Washington Casinos and Gambling

Short Summary: This page looks at the different forms of gambling in the State of Washington, discusses the legality of online gambling and gives a detailed listing of all of the casinos in the state.

Washington is a state that doesn’t really know where it wants to be on gambling, at least, that’s the way it seems.  The state has had Commercial Casinos (in a sense) for quite some time, but those have been in the form of card room type casinos (though often sizeable) that also have hosted live poker.

The card rooms have not been permitted to house video poker or slots, and have even prohibited games such as Craps and Roulette, though we will say that they technically qualify as casinos due to the fact that they are allowed to have many house-banked games—such as Blackjack.

There are a great number of Tribal Casinos in the State of Washington, which will be listed in the appropriate section below along with the card rooms.  Pursuant to a Tribal Compact with the State of Washington itself; (details on that to follow in this section) these Tribal Casinos are permitted to host Bingo, Keno, Class II Gaming Devices (Electronic Bingo) and Table Games.

Other permissible forms of gambling include limited Charitable Gambling activities, race tracks and simulcast wagering, social gambling…and, of course, there is a State Lottery.

Let’s break all of this down!

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Online Gambling

Update: Online sports wagering is mostly illegal in the State of Washington as of the time of this writing. Mobile sports wagering is allowed, and the tribes are allowed to offer sports betting, in-person, in their casinos, but in order to bet by mobile, you must physically be in one of the state’s Tribal Casinos.

The closest comparison we can make is to states such as Montana and Mississippi, with the only difference being the mobile betting is allowed if you are in Commercial sports betting locations, which Washington does not have.

There have been bills to make sports wagering, by mobile, legal statewide in recent years, but all have died a Legislative death. We see both those and legalization of online casino-style gambling as highly unlikely for the next several years.

We will quote the law again to be clear:

Aside from forms of gambling legalized by the State, gambling is illegal. The most dangerous law to players that I have seen makes it a Class C Felony to transmit or receive gambling information by electronic means, and yes, the Internet is specifically mentioned.

Unless the state specifically permits a form of online gambling, then it is unquestionably illegal and is, in fact, a Felony, even if you’re a player.

For this reason, many overseas online casinos (even though they are themselves out of the jurisdictional reach of the state) will NOT offer services to Washington players, despite the fact that they offer their services in other states.

Listen, if you’re from Washington, you have two choices:

1. Believe sites that will tell you what you want to hear.

OR:

2. Believe sites that will tell you the truth.

Of course it would benefit us to say that online gambling is legal for players in Washington, because some people are going to be disinclined from playing if it is illegal.  But, unlike some other sites floating around the Internet…we’re not going to be liars.

The truth is that it is not legal, and not only is it not legal, it’s one of the only states where it could be a felony for players.  Is it likely that this law will be enforced against you?  Probably not.  But, it’s possible and the consequences could be very serious.

The Washington State Gambling Commission has this to say.

Can I bet on sports on the Internet?

No. For Washington State residents, all gambling on the Internet is illegal, including all types of sports betting. It’s also risky, since many Internet gambling sites are operated from foreign countries with different laws. Players may not receive money even if they do win, and Washington residents have no legal way to claim their winnings from an online bet.  

(Bold Added)

Here is the full Washington gambling statute:

Gambling information, transmitting or receiving.

(1) Whoever knowingly transmits or receives gambling information by telephone, telegraph, radio, semaphore, the internet, a telecommunications transmission system, or similar means, or knowingly installs or maintains equipment for the transmission or receipt of gambling information shall be guilty of a class C felony subject to the penalty set forth in RCW 9A.20.021.

(2) This section shall not apply to such information transmitted or received or equipment or devices installed or maintained relating to activities authorized by this chapter including, but not limited to, sports wagering authorized under RCW 9.46.0364 and 9.46.0368, or to any act or acts in furtherance thereof when conducted in compliance with the provisions of this chapter and in accordance with the rules adopted under this chapter and conducted in accordance with tribal-state compacts.

[ 2020 c 127 § 10; 2006 c 290 § 2; 1991 c 261 § 9; 1987 c 4 § 44; 1973 1st ex.s. c 218 § 24.]

NOTES:

Intent—Effective date—2020 c 127: See notes following RCW 9.46.0364.

State policy—2006 c 290: “It is the policy of this state to prohibit all forms and means of gambling, except where carefully and specifically authorized and regulated. With the advent of the internet and other technologies and means of communication that were not contemplated when either the gambling act was enacted in 1973, or the lottery commission was created in 1982, it is appropriate for this legislature to reaffirm the policy prohibiting gambling that exploits such new technologies.” [ 2006 c 290 § 1.]

The only form of Internet Gambling that has been authorized by the state is Sports Betting if you are doing it through one of the Tribal Casinos that are physically located within the state.

Therefore, not only is gambling online in the State of Washington illegal, the state actually went as far as to ADD TO THE GAMBLING LAWS to specify that Internet gambling constitutes illegal gambling for both players and operators.

Your computer is the, “Equipment,” receiving and transmitting gambling information.

Okay?  Any site that says to the contrary of this is lying.  We hope we have made that very clear.

In any case, it’s unlikely that an individual player would find himself in legal hot water, but it’s your decision to make.  This writer would personally not do it.  A Misdemeanor and little fine is one thing, but I don’t have any interest if there is more than 0% chance of being found guilty of a felony.

Washington State Lottery

The Washington State Lottery publishes a Comprehensive Annual Report, with the most recent one (as of the time of this writing) being in 2019, and can be found via the following link.

The first thing that we notice is that Washington is not a state that authorizes Video Lottery Terminal, “Parlors,” through the State Lottery in the fashion that states such as West Virginia, Illinois (and a few others) do.  The Lottery products in this state are limited to Instant Tickets (Scratchers), national mega jackpot drawing games, such as Mega Millions and Powerball as well as some in-state Drawing games such as Match 4 and Keno.

The Keno is not the closed-circuit televised affair that you might see in a state such as Ohio, where there is a feed of electronic keno televised to bars and retailers across the state.  Instead, Washington’s Keno is simply a single drawing that takes place on a nightly basis similar to the way that a Match 5 drawing would work.  There is indeed a Keno card, but it’s only good for one night’s drawing and is printed much in the same fashion that any other lottery ticket would be.

Fortunately, on Page 24, this Comprehensive Annual Report does separate sales and prizes into different categories of Instant (Scratch-Off) games compared to drawing games, which unfortunately, some lottery Annual Reports do not do.  This will give us the ability to specify the returns of each general game type, which we will do below:

Instant Tickets

• Sales: 523.8M
• Prizes: 355.5M
• Lottery Take: 168.3M
• Return to Player: 67.87% (Rounded)

As far as Instant Tickets go, the return-to-player is obviously abysmal, but is pretty much right around the national average for this type of game.

Drawings

• Sales: 279.4M
• Prizes: 134.8M
• Lottery Take: 144.6M
• Return to Player: 48.25%

The return to player for Drawing type games is positively disgusting, even by Drawing game standards.  Our assumption is probably that the state sells a higher proportion of mega jackpot national games than it does other drawing games.  Fortunately, from a few pages above, we can look at those sales numbers to determine whether or not that’s true.

Looking only at Powerball and Mega Millions, those two games combined for a total of about 161.3M in sales, which represents 57.73% of all drawing ticket sales, so it does indeed explain why the overall return on drawing games is so awful.  Simply stated: It’s because those games are even more awful than most.

In total, the state sold 803.2M in lottery tickets of which 490.3M was returned to players in the form of prizes.  The result is an average return of 61.04% across all lottery game types, so as we can see, Drawing type games pull down the average significantly.

In total, Lottery players lost $312,900,000 (rounded) to the State, so based on a population of 7.615M, the average lottery loss, per resident, $41.09.  This is among the lowest losses per resident in the entire country, but the reasons why can be identified easily enough:

1. Between the card rooms and Tribal Casinos, there are just much better (and better returning) ways to gamble.  Most players would prefer one of these ways as compared to the lottery.

2. The state does not have Video Lottery Terminal, “Parlors,” and it really should.  These parlors are a form of, “Convenience Gambling,” and many players enjoy the locations that are home to only a handful of machines, despite the fact that the options are fairly limited.  The machines do operate on “Vegas-style,” Random Number Generators and video poker, video keno and slot games are offered on those machines.

These parlor type games are almost Universally operated through the lottery departments, so lottery revenues would positively soar if these existed in the state.  More than that, it’s already been more than proven that casinos can successfully operate in states that have this other gambling option available.

Of course, we would love to get into the exact returns of each specific game, but the lottery report does not get into that, nor does it get into the amount of money spent (and returned) on individual Instant Games and instead lists all of them as a single line item.  Maybe one day Annual Reports will have to account for these things separately for maximum transparency, but unfortunately, today is not that day and tomorrow doesn’t look good either.

Social Gambling

In terms of Social Gambling, many forms of social gambling are legal with the state law having this to say:

“A natural person who gambles at a social game of chance on equal terms with the other participants shall not be considered as rendering material assistance to the establishment, conduct or operation of the social game merely by performing, without fee or remuneration, acts directed toward the arrangement or facilitation of the game, such as inviting persons to play, permitting the use of premises for the game, or supplying cards or other equipment to be used in the games.”

In other words, you can have home-based poker games and other types of games as long as all players are equal participants and there is no, “Rake,” on poker or, “House Edge,” involved on other games.  Even games with a house edge could technically be legal as long as no individual player is acting as the house (for example, you could legally have a home Blackjack game that operates under casino rules as long as the deal was passed from player to player—in essence—all players would be acting as, “The House,” an equal amount of the time.)

Interestingly enough, certain types of games are illegal under social gambling laws:

“However, bracket pools, office sports pools, and fantasy sports have never been authorized as gambling activities in Washington State and are illegal.”

Therefore, as bizarre as it seems, Fantasy Football would be an illegal activity as it is not a form of gambling that has ever been specifically authorized by the state.  A similar part of the code has this to say, as I found on Wizard of Vegas:

Aside from forms of gambling legalized by the State, gambling is illegal. The most dangerous law to players that I have seen makes it a Class C Felony to transmit or receive gambling information by electronic means, and yes, the Internet is specifically mentioned.

Therefore, players can be penalized for unlawful gambling by the state, and any illegal form of gambling that involves an electronic device is a Class C Felony—for players!!!

That’s pretty unique as, even with the states that have laws on the books that would impact individual players (and many of them focus only on operators) it’s almost never a felony to be participating as a player, usually it’s a low-grade Misdemeanor or, “Violation,” considered similar to a traffic ticket.

Our advice in this state is, if you’re going to gamble, it’s probably going to be a good idea to make absolutely sure that you’re doing it in a legal and state-sanctioned fashion.

Charitable Gambling

With that out of the way, let’s turn our attention to Charitable Gambling laws in the State of Washington, which often can be authorized, legal and regulated forms of gambling within her borders.

The first thing to understand, according to this source.

Is that some gambling activities require a license whilst others do not.  We’re not going to get into every single possible type of gambling (though some are pretty unique if you want to check out that page), though we will cover the more common forms of Charitable Gambling across the country:

Unlicensed Public Raffles, Bingo, and Amusement Games (RCW 9.46.0321)

In addition to members-only raffles, you may offer two unlicensed raffle, bingo, or amusement game events to the public each year.

• You may allow the public to participate in the activity, as well as members of your organization.

• Liquor and firearms must not be awarded as prizes.

• Records must be kept for one year.

• Notify local police at least five days in advance.

• Bingo and amusement games can be offered up to 12 consecutive days; however, raffles can go longer.

• The combined gross revenue (money taken in) from the two unlicensed bingo, raffle and amusement game events must not exceed $5,000 in a calendar year.

• Raffle tickets must be sold:

  • For the same price (no discounts).
  • Only by members of your organization.

• Drawing winners for raffles: Ticket stubs from all ticket sales must be placed into a receptacle and selected randomly to allow an equal chance of winning.

These laws are pretty hospitable for raffles and bingo if you’re a bona fide non-profit entity or charity and don’t plan to have such events very often.  The members-only raffles for these organizations do what they say on the box, but such events (often in conjunction with one another) may take place with the public twice a year provided the above rules are followed.

Additionally, the Bingo events can actually span 24 total days if the organization is using the entire 12-day permissible period twice.  Of course, you probably wouldn’t because the total money (after prizes are paid out) is not to exceed $5,000/annually, otherwise, you would have to get a license.

But, if you just want to have small-scale one-off type events a couple of times per year, these laws are extremely nice.

As far as entities requiring licensing, here are the pertinent general guidelines:

You must have a gambling license if:

• Raffle:

  • Tickets are sold by someone other than a member of your organization.
  • Tickets are bundled/sold at a discount (WAC 230-11-025).
  • o Winners are chosen using an alternative drawing format.
  • o Prizes are firearms (WAC 230-06-025).

• You want to offer more than two public raffles, bingo or amusement game events in a calendar year.

• The combined gross revenue from your two unlicensed public raffles, bingo or amusement game events will exceed $5,000 in a calendar year.

• The gross revenue from your unlicensed membersonly raffles will exceed $5,000 in a calendar year.

• You want to conduct a raffle that is open to the general public and your organization has a bingo or amusement game license.

There are a few more specific regulations for raffles and bingo that we will get into.  For one thing, the maximum price for a raffle ticket is $100, which as a practical matter, would be completely unheard of in most states.  Good gravy, those would be some high-rolling raffle players!!!

The State of Washington is also extremely generous with the tax rate 0%.

That’s right, the state provides that local jurisdictions such as cities, counties or townships may collect a maximum tax percentage (or less, or 0%) depending on the type of game, which can be found here.

But, the state itself does not collect anything.

There are licensing fees, however, towards the bottom of this pdf.

What you will notice is that there is a base fee and a percentage of the gross gambling receipts are added to this fee (until such time as the cap is reached), but the state constitutes that as part of the fee, rather than a tax.  Let’s take a look at Bingo for one example:

Base Fee: $65

Max Fee: $11,000

Difference: $10,935

Rate: 0.46%

Okay, so what we can do is reverse engineer how much money a bingo house would have to bring in in order to reach the maximum fee rate:

10935/.0046 = $2,377,173.91

Essentially, you would stop paying the rate to the state as soon as your bingo operation has taken in $2,377,174 dollars.  That seems like a very successful bingo operation, so most likely, you’ll just end up paying that percentage of all of your gross proceeds to the state.

Anyway, if you’re interested in a particular type of licensing, then you can do this math the exact same way to figure out how much in revenues (gross profits after prizes) you would need to hit the fee cap and stop paying the percentage on further revenues.

Individual operators and managers of the games, as well as manufacturers and distributors, must also be licensed, in some instances.  If you would like to know the fees for all of those things, then you can simply click on the link to the pdf document above.  It’s down at the bottom of the pages.

