Iconic Las Vegas Casino Tropicana Closing in April to Prep for Oakland A's Move

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Iconic Las Vegas Casino Tropicana Closing in April to Prep for Oakland A's Move
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The end of an era is near as Tropicana Las Vegas has announced its expected closure date — April 2, 2024 — as the property which opened in 1957 will become the future home of the Oakland Athletics.

Prominent Las Vegas X account @LasVegasLocally reported rumors of the anticipated closure Monday morning before then sharing an official memorandum sent out by the casino.

The End of an Era

Tropicana opened April 4, 1957, and will close almost exactly 67 years later. The South Strip casino resort is owned by Bally's Corporation, and has been hosting the Bally Live Poker stream (formerly Bally's Big Bet Poker and Live at the Bike) the past few months. Within the next month or so, the poker show will move to the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. Poker star Garrett Adelstein is expected to be a regular in the big games when the stream, which doesn't have an official launch date yet, kicks off.

As for the casino, the property has certainly seen its better days. PokerNewsrecently visited Tropicana for a Bally Live stream and noticed there wasn't much action going on outside the poker game. Only a limited number of gamblers were seated at slot machines and table games.

Tropicana doesn't have a poker room, but did so briefly about a dozen years ago. The casino hired Jamie Gold, the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, to be the face of its brand-new card room. Months later, it closed down and was replaced with slot machines. High-stakes poker player and Maverick Casino owner Eric Persson had planned to open a new poker room at Tropicana in October 2023, but the plans fell through.

But despite the lack of excitement for the casino in recent years among tourists and locals, Tropicana is an iconic hotel in Las Vegas and is one of the oldest standing casino resorts on the Strip. Only Flamingo, which opened in 1946, has been in operation longer.

For the time being, Bally Live Poker will continue at Tropicana. On Feb. 3, the stream will feature the return of David "Viffer" Peat, along with a host of other high-profile players such as Persson, Patrik Antonius, and Nikhil "Nik Airball" Arcot.

The property will soon be demolished in preparation for a baseball stadium, which will become home to the Las Vegas A's, formerly Oakland A's, in 2027. This will be the second major pro sports franchise the city of Las Vegas has swiped from Oakland. In 2020, the NFL's Oakland Raiders moved to Sin City and play at Allegiant Stadium, located within walking distance from the future home of the A's.