A temporary casino is operating this week at the former Tropicana site as part of a state requirement to preserve the gaming license tied to the property.
Bally’s Corp., the operator of the Tropicana parcel, is offering public access to 16 slot machines through Thursday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The games are set up inside a construction trailer accessible from Ocean Drive off Tropicana Avenue.
The temporary Bally’s casino does not have any amenities.
The slot machines on site do not accept ticket-in, ticket-out (TITO) vouchers, meaning all players receive hand pays for any amount won.
The machines are supplied by International Game Technology, which collects any losses from gamblers at the temporary site.
The small pop-up casino is necessary for Bally’s to retain the non-restricted gaming license for the site at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. Nevada policy for preserving non-restricted gaming privileges requires gaming activity on the site every 24 months.
The former Tropicana was closed in April 2024 before being demolished in October of the same year.
Recent examples of temporary or pop-up casinos in Las Vegas include periodic gaming activations at the former Moulin Rouge site, where slot machines have been set up every couple of years to keep their gaming license alive, most recently in May 2024. Similar brief gaming events have also appeared at the sites of the old Las Vegas Club and Mermaids downtown, with operators installing a limited number of machines for a day to satisfy license requirements tied to future development plans.
At the former Tropicana site on the Strip, construction is already underway on a new 33,000-seat ballpark for the 2028 arrival of the A’s baseball team. The ballpark is being constructed on nine acres of the 35-acre parcel.
Surrounding the stadium, Bally’s introduced plans for a phased mixed-use development that would include hotel towers, a casino, retail, dining and entertainment space as part of a larger entertainment district.
Contact David Danzis at ddanzis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0378. Follow @AC2Vegas_Danzis on X.