Tribal Casinos

Right, so that brings us to Tribal Casinos in Washington State.

The State of Washington works with the Tribal Casinos on Reservation land in the state to enter into Tribal Compacts by which the conduct of gambling is negotiated with each of the individual tribes.  If you would like to go to this page.

You can read the compact for each of the individual tribes.  For our purposes, we’re just going to look at one.

Which is the pdf of the Compact Between the State of Washington and Cowlitz Indian Tribe.

We didn’t pick this one as a show of any kind of favoritism, for the record, we only chose it because it is the most recently amended/signed compact, so the information and verbiage should be the most pertinent to future compacts.

The first thing that we will look at is the type of Class III games that are authorized by way of this compact:

A. Authorized Class III Games

The Tribe may conduct, subject to the terms and conditions of this Compact, any or all of the following games:

1. Keno; subject to Appendix C;
2. Satellite (Off-Track) wagering on Horse Races, subject to Appendix B;
3. Tribal Lottery Systems. Notwithstanding anything in this Compact which could be construed to be to the contrary, Tribal Lottery Systems operated in conformity with Appendix X2 are hereby authorized;
4. Sports Pools, on regularly scheduled athletic contests, of one hundred (100) squares wherein each square is sold for not more than ten ($10) dollars and all proceeds, less a tribal administrative charge of no more than 50 cents for each $10 wagered, are awarded as prizes. All other provisions of RCW 9.46.0335 shall be applicable; and
5. The sale of Washington State lottery tickets on the Cowlitz Indian Tribe Reservation shall be subject to the provisions of RCW 67.70, WAC 315, and the Tribal Ordinance.
6. Any Gambling Device, as defined herein and the Johnson Act, 15 U.S.C. §1171, that is currently authorized for play in the State of Washington.

B. Class III Table Games

1. The Tribe may offer any Class III table game authorized for play in the State of Washington pursuant to the game rules approved at the time of the effective date of this amended compact.
2. For any modification to currently authorized Class III table games or Class III table games that are subsequently authorized for play in the State of Washington, the Tribe shall provide the game regulations to the State Gaming Agency at least thirty (30) days prior to the time play shall begin. If the State takes no action within the 30 days, the Tribe may begin offering the game. If a dispute arises between the Tribe and the State with respect to issues of the legality of the game, rules of the game, manner of play, or training or enforcement associated with regulation, the State and Tribal Gaming Agencies shall meet and resolve the dispute prior to the time play of that game can begin. If either party believes, after negotiations have commenced, that a resolution by the parties cannot be achieved, then either or both parties shall be entitled to have the dispute resolved pursuant to the dispute resolution provisions of Section XII below.
3. For any other Class III table games authorized for play in Nevada and played in accordance with applicable Nevada rules, the Tribe shall provide the game regulations to the State Gaming Agency at least thirty (30) days prior to the time play shall begin. Provided, should a dispute arise, the game shall not be utilized until the dispute is resolved in accordance with Section XII.

C. Lottery-type Games

For games including keno-type games, instant tickets, or other lottery-type games authorized for play for any purpose by any person, organization, or entity in the State of Washington that are not otherwise treated as Class II gaming in Washington pursuant to 25 U.S.C. §2703(7), the Tribe will submit the proposed rules, manner of regulation and manner of play to the State Gaming Agency at least sixty (60) days prior to time play shall begin. If the State takes no action within the 60 days, the Tribe may begin offering the game. Provided, should a dispute arise, the game shall not be utilized until the dispute is resolved in accordance with Section XII.

D. Punchboards and Pull Tabs – Separate Locations

In addition to the games authorized by Section IV, the Tribe may utilize punchboards and pull tabs in its Gaming Facilities and at other locations under the jurisdiction of the Tribe subject to regulation and licensing by the Tribe and operated in a manner consistent with the sale of punchboards and pull tabs under IGRA.

(Paragraph Breaks Have Been Added Above)

Okay, so the first thing that we can note is that any game that is legal (table games) in Washington Commercial Card Rooms is automatically legal for Tribal Casinos to have by way of this compact.  Therefore, if the state approves a new table game—whether or not any of the card rooms put it in—the Tribe may put it in if they choose to do so.

The Tribe is permitted to conduct Live Keno and Simulcast horse wagering.

Furthermore, IF any other electronic games (such as slots) are authorized in the State of Washington, then the Tribal Casinos will automatically be allowed to also have them.  That’s pretty key because, should the State of Washington ever authorize slot machine gambling (Class III-Vegas style) within the card rooms, or create full-scale casinos, the Tribes will not be put at an unfair competitive disadvantage by not being permitted to have them.

Also, the Tribe may submit for approval by the state any table game that already has been approved in Nevada, regardless of whether or not the Washington Card Rooms already have them.  At this point, Washington may choose or not choose to authorize the Tribe to have those games.  If there is a dispute as to whether or not the game should be allowed, the Tribe may not install the game until that has been decided upon.

Another relevant factor is that the State of Washington may have certain operating rules for Table Games in its Card Rooms (and rules as they apply to players-such as Blackjack rules) and The Tribe automatically must conform to those same rules.

Next, what are lottery-type games, let’s find out:

SECTION 3. TRIBAL ELECTRONIC SCRATCH TICKET LOTTERY GAME

SYSTEM

3.1 Description of System Operation

3.1.1 The Tribal Lottery System game known as the Electronic Scratch Ticket Game consists of a finite number of Electronic Scratch Tickets, a certain number of which, if

drawn, entitle a player to prize awards at various levels. The scratch tickets are designed from a template in conformity with this Appendix and are created in Game Sets on a Manufacturing Computer from which Scratch Tickets are randomly selected and placed into Scratch Ticket Subsets. Each Game Set has a predetermined number of winners and values and is designed so as to assure players of an at least 75% payback of the amounts paid in the aggregate for all Cowlitz Indian Tribe Appendix X2 Page 4 tickets in the Set. As a Game Set’s tickets are placed into Subsets, the pool of tickets available from that Game Set for placement into Subsets diminishes, until each ticket in the Game Set has been placed into a Subset.

3.1.2 Scratch Ticket Subsets are transmitted to the Central Computer, where they are stored until dispensed electronically on demand to Player Terminals. Scratch Tickets are electronically dispensed from the Central Computer in the order within each Subset in which the tickets were received. Players compete against each other to draw winning tickets. As Subsets are used they are replaced by additional Subsets which have been created and delivered to the Central Computer in the same manner, until the Game Set has been depleted, or pulled from play, ending that particular game. Different games based on different Game Sets may be offered simultaneously through the Central Computer.

It’s basically, “Electronic Bingo,” that is being called something else.  Essentially, this just means that there are machines that have a central operating system that are, “Seeded,” with a pool of results.  When players play these machines, a result is selected from the pool of results and the display of the final result of the game shall correspond with the result.

For example, a player decides to take a fifty-cent, “Spin,” and what will happen is that the fact that the player has hit the spin button and made a fifty-cent bet is transmitted to the Central server.  At this point, the Central server will select a result from the remaining pool of results, this is done randomly, but it cannot choose a result that is not in the pool.

Once the Central server has chosen a specific result (win/loss) that information will be transmitted to the machine which is, “Spinning,” even though the actual spinning process doesn’t really mean anything.  The machine will receive the result from the Central server, and having done so, will select a result to display on-screen that corresponds to the result it received from the Central server.

For example, if the player bets $0.50 and a $2.00 winner is chosen, suppose four sevens on a 3×5 machine means a $2.00 win, then that (or some other $2.00 winning result) will be displayed by the machine.

In effect, most players would not know the difference between this type of machine and any other slot machine.  Also, the prize pool may not have a return to player, pursuant to the compact, of less than 75%.  Pragmatically speaking, the return to player is going to be considerably greater than that, (likely comparable to a slot machine) or nobody would ever want to play the games.

Most slot machines do not look much different, and even some of the titles and features might be precisely the same.  Honestly, the seeded pool is probably just comprised of a bunch of randomly taken spins (ahead of time) with the results creating a pool provided that the pool equals at least 75%—but probably not if it exceeds 100%.  You have to create a pool of results somehow, and honestly, it seems like that would be the easiest possible way to do it.

In effect, the spins themselves are not, “Random,” in the same sense that they would be on a machine in Las Vegas, but for casual slot players, they might as well be.  Las Vegas machines would operate on an EPROM chip that has its own Random Number Generator (RNG) whereupon each symbol on a reel is assigned a number, or numbers, then the number chosen by the RNG will cause the symbol that corresponds to that number to appear in a given spot on the reel.

This is different in the sense that the final result is chosen ahead of time, but is still essentially random because the result itself will be randomly selected from the pool of remaining possible results that exists in the central server.  Also, some machines may be linked in this regard, even though they otherwise look nothing alike, although, those machines would have to have the same payouts be possible—technically not—but it would look really weird to win $3.00 when no possible payline visually corresponds to a $3.00 win, wouldn’t you agree?

This could theoretically be advantage played, but the only way to do so would be to actually know what the result is for the remaining spins in a given pool.  For example, if there were 10,000 remaining spins left at a bet of $0.50 ($5,000 in spins) and the remaining pool totaled $6,000 in wins, the player would be at a considerable advantage.

Of course, empirical observation will yield no such knowledge.  Absent the information being stored somewhere on the machine, or in the server (and you actually having access to the information) you’re simply not going to know what’s remaining in the pool, what the pool started with or how many wins/losses have come out of the pool so far.

Additionally, another pool of spins could theoretically be added to the existing pool at anytime, so even if you did know the remaining composition (at a certain point) it doesn’t necessarily mean that the remaining composition could not be added to.

So, all of this is strictly theoretical and knowing previous results of spins basically doesn’t matter very much.  The only exception would perhaps be a big jackpot being hit, from which you can infer that a sizable win has been removed from the pool of possible results, thereby making the remaining results in the pool (in terms of return-to-player) at least slightly worse.

But, again, 99%+ of players are just going to look at these things like they would any other slot machine.

Video poker players will know the difference because the probabilities are not necessarily (and, in fact, probably won’t) correspond to an actual deck of 52 playing cards.  Additionally, the player’s decisions will not matter.  The player could make terrible decisions, but if the player is meant to win a particular amount, (again, pre-selected by the central server) then that is the result that the player will receive as the final hand one way or another.

Anyway, I don’t consider this particularly deceptive, and even if it were, that’s the state’s fault.  The Tribe is simply operating the types of machines that the state was willing to agree to them having.  And, I can’t emphasize enough, this really shouldn’t make much of a difference to casual slot players…unless you have really good reason to suspect that the returns for a particular game are lower on these machines than others of the same game in Vegas-style locations.

The remaining aspects of the compact mainly deal with financials, reporting and different procedural things that really wouldn’t matter much to players.

Card Rooms

As we mentioned before, Washington does have Commercial Card Rooms that essentially operate as casinos (except without machines and with certain games excluded) that we will fully detail in the, “Land Casinos in Washington,” section.

Whether or not you think that a place needs to have slot machines or video poker to qualify as a casino is up to you, but these places will not have that and, indeed, are not allowed to have those things pursuant to state law.  There may come a time when Washington legalizes full-scale Commercial Casinos (or allows the card rooms to have machines) but that time has not arrived just yet.

Sports Betting

Basically, sports betting is now legal in the State of Washington at those Tribal Casinos that choose to offer it and modify their compact with the state accordingly.  Sports betting will not be authorized (at this time, anyway) in the Washington Card Rooms, or at any other location in the state.

Punters/Bettors may also make bets via mobile…sort of.  The reason that we say sort of is because they can make online bets via a mobile device, but only if they happen to be physically present at a Tribal Casino that already has sports betting anyway.  Naturally, most sports betting (physical) sites across the country have 24/7 betting kiosks…so don’t see why you would really need mobile betting if you have to physically be there anyway…but we guess it might save you a hundred steps, or so.

Horse Racing, Pari-mutuel, Simulcast

Washington is currently home to two active racetracks (though it used to be more) at which bettors may make live horse wagers and/or engage in simulcast wagering.  Even though they are not really casinos, these will be listed in detail in the Land Casinos in Washington section of this page.  There are only two of them, so why not?

Washington is also home to about a dozen locations where no actual racing is conducted, but players can make simulcast wagers on races both in or outside of the state.  These locations are known as Off-Track Betting locations, or OTB.

Finally, six Advance Deposit Wagering ADW sites are authorized by the state.  Basically, these operate online and players can make deposits in order to wager on horse/dog races from home.

Greyhound racing is, fortunately, illegal in the State of Washington.  In fact, there are only four (soon to be three) states where greyhound racing is actually conducted.  Additionally, there are five states where it is technically legal, though no tracks operate.  We would not expect those states to get greyhound racing any time soon as it is a barbaric sport that almost nobody likes or cares about.  Most of the remaining tracks (what few there are) are open as a condition of having some other form of gambling, like a casino, (such as West Virginia) or make just enough money to get by.

Owning a Slot Machine in Washington

According to Washington Code 9.46.235, residents can legally own a slot machine as long as it’s at least 25 years old. However, the machine cannot be used for the purposes of gambling while it’s in the possession of the owner.

The owner is free to allow others to play their machine, but they must either provide the coins or have the slot set up to spin without requiring money. Anything else constitutes a violation of the law, which can lead to seizure of the device and a fine.

Land Casinos In Washington

The first thing that we will do is list the two live horse racing locations that are currently in operation (as of Summer 2020) just to get them out of the way.  After that, we will do a list of all of the Commercial Card Rooms in the State of Washington, mainly because it makes sense (due to number) to separate them in listing from the Tribal Casinos.  When we have finished with all of that, we will list the Tribal Casinos and detail those.

Emerald Downs Racetrack and Casino

Located in Auburn, Washington and named after Seattle, (The Emerald City) Emerald Downs is a thoroughbred racetrack that has been open since 1996, which actually makes it a relatively new horse racing facility compared to most.  Many active horse racing sites across the country have existed, in one form or another, for over a century!

Emerald Downs’ racetrack is a one-mile oval.  If you’re interested, we have to give Wikipedia Editors props for writing a very detailed page that contains past winners and different records for the track.  With all due respect to those editors, we don’t care at all about that, so we will not be listing any of that stuff.  Still, that effort deserves at least a link.

In 2020, the site will operate racing with no spectators in the stands due to CV-19, but there would normally be spectators.  The normal racing season runs from Spring to late-October and the 2020 season will also be ending in late-October.

You might have noticed the part that says, “And Casino,” which we are going to go ahead and detail here because there are many more card rooms than there are racetracks and it will probably get buried otherwise.

