Last gambling resorts on California-Nevada border to close — and Primm employees told to vacate housing

The neon glow that once welcomed millions of Californians speeding toward Las Vegas is about to go dark forever.

Primm Valley Resorts — the last full-time casino still operating in Primm, Nevada, the tiny gambling outpost formerly known as State Line along Interstate 15 — is permanently shutting down, marking the end of an era for the once-thriving desert pit stop just across California’s border.

Employees were informed this week that operations at Primm Valley Resort, Buffalo Bill’s, Whiskey Pete’s, the Primm Center and the Flying J truck stop will all close permanently, according to a termination notice dated May 5 that circulated online.

“This action is expected to result in the permanent termination of employment of all employees at these locations,” the notice states.

The employee letter says workers expected to be separated by July 4 and are “not expected to be recalled.”

The company also notified tenants living in employee housing tied to the casino operations that they must vacate their apartments by July 6, according to a separate notice first reported by 8NewsNow in Las Vegas.

The letter informed employee residents at the Desert Oasis Apartments that leases were being terminated due to the shutdown of “all operations at Primm Valley Casino Resorts.”

The letter says the company plans to coordinate with Nevada workforce and unemployment agencies to help displaced workers transition after the shutdown.

The closure effectively kills off the last remnants of the quirky casino corridor that for decades served as California’s cheaper, kitschier alternative to the Las Vegas Strip.

Long before giant mega-resorts dominated Sin City, Primm became famous as the first taste of Nevada gambling for road-trippers crossing the California border.

The area featured three iconic casinos clustered along the freeway: the castle-themed Whiskey Pete’s, the Old West-inspired Buffalo Bill’s and the more polished Primm Valley Resort.

At its peak, the mini-casino town lured Californians with cheap rooms, loose slots, roller coasters, outlet shopping and roadside oddities — including the infamous bullet-riddled Bonnie and Clyde “death car.”

But over the years, the crowds faded.

COVID-19 hammered tourism traffic, while the rapid expansion of tribal casinos across California chipped away at Primm’s biggest advantage: convenience.

Instead of driving deep into Nevada, many Southern Californians now stop closer to home at massive tribal casino resorts scattered throughout the Inland Empire, San Diego County and Central California.

Affinity Gaming — owner of the Primm properties — had already begun winding operations down over the past two years.

Whiskey Pete’s shut down in December 2024 under what officials described at the time as a “long-term closure.” Buffalo Bill’s later scaled back operations, opening mostly for special events at the Star of the Desert Arena.

In a 2024 letter to Clark County officials, Affinity executives admitted the numbers no longer worked.

“In recent years, and particularly post-pandemic, the traffic at the state line has proved to be heavily weighted towards weekend activity and is insufficient to support three full-time casino properties,” Affinity Senior Vice President and General Counsel Erin Barnett wrote.

The company had hoped future development tied to the proposed Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport near Ivanpah could eventually revive the area, according to the letter.

But members of the Primm family said they were disappointed by the closure announcement and are now searching for possible solutions for the struggling properties.

“As a member of the Primm family that takes great pride in our decades of serving Nevada residents and visitors, we’re saddened to hear about this announcement,” Cory Clemetson, grandson of Primm founder Ernest Primm, said in a statement.

Clemetson said the family had hoped Affinity Gaming and its principle owner, New York-based private equity firm Z Capital, “could have done more to make these properties successful and to continue operating” them.

He also said the family was “not given much notice” before the closure was announced.

“Faced with the prospect of hundreds of hard-working Nevadans losing their jobs and many Primm residents being displaced from their homes, members of the Primm family are working tirelessly to to find potential solutions for these properties at risk of closing,” Clemetson said.

For now, though, the future of Primm appears bleak.

Questions also remain about what happens next to some of the area’s best-known attractions — including Buffalo Bill’s towering Desperado roller coaster, once billed as the tallest roller coaster in the world, and the Bonnie and Clyde death car display that became a bizarre roadside landmark for a generation of travelers.

Primm itself traces its roots back to the 1950s and was originally known simply as “State Line” before officially being renamed in 1996 after casino developer Ernest Primm.

For decades, the town symbolized the moment California officially entered Nevada.

Now, for many drivers speeding between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, it may soon become little more than a ghost town in the desert.

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