Even with attempts to restore and preserve Downtown Las Vegas, the charming city continues to slump in revenues as the Strip powers up and caters to younger, hipper casino gamblers. The downtown scene has really shifted into a tourist attraction with a kitschy, old Las Vegas quality but just doesn't entice younger travelers to stay, eat and gamble. With more upscale casinos selling a more modern fantasy of glamour, the older downtown casinos are simply outdated and un-hip. A larger amount of Las Vegas gamblers are younger than in years past, which compounds the tough situation that downtown casinos are finding themselves in as their once loyal players are, pardon the expression - dying off.

William Robinson Jr., who runs the downtown fixture casino, Binion's, says that despite very disappointing losses for this first quarter, he plans to do whatever he can to restore the casino to its previous glory. Part of these plans already include remodeling and a fresher business model that would hopefully attract more of those younger players. Bringing in this type of crowd may be the only thing that may save the casino, which is now facing nearly $1.3 Million in losses from the first two quarters combined.

The company's 89% decrease in overall revenues from $16.5 million to $15.1 million were partly responsible for its losses; However, the major culprit was their development and opening of the Eerie, Pennsylvania casino and racetrack, Presque Isle Downs. The new track racked up unanticipated costs of $2.9 million, which helped to bump the casino company's decline in earnings down to the disappointing $12.5 million mark for the second quarter alone.

The trend of Binion's decline has not been a development plaguing only its most recent owners. It began even when the Binion's themselves still had ownership of the 56-year old casino. In 2004, Las Vegas casino gaming regulators were forced to shut down Binon's Horseshoe Casino in order to recover funds to pay off the increasing debt that current owner, Becky Binion Behnen, was obligated to pay off. Harrah's bought the property soon after, but promptly flipped it to Robinson's MTR Gaming, who maintains the desire to refurbish Binion's Casino to its previous glory.