The Mirage, an iconic hotel and casino in Las Vegas that opened in 1989, is set to close its doors for good next week — but must first hand out around $1.6 million in cash and prizes. NBC’s Morgan Chesky reports for TODAY.

The Mirage hotel-casino is often cited as being a trailblazer and the first true mega resort in Las Vegas. The “Oasis in the Desert” changed the way casinos approached the business of making money and how the outside world perceived Las Vegas.

Barb Edgemon and her late husband Daryn began their love affair with The Mirage hotel-casino during their honeymoon in 1995. The newlyweds from Spokane, Washington, were both blackjack dealers and spending time at one of the world’s premier casino properties was a natural fit.

The Mirage is coming into the home stretch. Next Wednesday, it will close its doors. The property itself will remain, but it will become a Hard Rock Hotel, albeit a much different one from the former Paradise Road casino by that name.

Skokie, Illinois is about 15 miles north of downtown Chicago. It’s a diverse village of about 65,000 people, and while it’s just beyond city limits and certainly maintains a small-town feel, it’s essentially a Chicago suburb.

The Casino Collectibles Association (CCA) has announced its 31st annual show, scheduled to take place in Exhibit Hall C at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas, from June 13th to 15th, 2024. The association calls the show a "must-see for those fascinated by gaming history".

Every year the non-profit Casino Collectibles Association features four fascinating and free educational seminars related to gaming history at the World’s Largest Casino Memorabilia Show. This year, they are the next best thing to being a fly on the wall during the golden years of the iconic Las Vegas Strip casinos.

►How we gambled before ash economy? ►Are religion and gambling somehow connected? ►How did risk-taking change after humanity settled down? ►How did 2nd chances - the concept of starting again - develop in America's gambling? ►Why did Las Vegas and Atlantic City seesaw on legalizing gambling?