Posted on: May 5, 2026, 10:56h.
Last updated on: May 6, 2026, 03:11h.
- According to a leaked letter, Primm Valley Resort & Casino will close permanently on July 4, 2026
- Over the past two years, Affinity Gaming already closed sister property Whiskey Pete’s and switched Buffalo Bill’s to event-only operation
- Primm, Nevada has suffered from declining tourism for the past 20 years, though the pandemic was a death blow
All three casinos in Primm, Nev. will permanently close on July 4, 2026, according to a confidential all-staff letter obtained and shared by the reliable X news page Las Vegas Locally on Tuesday.
According to the letter — a “notice of business closure and employment termination” from the Primadonna Company, owned by Affinity Gaming’s Primm Valley Resorts — Primm Valley Resort & Casino, Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino, and Whiskey Pete’s Hotel & Casino “will be permanently closing its operations.”
“This action is expected to result in the permanent termination of employment for all employees at these locations,” it stated.
Affinity — which purchased the three casinos from MGM Resorts for $400 million in 2007 — already shuttered Whiskey Pete’s in December 2024, then switched Buffalo Bill’s to event-only operation in July 2025.
Also announced in the new termination notice were the closures of the adjacent Primm Center gas station /convenience store and Flying J truck stop.
Primm Reaper
The tiny town 40 miles south of Las Vegas on the California border has experienced a steady decline in business for the past 20 years, but the pandemic was a death blow.
Primm Valley Resort & Casino was so empty on July 18, 2024 that Lydia Salmen, 70, was able to enter its unstaffed cage and make off with $625K in currency and $27K in casino chips. (She and her husband, John, were only caught because their Nissan hatchback was videotaped by a police body cam during an unrelated visit to the property the month before.)
Primm’s 371K square-foot outlet mall, which opened as the Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas in 1998, has become a nearly abandoned relic populated mostly by YouTube livestreamers.
Primm Valley Resorts’ letter noted the terminated employees “do not have bumping rights,” referring to a contractual provision allowing senior employees whose positions have been eliminated to displace less senior employees from their positions.
In addition, next to the words “Union Representation,” the letter reminded its recipients that they had “none.”
“Your employment is expected to end on or around July 4, 2026,” the letter read. “All affected employees are not expected to be recalled.”
A request for comment from Affinity Gaming was not immediately returned. If Casino.org receives a response, we will update this story with it.