The, “Casino,” is basically just a card room that deals such games as Blackjack, Three Card Prime, Players Edge 21, High Card Flush, Heads Up Hold ‘Em, Blackjack (normal) and Pai-Gow Poker.  As with the other card rooms, there are no machines and they may not have Craps or Roulette, even if they wanted to.

While we’re nearly positive that there is at least a snack stand, but they do not list any eateries on their website at this time.  If they don’t care to list them, then we don’t either.

In case you couldn’t tell, this was not written by a horse racing fan, so it’s tough to say whether or not I would recommend this location.  Granted, Washington only has two active horse racing tracks, so it’s not like you’re going to get lost for too many options.  I guess let Lady Luck decide, flip a coin…or just go to whichever one is closer.

SunDowns Horse Racing

Heh, SunDowns, you get it?  I’m easy to please when it comes to names, but it’s nice to see at least a little bit of creativity.

Anyway, this racetrack is located in Kennewick, Washington and it’s quite possible that the sun is going to set for the last time on this location one day.  As it stands now, they only conduct racing on a handful of days during the months of April and May, so they are considerably less active than is Emerald Downs.

Speaking of which, I guess it’s not a coin flip for you in any month outside of April or May.  If you want to see some live horse racing (when spectators are permitted) then Emerald Downs is going to be the place you need to go.

With the two active horse racing tracks out of the way, let’s turn our attention to the many card rooms dotting the State of Washington:

Card Rooms

We want to give our readers advance notice that there’s really not going to be a whole lot to read about each of the individual card rooms.  Most of them are essentially just bar/restaurant type places with a handful of gaming tables operating.

The Card Rooms listed are based on this state report.

Which should be current as of the time of this writing, because the report is from 2020 and this is the year 2020.  There’s also an application pending, according to the report, so depending on that approval; it may be added to this list at a later time.

Of course, there’s more to some of these places than others as the overall property might have more going on than just gambling, food and drink.  As you will soon find out, many of these card rooms share a building with bowling alleys, arcades and some have multiple restaurants.  Many of these card rooms are located in some kind of strip mall, so while we perhaps missed it on one or two of them, we tried to indicate that in the listing.

Without further ado:

Aces Casino Entertainment

Aces Casino Entertainment is located in Spokane, Washington and functions as much as a bar as it does a cardroom.  Far from the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas, this location is home to six house-banked table games.

House banked games include Blackjack, Three-Card Poker and what almost seems to be a rotating assortment of other poker and blackjack variants.  In addition to that, the establishment is home to three poker tables at which Texas Hold ‘Em is the most commonly dealt game.  Despite only having three tables, this venue holds poker tournaments with some frequency.

In addition to the gambling offerings, this establishment simultaneously exists as a pub with a restaurant that serves casual American fare at reasonable prices.

All Star Casino

This establishment, located in Silverton, has a little bit more going on than the previous listing in that they are also home to some bowling lanes.  Like we said, gambling is not going to be the sole (or even necessarily the primary) focus of many of these places.

The table games featured in this establishment are Blackjack, Texas Shootout, Player’s Edge 21 and Pai-Gow Poker.  In addition to the house-banked table games, the venue is also home to a five-table poker room that features frequent tournaments and other promotions.  All of the games dealt in this poker area are Texas Hold ‘Em.

In addition to the gambling offerings, the property is home to a sizeable arcade, which the kids should love, as it features an impressive array of arcade games.  You can check out their website for the full list if you’re interested.

The bowling aspect of the facility is also impressive in scope, given that it features a total of forty lanes and has many options for leagues and tournaments.  Additionally, there are many big screen TV’s in the bowling area, so you can keep an eye on sporting events or whatever else they happen to have on.

Essentially, this place is home to two eating establishments as All Star Diner and All Star Espresso might as well be the same thing.  The Espresso is a coffee bar with a wide selection of delicious choices—which they should be—as this is Washington we’re talking about.  All Star Diner features Casual American and American Comfort food all at really cheap prices.  Ozzie’s Place Bar and Bistro serves the type of pub food you would expect from such a place.

All considered, this is a great stop for the whole family, even without the table games and poker.  It’s pretty neat that you can eat, drink, play arcade games, bowl and get a little gambling done all in one place.  If your kids are old enough, then you can probably give them some money, turn them loose and hit the poker room.

If you do that, though, make sure you at least bowl a couple games with them before or after.  I mean, come on!

The Black Pearl Casino and Poker Room

The Black Pearl Casino and Poker Room is located in Spokane Valley, Washington and perhaps has a little more of a focus on the gambling operations than does the bowling alley.

Table Games featured in the establishment are Pai-Gow Poker, High Card Flush, WPT Heads Up Hold ‘Em and Player’s Edge 21.  There’s also a game called Double Action Blackjack, but we’re not entirely sure how it differs from any other Blackjack.

Their website does not provide a poker table count, but we do know the room is open seven days per week with regular promotions, tournaments and sometimes drawings.

The restaurant on site does not seem to have a separate name and serves all three on a very limited American Casual menu.  The one thing that we will say is that, though the selections may be few, the prices are pretty good.

Like we said at the start, this one’s mostly about the gambling and drinking.

Buzz Inn Steakhouse

Located in Ellensburg, Washington, this is basically just a steakhouse that happens to have a card room.  You can definitely tell where the priorities are when the card room aspect is not even mentioned in the establishment’s name, which is fine.

The menu is pretty sprawling, so we would recommend asking your waiter or waitress for which items are frequently ordered.  The one thing about restaurants with huge menus is that the items that they don’t frequently make sometimes don’t come out all that great.  We’re not saying that’s the case here, for all we know, every single menu item is fantastic…but it is true of many other places.

In fact, this location doesn’t even mention the gambling component on their primary website, though they do have a separate Facebook page for the poker room.  What we can gather is that there is only poker (no house-banked table games) with two tables.  Sometimes Texas Hold ‘Em, sometimes Omaha, sometimes both.

Caribbean Cardroom

Located in Kirkland, Washington, Caribbean Cardroom is a pretty hip little joint with a neat-enough theme.

What do they have?  Well, it’s literally a room with a few palm trees and four poker tables dealing Texas Hold ‘Em.  They frequently have promotions, tournaments and also have a bad beat jackpot.  There are no house-banked table games from what we can tell.

Casino Caribbean Kirkland

Which is probably because the Table Games are located right next door at Casino Caribbean Kirkland.  It might be that Caribbean Cardroom was an add-on for poker or additional poker because the site was so successful.  Seems like a safe bet.

This casino offers several gaming tables with four Blackjack variants, Three-Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em, Four-Card Poker and Pai Gow Poker.

Wait, no Caribbean Stud?  I guess not.  What a travesty!

As far as poker is concerned, they list it on the website, but that probably refers to the Caribbean Cardroom listed above.  In fact, we know it does.

The restaurant does not have a separate name and serves a wide variety of drinks as well as a vaguely Caribbean, but mostly American, menu consisting of casual fare.  Prices are pretty similar to what you would pay in a chain restaurant.

Casino Caribbean Yakima

It looks like Casino Caribbean is turning into a bona fide franchise!  Maybe not, but they do have another similarly-themed and branded location in Yakima, Washington.

House-banked Table Games include Blackjack, Pai-Gow Poker, Spanish 21, Four-Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em and High Card Flush.

Still no Caribbean Stud!?  What!?  Does the state not approve that game?

The poker room mainly spreads Texas Hold ‘Em and has regularly scheduled promotions and tournaments.  Another interesting aspect of the poker room is that you can look at their website and see what games are going on as well as how many people (if any) are waiting to get in on a game.

Similar to the other location, the dining consists mostly of Casual American fare and sandwiches, but all of it comes at reasonable prices.  This location also has a fairly expansive drinks selection.

Chips Casino Lakewood

As the name would suggest, Chips Casino is located in Lakewood, Washington and does a little bit of everything.

The property’s restaurant is open for all three meals of the day and has American food, Chinese Food and Vietnamese Food, with a separate menu for each of those.  The property is also home to a sizeable lounge complete with pool tables.

Unfortunately, the link on their site that lists all of the individual games does not seem to be working at this time, but we will update this to include that when it gets fixed.  This is one cardroom in Washington that we have not actually physically visited as of yet.

Clearwater Saloon and Casino

Clearwater Saloon and Casino is located in East Wenatchee and basically does exactly what the sign says it does.

This location is home to both Table Games and Live Poker, all of which opens up at 11:00a.m. every day.  Additionally, there is a casual American restaurant (chain restaurant prices-similar menu) that is known in the area for its Wild West theme, which is basically what the entire property is going for thematically.

Their website link will just kick you to their Facebook page which does not indicate what specific games they offer in terms of house-banked, nor does it discuss how many poker tables they have.  We guess you’re supposed to just go there and find out!

Club Hollywood Casino

The Club Hollywood Casino is a small place located in Shoreline, Washington.  I’m not trying to get anyone in trouble here, but I’m actually a little surprised that Hollywood Casino (a nationally recognized casino brand with locations in several states) hasn’t taken legal exception to the name of this place.

This location has several house-banked Table Games amongst which are Deuces and Joker Wild Poker, Blackjack, Player’s Edge 21, Pai-Gow Poker, Mini-Baccarat and High Card Flush.  They also list a couple of Blackjack side bets as if they were separate games to pad their games count, which is fine, seems like everyone does it.

This casino also has an area called, “The Sportsbook,” but don’t get too excited—you can’t bet on sports there.  Instead, this is just an OTB simulcast wagering location for horse race betting.  Sorry!

The restaurant on the property does not appear to operate under a separate name and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The menu is probably an average-sized one, the choices are mostly American fare and the prices are basically on par with any casual American chain restaurant—such as Applebee’s.

Coyote Bob’s Roadhouse Casino

If the name doesn’t give the theme away, then we don’t know what does.  Coyote Bob’s Roadhouse Casino is another location that basically has a Wild West type theme going on.  This is another cardroom located in Kennewick.

Table Games include Blackjack, Spanish 21, High Card Flush, Deuces and Joker Wild as well as Heads Up Hold ‘Em.  The property does not have any Live Poker tables, ju8st house-banked games.

The restaurant component goes by the same name and serves all three.  The menu is pretty limited, which is actually a very good sign, because it usually means that everything is made well.

Crazy Moose Casino Mountlake Terrace

The Crazy Moose Casino—this one, that is—is located in a town of the same name.

Table Games include different variations of Blackjack, Deuces and Joker Wild Stud Poker, High Card Flush, Pai Gow Poker, WPT Heads Up Hold ‘Em and Texas Shootout.  This is a other location that seems to prefer not operating Live Poker—we guess it can’t be done profitably everywhere.

The restaurant at this location actually does go by a separate name-Rack’s Bar and Grill.  The image for the logo is still that of a moose, so you can probably determine what Racks is referring to.  The menu is pretty simple American Casual consisting mostly of steaks, seafood, burgers and others sandwiches.  Prices are comparable to those of any casual American chain restaurant.

Crazy Moose Casino Pasco

Once again, this Crazy Moose Casino is located in a town of the same name-Pasco.

Table Games consist of some Blackjack variants, High Card Flush, WPT Heads Up Hold ‘Em and Spanish 21.   Unlike the other Crazy Moose, this one does have a poker room.  Unfortunately, the website is really scant for details on the poker room other than to tell us that poker exists there.

This restaurant is different in that it also appears to be called Crazy Moose and has a considerably larger menu than the other.  It also consists of American fare, but is definitely a bit more pricey when compared to the other Crazy Moose Casino Restaurant.  We would probably put this one more in the category of midscale American casual food.

Fortune Casino Renton

Maybe you’ll make a fortune at this Fortune Casino location located in a town of the same name.

If poker against other players is your thing, this card room is likely best avoided.  The types of gambling that take place here are entirely house-banked table games which include: Blackjack, Baccarat, Pai-Gow Poker and High Card Flush.

The restaurant does not seem to go by any separate name and serves a combination of Chinese, Vietnamese and Casual American food dishes.  In all cases, the prices are pretty comparable to chain restaurants of those ilks, though the selection is a bit limited (relative to each one) because it is essentially doing three totally different types of food.

Fortune Casino Tukwila

This Fortune Casino is located, you guessed it, in a town of the same name.

This one is basically the same exact thing in terms of game selection.  There is no poker against other players and house-banked Table Games include Blackjack, Pai-Gow Poker, Baccarat and High Card Flush.

The restaurant at this location is a little bit different as it appears to be exclusively focused on Chinese and Vietnamese food.  Both of these types of food have a few more choices because cutting American almost completely from the menu gives them a bit more wiggle room to be able to do different things.

Goldie’s Shoreline Casino

How common are card rooms in Washington, well, this one is directly across the street from a free-standing McDonald’s, if that tells you anything.  Located in Shoreline, the name of this casino is often shortened to, “Goldie’s,” and it is a happening little locals place.

The place is home to house-banked Table Games that include Spanish 21, Pai-Gow Poker, Blackjack, Baccarat  and Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em.  One interesting aspect of this place is that they list the rules for each game (for the way they deal it) directly on their website, so check that out if you’re interested in stopping there.  It does not appear that Goldie’s is home to a poker room.

This restaurant serves all three at reasonable prices and also has the combination American, Chinese and Vietnamese food menu.  This must be a pretty normal affair in Washington State, from what we can tell.  In this writer’s typical stomping grounds, usually a restaurant would only pick one of these styles, or sometimes you might see a combination of the Asian ones.

Great American Casino Everett

That brings us to our next set of mini-chains, which go by Great American Casino followed by the name of whatever city they happen to be in.  The name of these casinos is often shortened to, “GAC,” and anyone who visits them regularly would know what you’re talking about.

This property is not home to player-v-player poker, but it does have an assortment of table games spread across fifteen physical tables including: Progressive Fortune Pai Gow, Double Deck King’s Bounty, Player’s Edge, High Card Flush, Crazy 4 Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em and Fortune 7 Baccarat.

As with so many of the others, this location is also home to a restaurant that serves some Chinese food, some Vietnamese food and some Casual American food.  The prices are in the same range as any of the others, so basically what you might expect to pay in a chain restaurant of the same type.

Great American Casino Lakewood

Obviously, this variation of Great American Casino is the one located in a place called Lakewood.  This location is a bit larger than the Everett one and features weekend events such as live music and sometimes karaoke.  Karaoke occasionally also takes place on some weekdays.  Additionally, there is a banquet hall and catering located at this property.

The table games area is also home to fifteen tables, but is slightly more varied in game choice than is the Everett location.  Table Games include Progressive Fortune Pai Gow, Face-up Pai Gow Progressive, Player’s Edge Monster Match, 3 Card Poker Progressive*, Progressive 4 Card Poker, Double Deck Blackjack, High Card Flush, Dragon Bonus Baccarat, Ultimate Texas Hold’ Em and Heads Up Hold’Em.

