the Bonnie and Clyde death car?
The Lotto store in Primm is pretty much the only part of Affinity’s operation that generates profit. According to reports, the Lotto Store in Primm closes on July 4, 2026.
We trust the residents of Nipton aren’t mad about the Lotto Store news. Nipton is a California town owned by the producer of “Absinthe,” Ross Mollison. When those lottery jackpots swell, Nipton’s Shell/Country Store will see patronage do the same. The drive time to White Hills, Arizona from Las Vegas is similar to that of Nipton, but Nipton has koi. They were relocated from the Bellagio. Long story.
What’s the Bonnie and Clyde death car, you ask? You may not be Vegas enough. Or Primm enough, but we aren’t changing our song to accommodate Primm.
The “Bonnie and Clyde death car” is the actual bullet-riddled 1934 Ford Deluxe Fordor V-8 driven by outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow when they were ambushed and killed by law enforcement in Louisiana on May 23, 1934.
Our money’s on the Bonnie and Clyde car being moved to Affinity’s Silver Sevens casino here in Vegas, where it belonged in the first place. Backup plan: Downtown’s Mob Museum would love to get it.
Another test of whether you’re Vegas enough: Remember the trams in Primm?
There were actually two separate tram/monorail systems in Primm; one ran between Buffalo Bill’s and Primm Valley Resort, while another crossed I-15 between Whiskey Pete’s and Primm Valley Resort. The plug was pulled on the trams in the 2010s.
Aside from the Bonnie and Clyde car, Primm’s monorails are probably the best visual metaphor for why Primm will soon be a memory.
Affinity’s CEO probably said it best: “Primm was built for what Las Vegas looked like 30 years ago.”
At that same presentation to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, Affinity talked about “looking at new ways of enticing people to stop at Primm.”
Short of a brothel, that was never happening.
Could anything have saved Primm?
Well, there’s been talk of a new airport out that way. It’s supposed to “provide long-term aviation capacity for the Las Vegas metropolitan area.” Which, in layperson’s terms, means “anticipate red tape, endless delays and billions in cost overruns.” If an airport happens at all, it’s a decade away. If Las Vegas visitation levels stay flat or go down, support for a new airport will do the same. Oh, but watch for freelance number fluffer Jeremy Aguero and his firm, Applied Analysis, to claim a new airport will generate 14.327 trillion in economic stimulation, probably isn’t the SpongeBob SquarePants font. Don’t get us started.
A southward expansion of Las Vegas could’ve helped. If a developer built thousands of homes, a greater population density could’ve bolstered Primm’s chances. Primm Valley Resort and Buffalo Bill’s have Las Vegas Boulevard addresses. What if Primm was positioned as the new southern tip of the Las Vegas Strip?
Hey, Vegas never met a pipe dream it didn’t love. They’re still talking about a high-speed train like it could happen. Adorable.
We have a number of fond memories of our time in Primm. Mostly, it was that one time we found ourself playing craps next to the screenwriter of “The Cooler.”
Primm Valley Casino Resorts was of its time, but times have changed.
Our heart goes out to folks losing their jobs as the result of Primm Valley Resort closing. These are smart people. They knew their days in Primm were numbered.
Primm is a symbol of how much has changed in the last couple of decades, for better or worse. Relevance is a daunting challenge. Looking at you, Las Vegas.
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