Palace Station Hotel & Casino
The Palace Station Hotel & Casino opened originally under the simple name The Casino on July 1, 1976. Built away from the famous Las Vegas Strip, the facility was aimed at local gamblers rather than tourists. It touched off a trend of neighborhood casinos once it proved to be lucrative. A year later, a bingo hall was added and the establishment's name was changed to The Casino and Bingo Palace. It was renamed the Palace Station in 1983.

While very successful, the casino remained primarily something the locals knew about. This changed in 2007 when the casino's hotel became the scene of a crime that caught international attention.

O. J. Simpson Las Vegas Robbery Case
Retired NFL player and actor O.J. Simpson was found guilty for taking part in the robbery of sports memorabilia from a collector staying in Room 1203 at the casino. On September 13, 2007 Simpson entered the casino with a group of armed men and took sports memorabilia and a phone. In an odd coincidence the crime was committed the same day that the book If I Did It: Confessions of a Killer was published. The book, originally titled If I Did It, was created by O.J. Simpson and ghostwriter Pablo Fenjves presented a "hypothetical" account of how the murders of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman (see The Simpson/Goldman House) would have happened had it been perpetrated by O.J. Originally intended to generate a profit for O.J. Simpson, the rights to the book were legally wrested away and given to the relatives of Ron Goldman. Ghostwriter Pablo Fenjves had been Nicole Brown Simpson's neighbor at the time of the murders and was even a witness in the original trial. In the time since the book was released Fenjves has apparently come forward and expressed the opinion that Simpson was guilty of the murders.

Simpson claimed that the memorabilia had originally been stolen from him. However, a Las Vegas jury found it another way and he was convicted of 12 counts, which included assault, robbery, kidnapping with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to commit a crime on October 3, 2008 - exactly 13 years to the day of his acquittal in his wife's murder. On December 5, 2008, Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison. His lawyers are currently appealing the case.

The Notoriety
Only two weeks after the crime, the Palace Station Hotel & Casino reported having been flooded with requests to stay in the infamous Room 1203. However, the facility's parent company was quick to decide that they would not capitalize on the room's sudden notoriety in the case and quickly closed off the room for a short time. The room is now available to the public again, but the hotel management has noted that any requests to stay in Room 1203 will "guarantee" that the guest will stay in an entirely different room.

Visiting the Casino
Besides the hotel and casino, the facility features dining and other forms of entertainment. It has bars, lounges and a comedy club as well as multiple restaurants. It can be an excellent choice for anyone wishing to participate in casino gambling without dealing with the crowds and glitz of the Las Vegas Strip.