It’s actually a little unusual to see a casino, much less a card room, with both Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em and Heads Up Hold ‘Em as the two games are extremely similar to one another.

This location is home to a similar restaurant to the Everett one, serving American, Chinese and Vietnamese food at standard chain restaurant prices.

Great American Casino Tukwila

If you guessed that this casino is located in Tukwila, then you have passed my observation test.  This one is also home to some banquet facilities and a catering operation, but doesn’t seem to have live entertainment very frequently, if at all.

Moving onto the games, they are slightly fewer than the Lakewood location and are about as many as Everett, though with a difference or two.  The table games include Lucky Ladies Blackjack, Progressive Fortune Pai Gow, High Card Flush, Dragon Bonus Baccarat, Monster Match Blackjack, Heads Up Hold’em and Ultimate Texas Hold’Em.

This restaurant lists itself as focusing on Chinese and Vietnamese food, but then it also has traditional American-style steaks and burgers.  It’s basically an all three sort of scenario again at prices comparable (and often the same, depending on the item) as the others.

Hawk’s Prairie Casino and Riverbend Restaurant

The one thing that we first want to say about this location in Lacie, Washington, is that it might be closed, so you’ll want to check their website or call for details.  The Coronavirus shut them down, as it did with all of the card rooms in Washington, for a time.  We’re just not sure if this one will ever reopen, as it has not done so yet.  They do list themselves as, “Temporarily Closed,” but it might become permanent, so keep an eye out.

When this location is operating, it has house-banked table games that include Blackjack, Spanish 21, Pai-Gow Poker, Baccarat and WPT Heads Up Hold ‘Em.  In addition to those games, there is also a small poker area at which Texas Hold ‘Em is the game dealt.  Additionally, this establishment is also home to one of the off-track betting (OTB) simulcast horse wagering locations where you can bet on races all over the country.

The Riverbend Restaurant is the property’s only eatery and serves all three of the day.  In terms of the lunch and dinner menu, it’s basically casual restaurant prices with a combination of American and Asian dishes, which seems to be a popular thing in these casinos.

Iron Horse Casino

The Iron Horse Casino is a reasonably popular spot in Auburn, Washington…largely because it is also home to a 24-hour diner, so while you can’t always play there, you can always eat.

The casino features the Iron Horse Lounge, which is known for frequently having live music to entertain dining and playing patrons alike.  There is a wide variety of table games available here, especially considering the size of the place, which include 3 Card Poker, 4 Card Poker, Blackjack, Caribbean Stud Poker, Double Deck Blackjack, Let It Ride, Pai Gow Poker, Spanish 21 and Ultimate Texas Hold’em.

We suppose that one notable thing is that most of the Washington card rooms do not spread Let it Ride, but this one does, so you know where to go if (like me) that’s one of your favorite games.  Aside from those games, the casino is also home to a poker area consisting of three tables that deals Texas Hold ‘Em.

The diner, as mentioned, and serves all three at diner prices—which is to say similar to a Denny’s, IHOP or something along those lines.

Anyway, it’s a pretty neat assortment of games and you can always go there if you’re hungry, so maybe check it out if you’re going to be in the area.

Jokers Comedy Club

This is a property that functions as a lot of different things and does not put too much emphasis on the gambling aspect.  The place is located in the same building as Atomic Bowl, which is a set of different bowling lanes.

Additionally, the property is also home to an arcade with several games that can be enjoyed by the kids and adults alike.

The bowling alley actually consists of 24 lanes with a really neat feature: the bumpers can be raised or lowered by the patrons, on demand, depending on whose turn it is.  That’s pretty awesome if you’re bowling with little kids, because otherwise, you can go no bumpers and they roll nothing but gutter balls, or have the bumpers up which makes the game a bit weird for adults.

Of course, for those of you with kids, I can offer one piece of advice for bowling alleys with no adjustable bumpers: My advice is to play with the kids with a new set of rules that says the adult MUST hit at least one of the bumpers, that’ll even the odds a little bit so that the kids can sometimes beat you.

In any case, the casino aspect of the property definitely warrants mention as it not only features live Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, but also spreads a number of Table Games including High Card Flush, Traditional and heads Up Hold ‘Em, Match The Dealer Blackjack, Emperor’s Challenge Pai Gow, Double Action Blackjack, Spanish 21, Player’s Edge 21 and Omaha Poker.  If there’s not a game there that you like, you’re probably out of luck, because that’s one of the better selections in the entire state.

The comedy club aspect of the place has open mic nights, regular comedy nights and also occasionally brings in well-known regional and national comedic acts.  It’s open for one type of comedy or the other most nights every week, so we would recommend checking out the website for further details.

The sports bar also goes by the name Joker’s and is basically the property’s eatery; it serves standard bar fare.  Grab and go snacks are also available at concessions.

Of the Washington Card Room locations, this one probably has the most varied offerings as long as you don’t care about Simulcast Wagering.  This is definitely a cool spot for the whole family to hit, particularly if your kids are older and you can hit the more adult activities while leaving them with a handful of money and the ability to do what they like.  But, hey, make sure to at least spend some time bowling or at the arcade with them!

Lancer Lanes and Casino:

This property is another bowling and casino combination, which seems to be a pretty popular thing in the state.  If I had to guess, I would say that these started out as traditional bowling places with a sizeable banquet room that almost never got used, so as soon as card rooms became a possibility, they converted the banquet rooms to a small scale casino.

The bowling alley consists of sixteen lanes, and if you check out their website and look fast enough, the first thing you’ll notice is the word, “Casino,” with some smiling kids at a birthday party underneath…you certainly don’t see that everyday!

Anyway, the casino does not have house-banked table games and is instead a reasonably-sized poker room that operates Tuesday-Saturday and is closed on Sundays and Mondays.  It may open on Mondays for certain holidays, but would normally be closed.

The place doesn’t really have a restaurant in any traditional sense, but there are a few tables adjacent to a bar and they have some bar fare as well as grab and go stuff.

(The) Last Frontier Casino

Washington has this listed as Last Frontier Casino, but the technical name is The Last Frontier Casino.  Anyway, it is located in La Center.

The property is home to six different types of Table Games consisting of two Blackjack variants, High Card Flush, Pai-Gow Poker, No Commission Baccarat and Heads Up Hold ‘Em.  Additionally, the five table poker room features frequent tournaments and promotions, but all games are Texas Hold ‘Em of either the Limit or No Limit variety.

The Last Frontier Casino Restaurant is essentially similar to an American Diner, both in offerings and in prices.  While the location doesn’t have any kid-friendly leisure activities, anyone is welcome to eat at the restaurant.

Lilac Lanes and Casino

Located in Spokane, this is another one of those combination bowling alley, casino and restaurant type places.  The bowling alley consists of 32 lanes and frequently features leagues and bowling tournaments.

The property is home to a poker room, and as of the time of this writing, features a monthly freeroll poker tournament, which means you play for free.  Aside from that, there are frequently normal types of tournaments and other promotions.

The table Games area is sizable enough by Card Room standards and spreads games that include Blackjack, High Card Flush, Pai-Gow Poker, Spanish 21, Texas Shootout and WPT Heads Up Hold ‘Em.

The website doesn’t have much to say about the food operation, but it’s basically casual American fare similar to the others.

Macau Casino Lakewood

This casino in Lakewood is usually just called Macau Casino, but there is another casino by a similar name that will be listed below.  We’re using, “Lakewood,” added to the name just to differentiate between the two on this page.

Table Games at this property include Blackjack, Pai-Gow Poker, Spanish 21, Baccarat, Four-Card Poker and a variation of Pai-Gow Poker called Pai Gow’d, which is different enough to be worth listing.  This property is also home to a poker room that deals Texas Hold ‘Em; they also have a little gimmick on the website that tells you what games are in progress and how many people are waiting for a game.

The dining establishment for this place has a combination of American and Chinese food and is casually priced with reasonably simple fare.

Macau Casino Tukwila

The second of the Macau Casinos (not in Macau, mind you) is the version of the place that exists in Tukwila.  This casino is another Asian-themed one in terms of aesthetics, hence the name.

This casino does not have as sizeable a Table Games area or as many games, it consists of Blackjack, Pai-Gow Poker, Spanish 21 and Baccarat.

The restaurant for this place consists of reasonably priced Chinese and Vietnamese food.

Nob Hill Casino

Located in Yakima, Washington, Nob Hill Casino is one of the locations whose use is primarily a card room.  Interestingly enough, there are a few bowling lanes here, but they don’t really do much to promote them.

The property is home to seven gaming tables and features regular Blackjack tournaments.  While they have a Facebook page, it doesn’t offer any specifics other than its, “Where the locals play?”

What do they play?  Well, if they don’t care to talk about it on their page, then neither do we.

Palace Casino Lakewood

Located in Lakewood, Palace Casino is owned by the same company as Chips Casino and basically exists because the two casinos would have too many tables to become one casino under Washington law.  If they were allowed to be larger, then it would probably just be one or the other.

In any event, this property consists of a Poker Room that deals Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, as well as Omaha, and features frequent promotions and tournaments.  Basically, Chips Casino for the Table Games that are house-banked and this place if you’re looking for Live Poker.

As with Chips Casino, since its the same thing in every way except the legal sense, this restaurant serves all three meals of the day and features American, Chinese and Vietnamese food for lunch and dinner.

Basically, if the laws weren’t weird, this would simply be the poker room of Chips Casino.

Papa’s Casino

Located in Moses Lake, Washington, Papa’s Casino actually has the full designation of Papa’s Casino Restaurant and Lounge, but really just goes by the simpler moniker.

The Table Games offered at this casino are 9 gaming tables which offers Fortune Pai Gow Poker, Blackjack, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, Lucky Ladies, Spanish 21, No Limit Holdem, Mixed Games and Spread Limit Hold’em.  Additionally, the property is home to a poker room which spreads both Limit and No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em and features frequent tournaments.

One thing we notice is that this casino is located in the same place as Ten Pin Tap House and Brewery, which leads us to believe that the restaurant on the property is no longer called Papa’s.  Anyway, there’s definitely food on site, so don’t worry about that…but we’re not going to list anything else simply because they might be separate legal entities at this point.

Ric’s at Valley Lanes

Okay, so this is a casino named Ric’s that is apparently located within Valley Lanes bowling.  Located in Sunnyside, Washington, the website doesn’t say anything about any, “Ric’s,” so maybe that’s just a name to legally differentiate the casino operations from the rest of the establishment?

In any event, they don’t advertise it on their website like the two are supposed to be considered separate things, so we’ll do a full listing on this one.

There are four Table Games offered consisting of Blackjack, High Card Flush, Texas Shootout and WPT Heads Up Hold ‘Em.  There are five physical tables, so it’s likely that two of them usually operate as Blackjack.

The casino does not appear to offer live poker.

The bowling alley is relatively small and is home only to ten lanes.  Although, that makes the place ideal for parties, meetings and get-togethers that are planned well in advance, as you could probably book up the entire place, if you wanted to and were paying enough.

The, “Fun Center,” is a reasonably sized arcade, if not a bit on the small end, and seems mostly geared towards really little kids.  The restaurant is more of a snack stand consisting of grab and go food than it is anything else.

Anyway, definitely not a go-to for eats, but a nice little spot to hang out with multiple things to do.

Riverside Casino

Tukwila, Washington must be a happening place because Riverside Casino is another card room spot that can be found in town.  It appears that this is geared more towards the Asian crowd as the property only offers Baccarat and Pai-Gow Poker.

They also say that they have a VIP room for high-roller players with an atmosphere that is similar to Las Vegas.  I believe the first claim and the second one makes me extremely skeptical.  Do you have slot machines?  No, that would be illegal.  Video poker?  No, that would be illegal.  Okay, how about Roulette?  No, that would be illegal.

Well, sorry, but you’re nothing like Las Vegas except that you offer an extremely small fraction of the Table Games that can be found there—please don’t make ridiculous claims.

The restaurant serves all three with lunch and dinner being another combined American Casual, Chinese and Vietnamese menu.  If you’re reading this and live in Washington—is this something that only happens in the card rooms?  I mean you no offense, but in literally any other state, this would be very unusual.

Roman Casino

Roman Casino is located in Bryn-Mawr Skyway, which is a place that could use more vowels.  Joking aside, this is one of the card rooms that leads with the fact that it’s a casino.

Anyway, it’s located in the Skyway Park Shopping Center, so you’re obviously near a bunch of other stuff.

The property is home to fifteen Table Games which include Blackjack, Pai-Gow Poker, Baccarat and a few others.  The property is also home to a Vietnamese and Chinese Restaurant that’s slightly more pricey than similar card room restaurants, but compensates for the price with high-quality food and a varied selection of dishes.

Roxy’s Bar and Grill

If you didn’t know what you were looking for, then you would probably miss it.  The place called Roxy’s Bar and Grill actually exists as part of Seattle’s Roxbury Lanes and Casino, so it has a lot more going on that just a Card Room.

One thing that we can say for them is that the weekday bowling prices (as of the time of this writing) are dirt cheap, so if you want to teach the kids how to bowl, Sundays thorough Thursdays are great days to do it.  Another nice thing is that this bowling alley charges by game, rather than by the hour, so the kids getting up to roll slowly is not going to hurt your wallet like it might in some other places.

Table Games at the casino part of the property include Blackjack, Pai-Gow Poker, Spanish 21, Four Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em.  There is also a poker room that deals Texas Hold ‘Em in the evening hours and has frequent tournaments.

A sizeable arcade with over fifty games is also located at this establishment.  The best part for the kids is that the arcade has a dedicated pizza and snack bar of its own, so they won’t have to walk across the entire property to grab a bite.

The bar and grill does what it says on the sign and features American and Asian food at casual chain restaurant prices.

This is another one that you couldn’t go wrong to visit if you’re in the area.  Go in and play some poker since the kids will LOVE this arcade, but try to spend at least half of the time with them!

Royal Casino Everett

Royal Casino Everett is located in a city of the same name.

This is one of the card room properties that pretty much just does that in addition to a restaurant operation.  They have a wide variety of Table Games that include Blackjack, Four Card Prime, High Card Flush, Baccarat, Pai-Gow Poker, WPT Heads Up Hold ‘Em, No Commission Baccarat and Deuces and Joker Wild Stud Poker.

The property also sells Pull Tabs, but is not home to a poker room…probably because they use their entire tables allowance on offering a bunch of different house-banked games.

The restaurant that does not seem to have a separate name serves mostly American food, but also has some Asian selections, and it is open for lunch and dinner.  Aside from a few of the most expensive entrees, you can basically expect casual chain restaurant type prices.

Silver Dollar Casino Mill Creek

That will bring us to our final set of miniature chain properties, which are the Silver Dollar Casinos.  The first one that we will discuss is located in Mill Creek, Washington.

