New bingo room to debut Friday night at Palace Station

Champagne and bingo, not the likeliest of combinations in the average casino, come together Friday night as Station Casinos unveils the first of its multimillion-dollar Palace Station renovations — a new 362-seat bingo room.

The property that has had its roots in the popular game — it once was known as “Bingo Palace” — will have a champagne toast at 9 p.m., when the first session in the new hall begins.

The room is in 10,000 square feet of new space specifically created for bingo. The old bingo room, which seated 307 players, will be revamped to restaurant space in the next phase of Palace Station’s transition, which will include removal of some of the visual references to trains.

While the property’s historic nod to locomotives may be lost, Palace won’t replace the game that made its mark.

“Palace Station has always been known in Las Vegas as the place to go for bingo and the game is inherently embedded in Station Casinos’ DNA,” said Stations spokeswoman Lori Nelson.

Station operates nine bingo rooms at its major Southern Nevada properties, including its two Fiesta operations, which have an old-school look with paper tickets in addition to new bingo technology.

Nelson said bingo appeals to players because they can make a minimal investment — $4 at the low end — for an hour of entertainment that includes 12 games in a session.

Sessions run daily on odd-numbered hours from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Station employees helped Palace with trial-run play days earlier this week.

When the public arrives at the new space on the north end of the property facing Sahara Avenue, they’ll see state-of-the-art technology and large television screens scattered throughout the room. There’s a large bingo stage and projection screen, modern tables in brightly colored red, tangerine, cream and brown tones with glowing red and orange chandeliers.

A VIP area has six reclining chairs and there also are five bar stools for guests.

The next phase of redevelopment at Palace will occur over the next 16 months and include construction of new restaurants and moving the buffet from its second-story level to the main casino floor. The existing buffet will remain open through renovations.

Palace Station’s new bingo room is the company’s second big investment in bingo in less than a year. In November, Station opened a new bingo hall at Santa Fe Station in northwest Las Vegas.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.