Las Vegas is set to lose another poker room. Planet Hollywood will no longer offer poker games starting July 11, according to reports from some of the casino’s employees.
Employees Bid Goodbye  
News of the upcoming closure has now been shared on Twitter by individuals identifying themselves as working for the casino, though there have been no official announcement yet coming from the casino itself or its parent company Caesars Entertainment.
The ten-table poker area at Planet Hollywood suspended its operations in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while it was preparing to host the GOLIATH series which was supposed to run from May 28 to July 8 of that year.
The event was postponed, with the room initially announcing via Twitter that it would be moved to a later date. That did not happen, and most likely will not happen anymore, especially with ongoing speculations that the room is closing for good. The room’s Twitter account hasn’t been active since October 2020, providing more proof of its impending closure, which has also been referenced by Las Vegas news source Vital Vegas in a recent tweet.
No More Poker Tournaments at Planet Hollywood
All of the news spreading about the room’s upcoming closure mainly revolved around the ten-table poker area located at the casino’s main floor. The fate of the Planet Hollywood’s tournament offerings is rarely discussed, but according to an anonymous visitor who recently paid a visit to the casino’s second floor where poker tournaments were usually held, the area was cordoned off since early June.
That could only mean one thing: poker tournaments may have now also become a thing of the past at Planet Hollywood. The strongest indication has been the absence of a 2021 edition of the GOLIATH series which traditionally ran multiple times each year, from 2013 to 2019. Caesars has remained tightlipped on the matter.
If there’s some truth to the ongoing rumors, then the 2019 WSOP Circuit Planet Hollywood will officially become the last major poker event hosted at the casino. The main highlight of the festival was a $1,700 buy-in Main Event, which attracted a 778-entry field, ultimately topped by Michael Trivett. The Johnson City, Tennessee resident took home a WSOPC ring and $215,943 in first-place prize.
Likewise, Ben Farrell would go down in history as the last winner of the GOLIATH Main Event which also took place in 2019. The British player walked away with $162,400 in prize money following a three-way deal with Ignacio Molina and Remi Castaignon.
Players Share Views on Room’s Closure
The poker area at Planet Hollywood is an open-air room located next to the “Pleasure Pit” gaming space. Poker games are facilitated with no physical barrier from the other gaming action taking place at the same area. Commenters on Twitter have been sharing their views as to why the looming closure comes as no surprise. Poker pro Katie Stone suggested that the room’s location isn’t easily accessible, which is one of the reasons why many did not like to play there.
Add to that the limited number of tables available, making it difficult for players to find long-running higher-stakes games. These factors were enough to push poker grinders away, making Planet Hollywood’s poker area more of a tourist destination rather than a regular go-to place for local poker players and fans.
Poker Room Closures Continue in Las Vegas
The looming closure of Planet Hollywood’s poker room continues a worrying trend in the Las Vegas live poker scene. The number of poker tables operating in the city has significantly dropped over the years, with multiple establishments deciding to cease their poker operations permanently, including Mandalay Bay, Mirage, Binion’s and Excalibur.
Vegas had more than 1,000 active poker tables during the summer of 2010, which reduced to less than 300. Since 2012, a total of 37 poker rooms closed their doors in Las Vegas, 11 of them haven’t been operating since the COVID-19 lockdown. That number will rise to 38 as soon as Planet Hollywood’s closure is confirmed.