This particular location is located in a strip mall, which will give you plenty of other stuff right around there to do.

Table Games include No Commission Baccarat, Four Card Poker, Pai-Gow Poker, WPT Heads Up Hold ‘Em and they also sell Pull Tabs.  They have various Blackjack side bets that they list as if they were totally different games, but everyone does that.  Remember this: The best side bet is the one that you don’t make; just play the main game.

The Bar and Grill serves all three and is mostly casual American food at casual American prices.  They do have a few Asian selections sprinkled in there, but you mostly like Asian food, then it would be tough to recommend this one unless you’re not very picky.

Silver Dollar Casino Renton

This Silver Dollar Casino is located in Renton, but make sure you don’t play above your head or you might not be able to pay your rent on the day it’s due.  Get it?  (I know, I’m not that funny.)

Unlike the previous Silver Dollar listed, this casino is home to a poker room in addition to its assortment of Table Games.  Table Games include Blackjack, Pai-Gow Poker, High Card Flush and WPT Heads Up Hold ‘Em.  They also list several Blackjack side bets as if they were different games.  The table minimums for the side bets might be $5, but your maximum for side bets should be $0…the return to player is awful.

There are actually two eateries at this one: The first ios Gold Rush Cafe and serves all three at Casual American restaurant prices, though they do have quite the expansive menu.  The second eatery is Asian Fusions which also comes at a pretty low rent on the pricing.

Silver Dollar Casino Seatac

I’ll give you a cookie if you can guess which city this one is in, with the caveat that you have to come get your cookie in person.

The table games at this one include Pai-Gow Poker, Blackjack, Commission Free Baccarat, Deuces and Joker Wild Stud, WPT Heads Up Hold ‘Em and High Card Flush.  They also sell Pull Tabs, as with the others, but this location does not have a poker room.

Their restaurant serves all three meals of the day and, boy oh boy, I don’t think they have any idea what they want to be.  They have Chinese, Mexican, American and Italian…and not just a few selections of each, either…each type of food could be a full restaurant menu on its own.

This place might be different, and the prices seem to reflect that they think they ARE different (pricier than most card room restaurants), but my experience is that when a restaurant tries to do too many things, it ends up doing none of them well.

Slo Pitch Sports Grill and Casino

Located in Bellingham, Washington, Slo Pitch Sports Grill and Casino basically does everything that the sign says, but also features a restaurant totally worth trying on its own merit, whether or not you gamble.

There’s a big emphasis on the sports bar component as they have 20 big screen HDTV’s lining the facility, so as they say, there’s not a bad seat in the house!  This place serves all three of the meals you need that day, and is perhaps a bit pricey (though with regular specials), but they have some bang-up sandwiches.  Totally worth the price.

Hopefully your seat in the Table Games area won’t be a bad one, though you can always switch if things aren’t going well…not that it will do anything.  Table Games spread are Blackjack, Heads Up Hold ‘Em and Pai-Gow Poker.  They also have a poker area with both Limit and No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em that has frequent tournaments and promotions, sometimes hourly!

The Palace

This is listed this way on the state’s website, but this casino is another Palace Casino, this time in La Center, Washington.  Of course, there’s no way that could cause any confusion.

Anyway, this place emphasizes the gambling and Table Games include Blackjack, Pai-Gow Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em and EZ Baccarat.  There is no poker room.

Fortunately, this restaurant in the establishment chooses to focus only on one thing, and Lucky Dragon’s one thing is great Vietnamese food at a reasonable price.  In addition to that, they also offer a seafood and sushi bar (pre-Covid, but might come back) during certain hours.

Wild Goose Casino

The Wild Goose Casino is located in Ellensburg, Washington, and is another location that focuses exclusively on the casino aspect of things for entertainment.

The place has a Table Games area on par with any other and offers Blackjack, High Card Flush, Three Card Poker, Player’s Edge Blackjack and WPT Heads Up Hold ‘Em.  Additionally, they are also home to a poker room that deals Texas Hold ‘Em, and features frequent tournaments.

The property features something that is kind of a cross between a casual American food place and a low-end steakhouse with a simple, but somewhat varied, American food menu.  In any case, the prices aren’t bad at all and the food seems pretty good.

This is another one that is basically just there for the gambling, restaurant and bar…nothing wrong with that.

Wizards Casino

Unfortunately, this casino does not belong to the Wizard of Odds, or the Table Games would have almost unbelievably good rules.  This Wizards Casino mostly focuses as such, but also sprinkles in some live entertainment in the bar area from time to time, mostly on weekends.

None of us have been to the town of Burien, Washington, so it’s tough for us to say what’s going on, but apparently, the original owners sold this property to an entity called Maverick Gaming.  From what we can tell, however, Maverick decided to keep the name (which is something that they seem to do) as they are the owners of more than ten of the Washington Card Rooms.

Still, we weren’t able to find much in the way of insightful information on this one that would lead us to 100% conclusions.  For one thing, Wizards Casino has no online presence at all, aside from a Facebook page that was ran by the previous owner.  The most recent post on that page says nothing more than that they were sold to this Maverick Gaming entity.

We called the phone number for Wizards Casino that is listed on multiple sites, but got no answer and no voicemail is available.  If this was a casino, we’d do some digging, but this writer is not going to fly across the entire country to see what is going on with a five table card room.

Any of you guys from Burien and want to shoot us an Email?

Chances are it’s just still operating as Wizards Casino, and since there’s no reason it should ever attract anyone except locals anyway, this Maverick entity saw no reason to create a website or do anything with the Facebook page.

Zeppoz!

That’s certainly a fun name for a place that primarily operates as a bowling alley.

Okay, fine, I put the exclamation mark there, I admit it.

In addition to the bowling and casino, this establishment is also home to 25 combined arcade games as well as ticket redemption games that enable the kids to win prizes.  It’s another one of those, “Fun for the whole family,” type places, which is awesome.

The place has a number of lanes available for public bowling as long as leagues (which there are plenty of) are going on at the time and has pretty reasonable prices.  They also have an event called Cosmic Bowling with strobe lights and such, but mind your wallet if you’re going to do that as it is much more expensive.

The menu is pretty much your standard American fare along with a few other choices.  The food prices are basically comparable to those of a chain restaurant, so that’s not going to break the bank.

The casino is called Mr. Z’s Casino and features an assortment of Table Games including Blackjack, Pai-Gow Poker and Heads Up Hold ‘Em.  Additionally, there is a poker area with a few tables that deals Texas Hold ‘Em.

So, perhaps not quite as much as the other bowling and gambling places, but still a good bit and there’s something for the whole family to do, which is always neat.

—

Well, that’s about it for the card rooms, at least for the time being considering that one application for card room licensing is pending and there may be additional applications in the future.  Some games are more common than others with the most common being Blackjack and other popular ones being Pai-Gow Poker and Baccarat of one variation or the other.  From what we can tell, only one of the card rooms has a Let it Ride table, so if you absolutely must have that game, you know where to go.

Overall, it seems like about half of the card rooms have player banked poker and the rest do not.  All of the card rooms have some type of restaurant or bar, which is probably a requirement in order to be allowed to have a card room anyway.  Maybe one out of every five of the card rooms is also home to a bowling alley.

That will take us to the Tribal Casinos, which are honestly as plentiful as the card rooms are and perhaps even more geographically spread out.  These are the places to go if you’re specifically looking for a gambling destination as many will have hotels and they also have more varied gambling offerings than do the card rooms—and can legally have everything that the card rooms do.

Tribal Casinos in Washington State

12 Tribes Resort Casino

The 12 Tribes Resort Casino is located in a town called Omak, Washington, and is owned and operated by an entity called the Colville Confederated Tribes. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation owns this and two other casino properties in the state, which will be discussed later.

As we know, the word, ‘Resort,’ is something that properties like to toss around a lot with little in the way of justification, but perhaps this one is different:

The hotel features a number of fairly new guestrooms and suites that are priced probably a little higher than the national average, even on weekdays. Additionally, the property is home to an RV Park that has fairly typical overnight rates. All of the rooms feature individual Keurig coffeemakers. Guests will enjoy complimentary WiFi, free valet, indoor pool, sauna, outdoor hot tub, indoor hot tub and access to the property’s fitness center.

The appointment of the rooms is fairly modern and all of the rooms feature large screen HDTV’s. Additionally, the cleanliness must be kept pretty up to par as the decor of the rooms features mostly really light colors…for those of you who don’t know, more economically-focused hotels feature dark bedspreads, blankets, floors and furnishings because they’re really good at hiding stuff.

The casino floor is pretty modestly-sized as their website claims that they feature roughly 450 combined slot machines, video keno and video poker games. Of course, all of the machines that you’re going to see at this location are some variation of electronic bingo or electronic lottery (basically equivalent to pull tabs) as we discussed in the first section.

For whatever reason, their site doesn’t go into much in the way of other specifics about the casino floor and gives only a passing mention of the Table Games. They neglect to mention how many total gaming tables the property has or what specific games are offered. Unfortunately, we can’t turn to a Washington State report for an exact count because Washington State only regulates them to the extent of what games they are allowed to have and what the rules for a particular game are supposed to be.

The property features a number of eateries with Camas being the upscale casual choice that serves both lunch and dinner seven days per week. They feature mostly American cuisine that emphasizes the types of foods that are available in the Pacific Northwest.

Open seven days per week, Tin Biscuits serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is focused on ultra-casual standard American fare. It’s also pretty common just to do grab and go from this location–picking up your food and taking it with you.

The Sweet Shop is a coffee and dessert shop that is open from the morning hours until the late evening. Loggers Pub features an assortment of drink selections, various brews and the usual super casual pub fare that you would expect.

The property’s main lounge/bar venue is called Element 78 and features a wide assortment of drinks and specialty cocktails. During normal times, they would often have free live entertainment on weekends. As it stands now, they are open from 11:00a-2:00p daily as of the time of this writing.

Should this property really qualify as a resort? Not really. Although, it’s fair to say that it’s not the most ridiculous example of a place that’s not a resort deciding to give itself that moniker.

In any case, it’s basically just a pretty nice locals casino that’s likely worth a stop if you’re going to be passing through the area or need to stay nearby anyway. We can say that the hotel rooms are definitely pretty nice.

7 Cedars Casino

The last of the casinos that start with an actual number, 7 Cedars Casino is located in Sequim, Washington and is owned and operated by the Jamestown S’Klallam Indians. While the property’s name does not make any claims to being a resort, they describe themselves that way on their property overview.

This property is definitely at least more resort-like than the one listed before it. The outside of the property is outstanding in aesthetic appeal and features a glorious view of the Olympic Peninsula. Additionally, all of their rooms seem to feature 65” Samsung Smart TV’s, so they’re on top of the latest and the greatest (within a reasonable price) in that regard.

Guests will also enjoy complimentary wireless Internet access, coffeemakers and refrigerators in every one of the rooms and an elegantly appointed and modern aesthetic feel.

The property often features package deals that include golfing, so that might be something for you if you’re into that. From what I can tell, the quality of the offer depends largely on what the base price of the room is for a particular night. For example, I was able to find a few days where it would be cheaper just to pay for the room and golfing separately as opposed to taking the, “Package deal.”

In terms of the cost, this is generally going to be one of the more expensive casino-hotels in the state, particularly so on slower days of the year as they don’t seem inclined to price compete with non-casino hotels during the slower days of the week.

As of the time of this writing, the casino floor is open from 7:00a-2:00a on Sundays-Thursdays and is 24/7 on weekends. Table Games open at 2:00p.m. on Thursdays and Sundays, then open at 4:00p.m. on Friday/Saturdays and stay open until midnight. Basically, they are scheduled to be open for eight hours per day on each of those days and are closed on Monday-Wednesday.***

***We do not believe this is a normal state of affairs for this casino, so please keep in mind that this listing was written in September of 2020. We expect that table games would typically be open seven days per week, but the casino is likely experiencing reduced traffic as a result of COVID. This listing might be updated when COVID is over, but if you work for the casino and would like a correction made, please E-Mail us and let us know.

As of the time of this writing, the casino has a few weekly Bingo sessions that take place on Sunday and Monday evenings as well as the late morning on Wednesday. We can’t help but be a bit surprised that there’s no Bingo on the weekends, but there you go.

The slot floor consists of 600 combined slot machines. We’re actually not going to list them as, “Video Poker or Video Keno,” because since they are Class II machines, it’s all the same thing anyway. It’s prize pool based, so the long-term expectation of the games does not necessarily have to correspond to the probabilities. Of these 600 machines, the property states that 180 of them are different titles.

The Table Games consist of Blackjack, Spanish 21, Craps (weekends only), Pai-Gow Poker, Roulette and Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em. Even with the limited hours that Table Games are open, we wouldn’t be surprised if specific games are closed if it’s not busy at the casino that day, so we would recommend calling in advance and asking what hours your game of choice operates…maybe Blackjack is an exception.

The casino would normally deal Texas Hold ‘Em Poker in its poker area, but Poker is not being dealt at this time due to Covid-19 concerns. We don’t know when this might change, but this listing might be updated at a later time.

The House of the Seven Brothers is the main eatery for this property and is upscale casual–if you had to call it anything. They feature largely American food with an emphasis on steak and sea and a rotation of daily specials. In addition to lunch and dinner, they are also open during breakfast hours on weekends. They described themselves as well as I could, so let’s hear from them:

With a menu inspired by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe’s immemorial connection to our local waterways and the bounty they provide, The House of Seven Brothers features locally-sourced seafood, produce, and protein from fisherman, farmers, and ranchers across the Olympic Peninsula. Serving fresh local seafood—some of which coming straight out of Sequim Bay—high-quality beef, and contemporary dishes prepared with our own unique twist. The House of Seven Brothers is the next generation in fresh, inspired dining. The House of Seven Brothers offers a family-friendly atmosphere while serving breakfast (weekends only), lunch, and dinner seven days a week!

Given the rotation of specials and the regular menu item variety, you’ll definitely find yourself wanting to eat her multiple times if you spend a weekend at the property.

Napoli’s Stone-Fired Pizzas is your fast casual place for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Of course, the pizzas are going to be the most notable item, but they have a number of sandwiches and quick eats also available.

Jamestown Java is technically located in the lobby of the hotel, but we’ll list it here since you can enter the casino from same pretty directly. It’s basically the coffeeshop fare that you would expect with different beverages, pastries and grab n’ go type items.

The primary bar at the property is the Rainforest Bar, but one aspect of this property that’s pretty neat is that their Happy Hour specials are property-wide, rather than at one specific venue or another. For that reason, if they have a special on some mixed drink that you enjoy, you can enjoy the special anywhere that serves. Finally, the Longhouse Market and Deli does basically what it says on the box and sells you the provisions you’ll need for your stay in the Marketplace area.

