I'm 20 minutes away from one now. For many years it was a 5 minute drive to go from my apartment to the Venetian.
For a poker player it's a great convenience to be close. Even now being 20 minutes away that's 40 minutes wasted in the car every time I go. For a winning poker player that wasted time equals lost profits. If you're just an occasional pit/slot degen then it probably doesn't matter how close you are.