HENDERSON (KTNV) — If you've been down Boulder Highway recently, you've seen lots of change, from road construction, to casino closures, with the community celebrating Cadence Crossing Casino, Wednesday.
“It’s amazing, it’s amazing, it’s beautiful," said Liz McCrary, who works at Cadence Crossing Casino as the Lead Slot Customer Service Attendant.
WATCH| Ryan Ketcham talks to a worker about the new casino in Henderson
While Wednesday was the community's first time to check out this brand new casino, it was also McCrary's first day working inside, but she's no stranger to the area.
“I worked at Jokers Wild for 33 years. Today is my anniversary," said McCrary. “You opened Joker’s Wild? I opened and closed it. And opened this one? Yes.”
She's Boyd Gaming's longest standing employee at these properties.
Since Jokers Wild closed this past weekend on Sunday, March 22, she's hasn't been the only one who's transitioned to the new casino.
“We had about 100 people working for us at Jokers Wild," said David Strow, the V.P. of Corporate Communications at Boyd Gaming. "Every single employee at Jokers Wild came over to Cadence Crossing."
“It was so great that they were able to keep everybody and then also create new positions for more people to come and work for Boyd," said Alyson Williams who is married to a Cadence Crossing Casino employee.
Williams' husband also made the move from Jokers Wild to Cadence.
The new casino is only one of several changes Boulder Highway has gone through, just this year alone.
In the 3 months of 2026, The Eastside Cannery imploded, Jokers Wild closed and is set for demolition according to Boyd Gaming, plus Cadence Crossing opened on the same plot of land as Jokers Wild, they're literally feet away from each other.
Boyd Gaming tells Channel 13 News, after Jokers Wild is demolished, it will turn into a parking lot. If Cadence Crossing Casino is a success by their unreleased standards, the plot of land would expand into more casino space which could possibly include a hotel as well.
Construction is also ongoing across the area for the Reimagine Boulder Highway Project, which is set to revolutionize the area with a new bus lane, streetlights, upgraded traffic signals and more storm drains.
These are all changes locals are excited about.
“It’s really, really good. It needs to happen," said Williams.
Williams enjoyed the day at this new casino with her mom, Julie.
“It’s been fun so far, it’s been a lot of fun," said Williams.
Cadence Crossing has a total of 450 slot machines, 300 of them are new and the rest of the 150 are from Jokers Wild.
However, there are no table games, rather electronic versions of roulette, craps and blackjack. Boyd Gaming did say that could change and there may be table games there in the future.
There are several eating options, including a $5.50 burger deal, plus there is a Mexican restaurant inside that is open 24 hours.
This all means there is lots of fun to be had for locals, and they sure did pack the building Wednesday, packing the parking lot and even an overflow lot.
Cadence Crossing Casino's grand opening is only a portion of the growth we're seeing in Henderson. I'll be there covering it all as your Henderson reporter.
If you have any questions, concerns or story ideas you'd like for me to look into, please feel free to reach out to me via email at ryan.ketcham@ktnv.com.