Aside from the fact that their rooms seem quite expensive, we would recommend this property as being a pretty cool place to have a few day staycation-especially on weekends when the Table Games are open. It’s definitely closer to being a resort than the prior listing, though probably falls just short and is not really a destination unto itself.

Of course, many people visit the Olympic Peninsula just for its natural beauty and you might also be a golfer. If either of those two things apply to you, then this is a great option for a weekend, but there’s probably not enough to justify spending an entire week.

Angel of the Winds Casino Resort

The Angel of the Winds Casino Resort is a casino property owned and operated by the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians and is located in Arlington, Washington. The property was built as basically just a casino in 2004, but performed well enough to justify the addition of a 125-room and suite hotel just over a decade after its initial opening.

The casino expanded once again in 2018, at least, that’s when the project started. The first phase of the expansion included a new bowling alley that can now be enjoyed by guests of the property, which is excellent for those who are travelling with youngsters.

The property offers a number of Play & Stay packages often including bowling offers, dining offers, free play offers or some combination. Of course, purchasing things individually is often better than taking one of the packages, so we definitely recommend comparing what you’re getting on the packages compared to purchasing the different things individually. Also, if you’re travelling alone or as a couple, you might not be able to get full value out of the dining credit.

Guests will enjoy complimentary high speed internet and wireless internet access. All rooms include a minimum of a 42” LCD HDTV as well as in room coffeemakers and refrigerators. The property is also home to a fitness center that is accessible to guests. If you’re travelling in a hybrid or electric vehicle, the casino features charging stations available to guests of the hotel.

The property is home to several hundred slot machines with a wide range of denominations. There is also one with a million-dollar jackpot, but guests would do well to keep in mind that this gets paid out in 25 annuity payments with the first occurring immediately and then annually afterwards.

Table Games include Blackjack, Baccarat, Bahamas Bonus Blackjack (which is a Blackjack variant with a number of different features—including a player’s 21 beating that of a dealer), Craps, Pai-Gow Poker, I Luv Suits, Roulette and Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em. As always, if you’re looking for a specific game that is not one of the casino staples, we recommend calling in advance to inquire about its usual operating hours.

Live Keno is available from noon until eight in the evening every day, so this is one of the few locations in the state where you’ll be able to find that. The base Keno game also features progressives on the six-eight spots, but Live Keno tends to have notoriously low returns, so we expect finding a positive expected value situation to be an extremely rare event-if ever.

As mentioned before, the property is home to a bowling alley called Strikerz that is open to all ages. Compared to other casino property bowling alleys, the prices are basically right in line, which is to say slightly more than you might expect from a place that is only a bowling alley. One interesting component of the bowling alley is that the Rivers Run Event Center is built into the same area, so you can enjoy the live entertainment (see their website for schedule) as you bowl!

They also have an on-site multi-sports simulator called All Things Sports, which is quite unique. I’ll borrow their description from the website:

Take your performance and fun to the next level, and play a diverse selection of virtual sports simulators, including Golf, Home Run Derby, Field Goal Challenge, QB Challenge, Basketball, Soccer, Lacrosse, Rugby, Hockey, Cricket, Zombie Dodgeball, and more!

Once again, something that all ages can enjoy!

Whiskey Prime Steakhouse is the property’s upscale casual selection that serves what it says on the box. While it is open only during the evenings, they do operate seven days per week.

Jade Fusion is the casual Asian cuisine venue that features any number of Southeast Asia inspired selections. It’s open for lunch and dinner seven days per week.

210 Brewing Company Pub is a gastropub that’s pretty comparable to a chain such as BJ’s Steakhouse, we’ll let you read what they have to say about themselves:

Angel Of The Winds Casino Resort’s 210 Brewing CO is a tribally-owned brewery in Washington and features a variety of handcrafted and award-winning beers. We offer 210 Brewing CO growlers that can be filled with your favorite brew, so you can enjoy our crafts wherever you wish. The brewery also serves up delicious appetizers, oven-baked pizzas, BBQ ribs, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and more. Plus, the Gift Shop offers an Xtensive selection of 210 Brewing CO merchandise!

For my part, I think it’s pretty neat that the brewery is also owned by the Tribe.

Katie’s Kitchen is open 24/7 and is your stop for quick American eats as well as some Grab & Go options. For a quick stop type place, they have a pretty good offering of different sandwiches including a Patty Melt that’s supposed to be really good.

Angel Eats is the place for other quick bites, as well as desserts. This location is also extremely convenient to Strikerz Lanes.

The casino center bar is called Gravity Casino Bar. Gateway Bar is open on weekends and basically exists for convenience for weekend bowlers as well as those enjoying shows at the Event Center. The Equator Bar is another casino floor bar location, but is closed as of the time of this writing. It is expected that they will reopen this bar on a later date. Finally, the Bear’s Den is the last casino bar needing listed and is located close to Katie’s Kitchen, so there’s some pretty good convenience for you since Katie’s is 24/7.

While they don’t put, “Resort,” in the name, this casino property is the closest thing so far in these listings. In addition to the wide array of restaurants and bars, the bowling alley and sports simulators give something to do for the entire family if you’re travelling with kids. We would definitely recommend this property for a weekend staycation, especially if you’re going to be in that general area anyway.

Casino Snoqualmie

Located in Snoqualmie, Washington and operated by a tribe of the same name, Casino Snoqualmie is known as the closest casino (at least, according to them) to Seattle. This is also one of the more sizable properties in the state given that they have over 1700 machines, more than fifty Gaming Tables and employ over 1,000 people.

One thing that people might be used to if they’ve been there before is the SnoExpress Shuttle bus that takes people to and from the casino and various nearby hotels. Unfortunately, that shuttle has suspended service at this time due to Covid-19, so that’s definitely something you want to check on if you’re relying on a casino shuttle. Despite the size of this casino, it is not home to a hotel.

If you’re looking for a specific type of machine or Table Game, the property features a search mechanism on the site that will tell you if the game exists there and where it is located on the casino floor. A full listing of slot games can be found here.

And they have many denominations ranging from pennies to twenties.

Of the fifty table games the property offers, they spread Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Spanish 21, Baccarat and Pai-Gow Poker. For such a sizeable casino, it must be said that they certainly stick to the basics when it comes to table game offerings. If you’re looking for any game outside of the Big Three of Roulette, Blackjack and Craps; we would recommend calling ahead for the normal operating hours to be safe.

Additionally, while the property doesn’t have live Keno, per se, they have a fully automated ticket-based Keno game by which players can purchase tickets for immediate drawings or drawings to take place at a later time.

The upscale eatery at the property is Vista Prime Steaks and Seafood. Additionally, the property features a Noodle Bar and Asian eatery called 12 Moons. There used to be a buffet called Falls Buffet, and while it’s still called that, it operates as a full-service a la carte restaurant (Covid-19) and is open seven days per week–it’s possible that it will go back to being a traditional buffet one day. Drip is the coffee and dessert stop. Finally, Snoqualmie Cafe and Deli is your place also for coffee as well as grab and go items.

The property normally features live entertainment, but all such entertainment has been rescheduled to the second half of 2021, so depending on when you’re reading this, it could be awhile.

Overall, this is basically a place for those who live in or are visiting Seattle and a far cry from being a destination unto itself. As always, it’s worth checking out if you’re nearby anyway, but we definitely wouldn’t make it a point to go too far out of your way to check this location out.

Chewelah Casino

Located in a town of the same name, Chewelah Casino is owned and operated by the Spokane Tribe of Indians and is located about 40 minutes north of Spokane.

This smallish property features aesthetics that are traditionally Native American in design and looks pretty similar to a Tribal Casino you might see in New Mexico, if you’re familiar with any of those. While the property is home to an RV Park, it is not home to a hotel.

The slot floor features a few hundred machines ranging in denomination from pennies to five-spots. At present, it opens daily at 8:00a.m. and closes at midnight Sunday-Thursday; closing at 2:00a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Table Games operating starting at noon on Wednesdays-Sundays and are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Featured Games are Blackjack, Heads Up Hold ‘Em and High Card Flush. You can basically ignore the other listings on their website as they are just listing Blackjack side bets as if they are separate games.

The Mistequa Cafe is the property’s only eatery, is essentially American Casual and is currently open during any hours that the casino floor is open. Breakfast is served until 11:00a.m..

There’s nothing wrong with being a little locals casino, but there’s no question that is what this place is. If you don’t live in Spokane, (are just visiting the area) we’d be hard-pressed to say that this place is even worth the drive as there are probably other interesting things to do in the area and this casino is extremely basic. If you happen to be passing through nearby anyway, then it’s probably worth a stop—you have to eat somewhere, right?

Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort

There’s that, “R Word,” getting tossed around again, but let’s take a look at this Suquamish, Washington property (owned and operated by a tribe of the same name) and see whether or not the designation is justified.

This is a property that is constantly developing. It opened in 1992 as just a Bingo Hall and added a small outdoor (tent) casino as soon as that compact went into effect. The permanent casino was opened in 2003 with a small hotel opening three years later and consisting of just over 80 rooms. Just recently, an addition to the hotel was built bringing the property’s total hotel room count to 183 rooms and suites.

The rooms themselves are extremely nicely appointed, but are actually surprisingly small for a place that wants to call itself a resort. The furnishings, while clean and nice enough, are also fairly basic except maybe the most expensive of their suites. Guests of the hotel will enjoy access to an indoor pool, outdoor jacuzzi, fitness center (closed for Covid-19 as of the time of this writing) complimentary wireless internet, fire pit, beach access and a Native American Art Gallery…which sounds really cool!

In addition to the hotel, the property is also home to a nineteen space RV Park.

As far as it being a resort, given the (not free) Angeline Spa as well as the dining selection and property amenities…we think the term is justifiable in this case. The rooms could definitely be bigger, but the property itself is gorgeous and there’s plenty of activities you can enjoy even aside from the casino floor.

As of the time of this writing, the casino is open from 10:00a-5:00a daily, except it’s open 24/7 on weekends. The property is home to north of 1,200 slot machines ranging in denominations from pennies to twenties.

Table Games include Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Pai-Gow Poker and Three-Card Poker. No need to make any calls if you’re looking for a specific game as they list the times that games will always be offered right here on their website.

Spanish 21 and Three-Card Poker are the only games that are not listed as scheduled at this time, so those would be the ones to call and check on if that’s going to make or break your decision to visit the property.

As of the time of this writing, Live Keno is offered and runs seven days per week from 11:00a.m.-10:00p.m., so you’re in luck if that’s your game of choice.

The property also features Live Bingo, but only on Wednesdays as of the time of this writing. There is a morning session and an evening session with doors opening one hour prior to session start time.

The establishment is home to several eateries including the Suquamish Agate Pass Deli, which is open from 11:00a.m.-2:00a.m. and features a variety of quick eats and grab and go items.

Beach Bru Coffee is located in the hotel lobby area and is your place for coffee drinks as well as pastries and other snacks.

Beach Glass Cafe is also located in the hotel tower lobby and serves both breakfast and lunch seven days per week. I don’t know that I would call the restaurant upscale casual, but the prices certainly are…thirteen bucks for an omelette (for one example) is definitely way more than the average price one would expect, even for a casino.

The Clearwater Restaurant is definitely upscale casual and is open for a great steak dinner on weekends. As of the time of this writing, they have a long-standing dinner special by which you can get a three-course meal for $40, which is pretty reasonable by casino steakhouse standards.

The Salish Kitchen Food Hall and Refreshments is closed as of the time of this writing, though they do intend to reopen it at some point. Serving a wide variety of foods including fresh seafood, this location is essentially the property’s buffet. Beach Rock Lounge and Sports is similarly closed at this time and would normally feature pub food, drinks and often live entertainment.

Overall, we can say that this property is nice enough and has enough to offer to rightfully call itself a resort, though we will point out that it’s kind of lacking in stuff to do for the kids…so definitely more of a couples retreat. All things considered, if you’re going to be in that general area, we would definitely consider this property for your entire stay and it’s definitely worthy of a Staycation if you live within a few hundred miles. If you’re just passing through, we would similarly suggest stopping in for a look. Just the Native American Art Museum alone is worth a stop.

Coulee Dam Casino

Located in Coulee Dam, Washington, the appropriately enough named Coulee Dam Casino is owned and operated by the Coulee Confederated Tribe. Coming in at only 5,000 square feet in size, this is one of the locations in the state that’s basically a glorified slots parlor.

This is another property that falls under the 12 Tribes banner and is linked up with the Player’s Advantage Club, which is shared by the three properties.

This property consists of basically a gambling floor, bar and eatery. The machine count for this establishment is in the neighborhood of 150 units. The name of the property’s eatery is the Spillway Bar and Grill, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner; it is open from 10:00a.m.-Midnight daily. As of the time of this writing, the casino is open from 9:00a.m.-Midnight, except for Fridays and Saturdays, when it’s open 24 hours.

Anyway, this is mainly just a locals hangout and overgrown slot parlor more than anything else. You might want to peek in and grab something to it if you’re right around Coulee Dam anyway, but if not, there’s no need to go out of your way to see this one.

Elwha River Casino

The Elwha River Casino is another smallish establishment this time located in Port Angeles, Washington. The approximate square footage of this facility is 7,000 square feet, so it’s a little larger than our previous entry, but not by much. The building itself is equally non-descript, it’s one of those buildings that looks like a small convention hall or American Legion facility, or something…if not for the sign, it could be anything.

The slot machine count for this property stands at a little over 100, so this basically functions as an overgrown slots parlor. Like Coulee Dam Casino, there are no table games.

The property is home to one eatery, which is called the River’s Edge Deli, it serves up breakfast, lunch and dinner and has a casual American menu.

As of the time of this writing, this casino opens up at 10:00a.m. everyday, closing at midnight Sunday-Thursday and 2:00a.m. on the weekends.

Perhaps one unique thing about this little casino is that they either did or still do offer shuttle service if you’re in the Port Angeles area. That’s pretty nice if you happen to be staying nearby, even if you don’t necessarily care about the machines and just want to go somewhere for a few cocktails. Before going to the area, we would recommend calling ahead and making sure that they’re still doing the shuttle as that might have changed since the time of this writing.

Emerald Queen Casino-Fife

There are actually two Emerald Queen Casinos with one located in Fife and the other in Tacoma, so make sure that you’re going to the one that you intend! We’re not exactly sure why they would name two casinos that are so close together the same thing (it would be like if one medium-sized town had two Hollywood Casinos) but there you go.

The Emerald Queen Casino in Fife is sometimes designated, “The Emerald Queen Casino and Hotel,” so that would probably help differentiate the two if they added that to the official name.

