From lotteries to casinos, horse tracks to mobile sports betting, tribal bingo halls to prediction markets, most of America is awash in gambling as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary. But gambling was popular in America before there even WAS an America. Native Americans played games with sticks and dice, including a hide-the-stone-in-a-moccasin game that could be the precursor of the modern shell game. British settlers brought their country's love of gambling to the new world, betting on horse races, playing cards and dice games in taverns, and using lotteries to help finance public works projects, including the very establishment of some of the American colonies long before they declared independence in 1776.

The barricades are up at Whiskey Pete’s, and same goes for Buffalo Bill’s, albeit with colorful banners fastened to its roadblocks that declare: “The Party is at Primm Valley.” With three hotel-casino properties in this remote spot outside Las Vegas, Primm Valley Resort is the only one still open. But the party, or what’s left of it, is about to end.

Primm Valley Casino Resorts will close 624 hotel rooms when it shutters this summer

Industry observers cited multiple factors tied to the area’s decline, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Southern Californians traveling the arid stretches of the I-15 would see Primm pop up. As he drove to Sin City for bowling tournaments, Honell would stop and "drop a few coins" into the slot machines. It was a gambling oasis — a little less flashy and a little more affordable than Vegas and 45 minutes closer.

Primm Valley Casino Resorts, the last full-time casino among a cluster of three off Interstate 15 in Primm, at the California-Nevada border, is permanently closing July 4, a publicist for owner Affinity Gaming confirmed Wednesday.

Multiple casino-resorts in Primm, along with two gas stations and the Lotto Store, are set to permanently close, according to the company. For a town once built on constant traffic, bright lights and a steady stream of visitors heading in from California, the announcement feels like the end of an era.

The building will be demolished on Thursday, March 5, Boyd Gaming confirmed.