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The drop in Las Vegas tourism has been well-documented, with total visitor numbers down 7.5%. At the same time, poker rooms along the Vegas Strip are closing — raising questions about the appeal of in-person gambling.
Rick Harrison of “Pawn Stars” fame — as well as owner of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas — told Fox News Digital in an interview that gambling in person is not dying.
“We know what the oldest profession is — gambling was probably the second,” Harrison said, laughing. “People always gambled — and plus, you know, in Vegas, it’s just not [about] the gambling.”
LAS VEGAS POKER ROOMS FOLD AS CASINO TOURISM PLUMMETS TO RECORD LOWS
Harrison said Las Vegas hosts certain conventions unlike anywhere else in the world, and people are coming to Sin City for more than just gambling.
“Keep changing it around, see what sticks to the wall, give your customers what they want — and they will keep on coming back,” he said.
The latest poker room to close was Resorts World on March 30, a casino representative confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The closure will leave just eight poker rooms open on the Las Vegas Strip, according to the blog “Vital Vegas.”
“However, we will be introducing new gaming opportunities to replace the poker room,” the representative said.
The representative did not elaborate on what new gaming offerings would take the room’s place. It currently features No Limit Texas Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha and mixed games.
“You don’t have just the whole old style [where you] have blackjack tables, [it’s] dark and everything else like that,” said Harrison.
He credited Circa Resort & Casino for changing it up. “You go down to Circa [and] there’s go-go dancers dancing behind the blackjack tables. It makes it more fun,” he said.
Las Vegas Strip gaming revenue fell 11% year over year, from $840,093,428 in January 2025 to $747,655,527 in January 2026, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB).
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Nevada’s nonrestricted gaming licensees reported a total gaming win of roughly $1.35 billion in January of this year, dropping 6.55% compared to the same month last year, according to the NGCB.
The online gambling market is expected to reach a projected revenue of $22.2 million by 2030, according to Grand View Research.
Harrison said there’s been a shift in Vegas since back in the day.
“The rooms weren’t expensive. You had great entertainment. [It] wasn’t crazy money. The food wasn’t expensive; they made most of their money off the gambling,” he said. “Nowadays, younger people don’t gamble as much, so you have to change your business model, how you’re going to make money,” said Harrison.
“In the end, you have to think about the customer experience.”
In 2025, there were about 38.5 million visitors, a 7.5% drop from 2024 according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCA).
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Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist and the host of “The Robby Starbuck Show,” previously told Fox News Digital that in-person gambling is becoming less popular.
“Now nearly everyone under 40 who bets seems to do it online,” Starbuck said.
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“I don’t know one person under age 40 who goes to Vegas regularly to bet or play slots,” he added.
“This trend will continue with younger people because, honestly, our minds are wired differently.”
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