The Emerald Queen Casino in Fife is a sprawling gaming floor coming in at a few hundred thousand square feet, but it’s not packed wall-to-wall as they seem to put something of an emphasis on spacing and comfort. One nice thing they have going on with this 2,000+ slot machine floor is that if you go here.

You can click on either of the two Emerald Queen Casino locations and get a comprehensive list of all of the slot machine titles on the floor.

While the Fife location does not have Table Games (oddly enough, considering the size) the location in Tacoma (the next listing below) does. On their website, Emerald Queen advertises that they offer shuttle service from the Fife location to the one in Tacoma for those wanting to play Table Games…what an odd arrangement!

We don’t usually spend a lot of time on Event Centers, but the Emerald Queen Event Center is definitely worth mentioning. Usually, these sorts of regional casinos don’t have anything amazing going on, but this sizeable event center is absolutely gorgeous (very new!) and also has three high definition big screens…making every seat in the house a good one! It’s obviously ultra-modern, so we recommend having a look for yourself on their site.

Of course, given the Covid environment, it’s not exactly getting a ton of use at the moment. Elsewhere on the site, you can find pictures with some of the major national acts to have performed at Emerald Queen over the last few years…it’s honestly a pretty impressive assortment of entertainers. Here’s looking to next year where they’ll hopefully be able to get all of that back on track!

This property has three eateries with the Pacific Rim Express Buffet being temporarily closed at this time. They do plan to reopen it when this pandemic is under control.

The other two eateries for this property are the Paradise Deli-which features quick casual pizza and sandwiches, as well as the Tatoosh Grill, which is open for breakfast and lunch and is kind of a cross between upscale American Casual and a steakhouse.

The Fife location is home to the 104 guestroom and suite hotel, which is a pretty basic affair, but nice enough. Guests will enjoy complimentary WiFi access, coffeemakers in every room, access to an outdoor pool and HDTV’s. As we mentioned before, shuttle service is available to both guests and non guests to take you from the Fife to the Tacoma location, but if you only care about the slot machines, you’ll probably have no need to leave the Fife one.

Overall, this seems like a good property (or pair of properties) for those who just want to get out and have a good time. There’s really not enough going on dining-wise that we could really suggest it for an entire weekend Staycation unless some kind of concert is going on. With that said, it’s probably definitely worth spending one night at the hotel and checking out Tatoosh Grill.

Emerald Queen Casino-Tacoma

The other Emerald Queen Casino location is in Tacoma and is a little smaller than the previous entry. Of the 3,500 machine count between the two casinos, some 1,500 of them can be found at this location along with all of the Table Games. This location is also not home to a hotel.

As with the other Emerald Queen location, you can find a comprehensive listing of the machine titles for this casino following the link in the above entry. Once again, this property is a sizable auxiliary one to the above listing and is home to about 1,500 machines.

We have no idea why there are no Table Games at the location that actually has the hotel, but they can all be found here. The Table Games pit consists of Big Six, Blackjack, Free Bet Blackjack, Chase the Flush, Midi Baccarat, Pai-Gow Poker, Let it Ride, Roulette, Three Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em and Spanish 21. Naturally, not all of these games will be operating at all times, so if you’re looking for a game outside of one of the staples, we recommend calling ahead and inquiring about the typical operating times for your game of choice.

As if it wasn’t odd enough that the location without the hotel would have all of the Table Games, this location also has more dining selections!

Paddle Wheel Coffee and Bakery does basically what it says on the box and is your place for brews and pastries, as well as other desserts.

Open at 11:00a.m. daily, Puyalapabs Cafe is something of an AmeriAsian mid-casual combination steakhouse and Asian food eatery. If nothing else, at least you know the selection should be pretty varied…it’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The property’s buffet is called the Riverbank Express and actually appears to be open, despite the buffet at the other location being closed. Opening at 5:00p.m. Wednesday-Sunday as of the time of this writing, and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, this buffet is a dinner-only location.

Summit Sports Bar is located on the casino floor and features an assortment of drinks as well as the expected pub fare. It opens at 11:00a.m. through the week and 9:00a.m. on weekends. During NFL Season, there’s a special Sunday menu for game watchers.

Finally, Waterway Deli is open nearly 24/7 (closed from 4:00a-6:00a) and is your place for grab and go fare as well as quick eats.

Okay, this is very much a tale of two properties, which explains the shuttle from one to another. As we can see, the Tacoma location has all of the Table Games and the majority of the eateries…so if you do want to spend a weekend (or longer) at Emerald Queen, you can expect to either be driving or using that shuttle a good deal of the time. Either way, given everything that the Tacoma location has to offer, we’d probably recommend checking this out for a weekend staycation if you live in the region and considering these two properties for a stay if you’re going to be in the area.

Ilani Casino Resort

The Ilani Casino Resort is located in Ridgefield, Washington, which is near La Center. It is owned and operated by the Cowlitz Tribe and opened in 2017. There was a lengthy legal battle between the state and the Tribe as the Tribe sought authorization to form a reservation on which to build the casino…as it was argued that they didn’t have the legal right to do so. That matter was eventually settled and this sizable location opened.

As far as licensing is concerned, the Cowlitz Tribe had actually been granted a casino license from the National Indian Gaming Commission more than a decade prior to the opening of this casino, with the rest of the time spent in legal limbo as it was finally decided (it went to Federal Court) that they did indeed have the right to establish a reservation at the site. This decision was even appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, but the SCOTUS declined to hear the case and the rest, as they say, is history.

The Cowlitz were supported financially in the construction of this project by the Mohegan Sun of Connecticut, who provided over 100 million dollars of financing for the project.

The property consists of over 350,000 square feet of total space and Ridgefield can be found roughly 25 miles North of Portland, so this establishment is definitely worth consideration for those who are visiting the Portland area.

The gambling floor itself consists of over 100,000 square feet of space and is open 24/7. Unlike the former Revel (now Ocean Resort) in Atlantic City, this property seems to survive just fine as a 100% non-smoking facility.

The slot floor consists of more than 2,500 total machines ranging from pennies to high denomination units.

The Table Games pit consists of 75 gaming tables featuring Blackjack, Craps, Let it Ride, Midi-Baccarat, Pai-Gow Poker, Roulette, Spanish 21, Three-Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em…which seems a bit limited in overall game choices given the size of the casino. While the casino operates 24/7, other than the staple Table Games, it’s highly doubtful that every single one of these games do, so we recommend calling ahead for the typical operating hours of your game of choice.

The ilani Cowlitz Ballroom is a sizable venue (seating 2,500) that features occasional nationally known acts. Unlike some other casinos in the state, they continue to have events even during Covid-19, but are taking some safety precautions as relates masks and social distancing.

The Muze Lounge is open daily (though not until the evening on weekdays) and would typically feature free live entertainment. Likely due to Covid-19, there are no events scheduled at this time according to their website. THe lounge has an ultra-hip, colorful and modern aesthetic that puts in on par with most casino lounges that you’ll find even in the bigger gambling states and casinos.

As far as the casino being called a, “Resort,” for the time being, it doesn’t even have a hotel of any kind. There are long-term plans to build a hotel, but as of the time of this writing, no firm opening date for the hotel appears to have been set. We guess they didn’t want to have to change the logo later on, so they decided to just start calling themselves a resort now.

The 360 Bar is a circular bar that sits basically in the middle of the casino floor and features bartop machines as well as a wide array of cocktails.

The property features a number of eateries ranging from fine dining to grab and go. One grab and go example is Chef Jet, which is a quick service Asian food location for players who want to eat and run, or maybe even take their food to the machines with them. Also located in the food court area is a coffee shop that doesn’t really seem to have a name, but serves Starbucks coffees as well as a variety of other pastries, desserts and snacks. I.Talia is another food court stop that serves ready-made Italian food, such as stromboli and sandwiches, but also makes made-to-order pizzas if that’s what you want.

Another food court location is Smashburger, which is part of the Smashburger chain, which is pretty widespread on the left side of the country. If you’ve been there before, then you know what you’re getting, and they pride themselves on always using never frozen beef.

Open Tuesday-Saturday, Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse is a dinner-only fine dining establishment that certainly has championship-level prices. Are the prices worth it? Well, if you eat there, certainly feel free to let us know because I’m definitely not paying what they want for a steak dinner…these prices are as high as I’ve seen anywhere-Vegas included.

Line and Lure is kind of a midscale casual seafood spot that features the best of the local catches. Brightly lit and located just off of the casino floor, this establishment provides a better than decent value for your money, especially if you live in an area where fresh seafood is typically difficult to come by. We definitely recommend checking this one out if you visit the property.

Longhouse is a midscale casual Asian dining experience with noodle and rice dishes as well as a variety of seafood and sushi selections. This is another one that you should check out if you happen to be at the casino, especially (once again) if you live in an area where it’s rare to find good sushi…you’ll not be disappointed here.

Rose & Thorn is a combination restaurant and lounge that is open for dinner-only seven days per week. The atmosphere and prices are upscale casual and it features a pretty expansive and varied menu consisting of Mediterranean and Italian inspired selections of steaks, pizzas and seafood.

Taco Cantina is the other remaining food court eatery and features extremely wallet-friendly prices on some excellent street tacos and other sides. We definitely recommend grabbing some fun food from this fast stop if you’re visiting the casino and want something quick!

Finally, Tom’s Urban is a sports bar type pub that is open most hours of the day and features and assortment of American pub style food as well as a wide variety of sandwiches.

Lacking a hotel (for the time being) this property is not really a resort just yet, but it does have a wide assortment of gambling selections as well as perhaps the most varied food choices of any casino in the state. You can easily spend an entire day here and not be wanting for anything to do, and when the hotel is finally completed, this will definitely be high on our list of Staycation recommendations…or perhaps even for a full week stay depending on the other amenities that may be added along with the hotel. For the time being, there’s no question that you should pay Ilani a visit if you’re in the area—if for no other reason that the wide variety of dining options!

Legends Casino at Yakama Nation

The Legends Casino at Yakama Nation is located in Toppenish, Washington and is owned and operated by the Yakama Nation. The proper designation for this casino, at least as of 2016, is the Legends Casino Hotel. While they don’t call themselves a resort, they could probably get away with it considering that the property has a spa, over 1,000 gaming machines and more than twenty table games. Let’s look at what else the property has to offer.

The property features, as mentioned, a combination of guest rooms and 18 suites that results in a total of 200 rooms for the hotel. Amenities include valet parking, complimentary wireless internet, indoor pool and hot tub, fitness center, Yakama Nation cultural display (neat!), 52-inch HDTVs, refrigerators in every room and Keurig coffee makers. The entire hotel section of the property is 100% non-smoking.

The moderately sized slot floor is home to over 1,500 gaming devices across more than 200 different machine titles. Additionally, there is a table games pit that features 24 gaming tables and spreads Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Spanish 21 and Pai Gow Poker. They say that they also have some other carnival games, but the website wants you to call and inquire about those. We haven’t yet had the opportunity to physically visit this property, so unfortunately, we can’t offer any additional insight. This writer has had it reported to him that there is or was Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em at this property.

Either way, if you’re looking for a specific game that is not listed, you should call and inquire. Besides that, you should probably call and inquire about the typical operating hours for anything other than Blackjack if you’re looking for a particular game and intend to visit this casino.

There is usually a poker room at this property, but it is currently closed as a result of Covid-19. As of the time of this writing, they do intend to reopen the poker room at some point in the future.

Legends Casino is also one of the few casinos in the state to feature a live Keno Lounge. As of the time of this writing, it is open from noon-9:00p.m. daily, so if that’s your thing, you’re in luck.

The property is home to a modestly-sized event schedule that features some national acts. Unfortunately, all events have been rescheduled until the year 2021, but you can find the current schedule of events on their website…and you should definitely go take a look if you’re reading this in 2021. As of the time of this writing, Tesla and The Commodores are among the scheduled concerts for 2021.

The property is still operating a buffet starting at 11:00a.m. daily and it features pizza, burgers, Mexican food and other sandwiches. Unfortunately, patrons have a dining limit of thirty minutes, so you can’t really take your time when making your selections or going back for seconds. Naturally, the time limit is a result of Covid and might go away when this mess finally gets cleared up. In the meantime, it’s tough to recommend the buffet because thirty minutes simply isn’t really enough time.

The food court only consists of two eateries as of the time of this writing and, once again, due to Covid-19. Creations is an American food establishment and Legendary Burgers does what it says on the box. Fortunes (Asian food) and Madres (Mexican) are both expected to reopen at a later date.

The property is also home to an Espresso Bar for coffee drinks, snacks and other pastries from 7:00a.m.-9:00p.m..

Unfortunately, this is one property that really based a lot of the dining experience on their buffet, so Covid really kind of screwed them over in that regard. The dining selection basically consisted of the food court and buffet…so the current situation leaves guests kind of wanting for an actual dining experience.

Because of that, it’s kind of difficult for us to recommend the property for a staycation unless you’re going to be right in that area anyway. Due to some of the precautions being taken, and it’s certainly not their fault, but there’s just not really much to do there aside from the gambling. We would probably bump up our opinion of it when the dust has settled on the pandemic, but for now, we can only really recommend it for a one night stay or a day visit if you happen to be in the area.

One other thing we should quickly mention is that they do not open until 10:00a.m. Monday-Thursday, so that’s something you’re going to want to keep in mind if you’re planning a visit.

Little Creek Casino and Resort

The Little Creek Casino and Resort is owned and operated by the Squaxin Island Tribe and is located in Shelton, Washington. With fewer than 1,000 slot machines, this property definitely comes in on the smaller end of those describing themselves as, “Resorts,” and with no disrespect meant, the aesthetics of the establishment are very basic.

With that said, the hotel rooms themselves are extremely nicely appointed and have been recently renovated with new furnishings, bed coverings and everything along those lines updated. It was certainly about time for it as the hotel itself was opened originally in 1995. The property features just under 200 total rooms, most of which are suites.

In addition to the golf course and spa, guests of the property will enjoy a wide variety of amenities that make the property suitable for visitors of all ages. In addition to complimentary wireless internet access, this property features an indoor pool and hot tub. Visitors will also get to enjoy a Tribal art collection as well as a fitness room. Under normal conditions, there would be a video game room, arcade and cigar bar, but those are all closed as of the time of this writing due to the pandemic…there are plans to eventually reopen all of these things.

In the meantime, if the family travels with video game devices, you’ll be able to plug right in and enjoy them on the 55” LCD HDTVs. Valet parking is currently restricted to guests of the hotel, but is complimentary.

For those of you travelling by RV, the property is home to a 44 space RV Park that includes a dog walking area and all of the electrical and water connections you could ever need. Additionally, they have it set up so that their RV guests can enjoy wireless internet that is both complementary and very reliable in terms of the signal. RV guests are also invited to come inside and enjoy all of the amenities of the hotel as any other hotel guest would be, so that’s definitely nice.

