Caesars Selling Off-Strip Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Fresh Round of Reports Suggests

Casino News Daily

Sale of Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, located just off the Las Vegas Strip, might be imminent this time, according to reports

Reports about the potential sale of Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, the off-Strip resort that has been hosting the World Series of Poker since 2005, have been emerging now and again for the past decade. And such reports have been particularly persistent over the past several months.

According to popular blog for everything Las Vegas-related, Vital Vegas, the eventual sale of the property might be on the way. In a tweet from last night, Vital Vegas said that there has been information that room service for the entire off-Strip resort is set to soon end at 11:00 pm daily. In addition, it seems that a significant portion of the butler staff at Palazzo Villa would be laid off in the coming week and dedicated kitchen would be shut down. It really seems that the property might this time be handed to a new owner.

Chatter out of Rio is room service for entire resort will soon end at 11:00 p.m. daily. Also hear a good portion of butler staff of Palazzo Villa suites to be laid off next week, dedicated kitchen to be shut down. We vote further indication of sale.

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) October 8, 2018

Casino News Daily reported last month, once again thanks to Vital Vegas, that Caesars was “highly motivated” to sell its off-Strip hotel and casino resort and that three viable suitors have been circling it.

According to reports, the sale of Rio would result in the move of the annual WSOP poker festival to a new venue. And Vital Vegas believes that the $375-million Caesars Forum convention center, currently under construction in Las Vegas, will be the new home to the popular tournament poker series. Caesars has denied rumors for the potential move of the WSOP to another venue, but said rumors have become extremely persistent lately.

Previous Rio Sale Reports

First reports about the potential sale of Rio date back to 2010, when it emerged from unnamed sources that the property’s then owner Harrah’s Entertainment was seeking a buyer for the off-Strip casino resort. News outlets also reported back then that the property had quite some suitors and some were valuing it at around $500 million.

In 2013, Caesars was reportedly approached by the parent company of online poker operator PokerStars and a transaction was really close to happening, but eventually fell through. PokerStars’ then-Vice President of Corporate Communications fueled the rumors even further by confirming that the parent company of the poker brand was indeed interested in buying Rio.

A year later, in 2014, Robin Leach, a pioneer entertainment journalist, reported that an off-Strip resort had just been sold for $400 million and many suggested that the unnamed resort was namely Rio.

Rio opened doors early in 1990. It features more than 2,500 hotel rooms, a 117,300-square-foot casino with 1,100 slots and 90 table games, multiple entertainment and dining facilities, and around 160,000 square feet of convention space. It has most notably been host to the WSOP since 2005, when the series was relocated from its previous home, Binion’s Horseshoe.

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