In with the old: Bingo returning to the Las Vegas Strip

Bingo is returning to the Las Vegas Strip for the first time in more than a decade.

In that time, the classic casino game has evolved greatly, now featuring electronics, dance parties and all sorts of twists. But not at Circus Circus, the historic Strip property known for its other vintage aesthetics.

Come mid-February, a 225-person bingo hall will open on the casino’s promenade level. No fancy boards, just the classic paper and daubers. (For the kids, a dauber is a special marker used for the game. Paper is that stuff made from trees.)

Through the year, expect to see some more propertywide tweaks and updates.

This is the first bingo room on the Strip since the Riviera closed in 2015, and before that, the last bingo hall was at the New Frontier, which closed in 2007. But Circus Circus — which opened in 1968, making it one of the oldest remaining properties — is leaning hard into classic Vegas.

Shana Gerety, general manager of the hotel-casino, said the hall will offer affordable food and beverage options such as hot dogs, pretzels, nachos, beer, as well as a few chic cocktails. With six sessions a day, bingo-ers will pay $30 for the pack, which will include regular bingo rounds, a bonus game and a coverall, with a total of 10 games. Players can buy another pack ($30 more), if they please, or singular bonus or coverall games for $10 or $20 more, respectively.

Prizes are still being fine-tuned, but will be all cash, starting at $50 and going up to $1,500.

In with the old

Along with the bingo hall, Circus is expanding the nearby casino floor, set to debut a month later, which will feature some of the coin-operated slot machines from Slots-A-Fun.

“We want to do something a little bit different. As the years have gone on, we’ve seen … great success in bringing back that vintage Vegas feel with the coin-operated slots, with the $2 beers, $2 hot dogs (at Slots-A-Fun),” Gerety said.

In recent years, bingo has risen in popularity with younger generations. Even in higher-tech bingo rooms, the game is affordable and typically lasts a few hours, making it an optimal bang-for-your-buck option. Bingo night is a mainstay at many Las Vegas bars, and the Suncoast this past summer debuted a 9,170-square-foot bingo hall with a 17-foot bouncing bingo ball chandelier.

“We want this to be something that all customers can go play and something that really loops you in,” Gerety added. “And it’s not just sitting there and having the electronic game run. You get to interact with people. You get to cheer. You get the actual old-school feel of daubing papers and physically looking for numbers popping up. … Since we’re going to be the only bingo hall on the Las Vegas Strip, we want to do something that is not very common here, and bingo isn’t common, nor is paper.”

In 2026, expect a few more changes around the property. Gerety said they’re looking to redo the carpet, update paint in some areas, and revamp menus at some of their restaurants, including the revered Steak House.

“In the next year, everything is going to get touched, and it’s going to get a little bit of old-school Vegas vibe back to it,” Gerety said. Since 2024, with the addition of the coin slots, the reaction has been positive.

“Everybody loves it. Everybody has so much fun doing it. And so that really made us think, man, we need to home in on being a true Vegas property. We need to look at pricing, and we need to be affordable, where any consumer can really come here and can have fun.”

Gerety said to expect many more locals promos in the coming year.

“If you haven’t been here, the property is drastically different than what it was six years ago, eight years ago. It has a drastically different vibe and different feel to it. And we want locals to be able to come experience that,” she said.

Contact Kristen DeSilva at kdesilva@reviewjournal.com. Follow @kristendesilva on X.