For the time being, the casino is only open from 10:00a.m.-2:00a.m. daily, and this property is taking the pandemic very seriously as they have completely removed half of their machines from the slot floor. They have been emphasizing social distancing in all areas, but we can hope that all of this will go back to normal once the pandemic is finally under control.

Another thing that the property decided to do was go entirely non-smoking indoors and, as of the time of this writing, they expect that to remain the case even after the pandemic is behind us. What’s nice about the non-smoking restriction is that they also ban vaping and electronic smoking products indoors which, coming from a smoker, is AWESOME because some of those weird vape flavors stink to high heaven…I’d much rather smell good old fashioned cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco…but again, that’s probably because this writer is a smoker.

Of course, that wouldn’t really change my decision to visit the property. If I’m honest, casinos are the only place where I would smoke indoors anyway (aside from tobacco shops) and never in my apartment or any hotel rooms, so it really doesn’t bother me.

The current machine count of the slot floor is 550, but once everything gets back to normal, it is expected to grow back to just under 1,000 units. Perhaps they’ll only go up to 600-700 though, if there’s one thing people have complimented certain Regional casinos on prior to the pandemic, it is those casinos that choose to have ample walking space between rows of slot machines. Who likes sitting arm to arm with people, anyway?

The 24 Table Games include Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Spanish 21, Heads Up Hold ‘Em, Pai-Gow Poker, High Card Flush and Four Card Frenzy. We seriously doubt if the less common games operate during all table games operating hours, so we would recommend calling in advance for the usual hours of operation if you’re looking for a specific game.
The Poker Room is closed as of the time of this writing, but it is expected to reopen when the pandemic is under control, so make sure to keep an eye out for that. When it is open, they deal both Limit and No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em and have frequent tournaments and promotions. Additionally, Live Bingo is temporarily closed and is similarly expected to reopen once this pandemic has been taken care of. Similarly, Live Keno and Pull Tabs are temporarily closed with expectations being that they will reopen sometime around Spring of 2021.

The property’s main lounge is called the Starlight Lounge and features pub food as well as regular Happy Hour specials.

The Island Grille would normally open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and features casual American cuisine. At the time of this writing, it seems that they are only operating during the evening hours for dinner service.

Squaxin Island Seafood Bar is a top-notch place to get the freshest catches from the Pacific! This is an absolute must-try if you decide to pay the property a visit and I couldn’t recommend it enough. It’s open for lunch and dinner and you’re sure to love it if you’re a seafood fan.

Salish Cliffs Grille is a casual American eatery that’s open for all three and features a fairly varied menu. We would definitely recommend this if you have a group of picky eaters as everyone is sure to find something that they will enjoy.

The Water’s Edge Cafe features some quick casual fare mostly consisting of sandwiches, soups and desserts. This is definitely a good spot to hit for lunch, but the slightly more expensive eateries at this property are totally worth the price for dinner. The food, property-wide, is honestly surprisingly excellent…especially the seafood choices.

Little Creek Espresso (there’s no X in Espresso!) does what it says on the box with an assortment of coffee drinks and grab and go pastry items.

The casino is home to an event center that hosts concerts, the Starlight Lounge with regular live (free) performances as well as the cigar bar. Unfortunately, all of these things are temporarily closed for the time being, so make sure to check back with their website in 2021 and we will also be likely to update this listing accordingly.

Overall, despite the relatively bland exterior aesthetics, everything else about the property is worthy of calling itself a resort and the eateries are quite superb. We strongly recommend this place for a weekend staycation, or perhaps even a full week, and can also say that the customer service, property-wide, is pretty top notch. Honestly, even the employees seem pretty happy to be there. If you live anywhere near the region, then we would recommend a weekend stay if you have a weekend where you’re looking for something to do…especially once Covid clears up and the property returns to its normal offerings.

Lucky Dog Casino

The Lucky Dog Casino is located in Potlatch, Washington and is owned and operated by the Skokomish Indian Tribe. This property is basically a locals type place and is essentially a slightly overgrown slots parlor–no offense meant.

The gambling floor consists of fewer than 200 total machines and there are no table games.

The property’s only eatery is called The Drift and it is essentially just a diner that features Casual American grub at diner prices. This is definitely a worthy stop if you happen to be passing through the area and want a bite to eat and maybe to take a few spins after, but we really can’t recommend it beyond that.

Lucky Eagle Casino

While we’re on the topic of lucky animals, let’s talk about the Lucky Eagle Casino, which is located in Rochester, Washington (close to Olympia) and is owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation. This property originally opened in 1995, but underwent a renovation a few years ago which added some gambling floor space and created an ultra-modern aesthetic for the main entrance. It’s honestly a really cool looking archway leading to the main entry.

The hotel has existed since the opening with 171 guestrooms and suites combined, but also benefited quite a bit from the renovation. It is known as the Eagles Landing Hotel.

Hotel guests will enjoy access to an indoor pool and hot tub, complimentary wireless internet and flat screen high definition TVs. In addition, there are several RV spots available for rental, but please keep in mind that they’re not able to take trucks.

As of the time of this writing, there are a little over 1,000 total machines on the gambling floor, but expect that number to be closer to 1,200+ when the pandemic is over and some of the machines that they have removed completely from the floor (to increase social distancing) make their way back or are replaced with new ones. Given the slot count against the more than 55,000 square feet of gambling space, the property already had a fairly sufficient amount of room to get around, so you should be pretty comfortable there.

Generally, there would be both a smoking Table Games pit and a non-smoking one, but the smoking one is closed for the time being due to the pandemic. There are plans to reopen the smoking area at a future time, so don’t panic smokers! Table Games include Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em, Pai-Gow Poker, Mississippi Stud, Blackjack, Spanish 21, Three-Card Poker, High Card Flush, Craps and Roulette. We must mention that Craps is closed, due to the pandemic, as of the time of this writing, but is expected to be reopened at a date sometime in the future.

Live Bingo and Live Keno are both temporarily closed with plans to reopen at a later time. Bingo is generally open every day except weekend days whilst Keno typically would operate seven days per week. Let’s get this pandemic under control so that we can bring back Keno and Bingo!

The property is home to six eateries, though three of these (the Fire Kitchen Buffet, Sidewalk Deli and Room 188 Steakhouse-fine dining) are temporarily closed as of the time of this writing. The buffet is obviously understandable given the current environment, but it’s somewhat surprising that the steakhouse would not operate on weekends. We recommend checking for more details in early 2021.

The remaining eateries are the Mainstreet Bar, which does what it says on the box and serves your traditional American Pub foods. Crafthouse serves pretty good pizzas as well as traditional American fare at what amounts to a casual restaurant price. Finally, Cedar Cafe and Espresso is your place for pastries, coffee drinks, grab and go as well as other desserts.

All entertainment is suspended at this time and is not expected to return until sometime in 2021, so if you would like us to update the listing (if we haven’t already) please send us a message, especially if you happen to work for the casino.

This is definitely one of the properties in the state that is taking the Covid-19 pandemic extremely seriously, and seemingly, much to their own detriment. In addition to many of the usual property amenities, they’ve temporarily gone completely non-smoking AND have essentially closed half of the property’s eateries…probably well more than half by sales volume.

During normal times, we would likely recommend a Staycation at this property if you live in the region or like trying out different casinos in the state. We don’t think there would be quite enough to do, in any situation, to justify staying a full week there—mostly due to the limited dining selection even in normal times. We do recommend stopping in and checking the place out (even now) if you’re passing through the area anyway, maybe to stay a night or two at a future time.

Unfortunately, while we understand why they are doing what they are doing, we couldn’t recommend traveling to visit this property simply because the number of available eateries isn’t great and they don’t have anything that you couldn’t get anywhere else.

Mill Bay Casino

The Mill Bay Casino is located in Manson, Washington, is owned and operated by Colville Confederated Tribes and is the third and final of our 12 Tribes casino listings.

This somewhat small property features roughly 600 gaming machines and about a dozen table games which include blackjack, craps, roulette, Pai Gow Poker, Spanish 21, and 4 card poker. We do not expect that all of these games operate during all casino hours, except maybe for Blackjack, so we recommend calling ahead for the operating hours for your game of choice.

The property is home to two eateries, with the first being the Crosswinds Restaurant that features casual American food at casual prices. The Crosswinds Restaurant is open seven days per week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The second eatery is The Sands Cafe, which basically offers coffee drinks, pastries and grab and go quick eats.

Surprisingly, this property is home to a sizable amphitheatre called Deepwater Amphitheater that is capable of seating 1,600, or more, people. This venue is unique for being the only covered amphitheater in the state, so you’ll be able to enjoy the outdoor concert experience without the need to worry about being rained on if a shower happens to blow over. The schedule for events is available on their website, so feel free to pop on over there and see what’s upcoming.

Finally, this establishment is home to a nightclub called the Heat Nightclub which is open on weekends.

This is the sort of place that’s mostly just a cool little locals hangout (unless a concert is going on), but we can still recommend popping in and giving it a look if you’re passing right by it anyway. At worst, you’ll be able to get a quick, cheap and tasty meal while you’re there.

Muckleshoot Casino

The Muckleshoot Casino is owned by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and is located in Auburn, Washington. The property is already quite sizable as it sits now, but is expanding with plans to open an eighteen-story hotel tower in 2022 that is in the final phase of construction as of the time of this writing.

Currently, the property features a 147,000 square foot gaming floor with another 10,000 coming when the hotel addition is finished, along with another casino bar. The hotel is slated to feature 400 guest rooms as well as a Native American cultural center. Overall, the property will end up being the most expansive casino property in the state.

Open 24 hours per day, it still features one of the largest gaming floors as it is home to more than 3,000 gaming machines as well as more than 70 gaming tables. The property is also home to one of the largest, if not THE largest, poker rooms in the Pacific Northwest clocking in at 32 tables.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to find a full list of all of the machine titles on their website, however, they do have a partial listing that they keep updated to add all of their newly introduced games from the last year or so.

The more than 70 Table Games spread a number of choices including Blackjack, Spanish 21, WPT Heads Up Hold ‘Em, High Card Flush, EZ Baccarat, Roulette and Craps. Of course, not all of these games will be open around the clock (except maybe Blackjack) so we always recommend calling ahead for the typical operating hours if there’s a specific game that you want to play.

The property was once home to Live Keno, but now it features the fully automated EZ Keno with a number of different ticket and play options available at various kiosks located around the property.

Muckleshoot is also one of the few Washington locations that you can visit if you enjoy off-track betting. For this, punters will purchase their betting slips at one of several kiosks that are located around the property. As far as simulcast is concerned, there is a dedicated area with about fourteen televisions enabling you to watch the races on closed-circuit TVs.

The property is home to a number of eateries, even though the hotel has not been opened yet. Guests will enjoy restaurants such as 8 Asian Cuisine, which features a wide variety of Asian selections from around the planet, including Japanese style sushis and Vietnamese dishes.

BSB is basically a gastropub and the initials stand for Burgers, Spirits and Beer. This place does basically what it says on the box and is pretty comparable to something like BRGR, if you’re familiar with those restaurants.

They have a pizza place that is literally called, “Pizza,” and features New York style pizzas. If you like thin-crust pizza (this writer says, “Meh, it’s okay.”) then you can satisfy your need for a thin slice of pizza pie at this stop.

Baja Fresh Express is your go to place for quick casual and/or grab and go Mexican bites and, like the pizza place, is also located in the food court. You can never go wrong with economically priced Mexican food—Mexican is pretty much delicious no matter where it comes from—and this restaurant certainly fits the bill.

The Deli is also located in the food court and, surprisingly enough, serves the finest selection of sushi. We’re kidding, it’s a deli. This is the place for some quick eats in the form of various sandwiches and is also very wallet friendly, at least, by casino standards.

Manchu Wok is another Asian eatery, this time in the food court, and is mainly known for noodle and stir-fry type dishes. If you want Asian food and you want it quickly, then you really can’t go wrong. We’d recommend this one for lunch and would want to save dinner for the restaurant proper.

The Sweet Shoppe is temporarily closed, but with candies, pastries and other desserts, does basically what it says on the sign when it is open.

In addition to BSB, the property features two other bars called The Corner Bar and the Center Bar. The other two bars are just off of the casino floor and are located where their names would imply. Additionally, there is slated to be a third bar to come when the hotel opens. Notably, The Corner Bar features a variety of Local and Regional spirits, so that’s the place to go if you are not from the area and want to try out a new libation.

We would definitely recommend stopping to check out this casino if you’re somewhere around the area or live anywhere in the state. Not only does it have plenty of dining and gambling selections as it sits, but you’ll also be able to see how the hotel project is coming along. We’re going to look forward to the hotel opening so we can do a comprehensive review of what we expect to become a bona fide resort-type property.

Nisqually Red Wind Casino

The Nisqually Red Wind Casino is located in a town called Yelm, Washington and is owned and operated by the Nisqually Indian Tribe. Typically, this casino is just called, “Red Wind Casino,” as reflected by the exterior signage.

The original casino opened as an extremely small affair in 1997, but added another 40,000 square feet of total space (27,000 of it gaming) just a few years ago. They also intend to build a hotel and perhaps add some other amenities along with an even more expanded gaming floor within the next several years, so stay tuned for that.

As it stands now, the casino floor features north of 1,600 total gaming machines, and conveniently, they have a search mechanism on their website where you can type in the title of any slot machine in order to see whether or not they have it there.

The table games pit includes Craps, Blackjack, Pai-Gow Poker, Roulette and Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em. Presently, the casino operates from 8:00a.m.-4:00a.m. daily, but we would recommend calling in advance for the operating hours of your game of choice if you’re looking for a specific table game.

The Keno Lounge is one of the more active live keno venues in the state and operates from 9:00a-1:00a seven days per week as of the time of this writing.

While it is presently closed for Covid, the casino features a buffet called Blue Camas Buffet that specializes in seafood and is expected to reopen sometime next year.

Coho Sports Pub is the property’s sports watching headquarters and features the type of food you would expect in the form of burgers, dogs, other sandwiches and pizza. They have a number of different brews available and you’ll probably meet some locals on gameday here if you’re not from the area. Just make sure not to cheer against the Seahawks if they’re on.

Squalli-Absch Grille is a really interesting stop because it is one of the few locations in the state (as far as casinos go) that seems to feature traditional Tribal foods. I’ll certainly be checking that one out if I’m up that way again. The Grilled Yellowfin tuna, in particular, sounds pretty to die for.

Medicine Creek Deli is your sandwich place for quick eats as well as an assortment of grab and go selections. If you just want to fill your stomach and get back to the gambling as soon as you can, that’s the way to do it!

In addition to the eateries, the property is home to three additional bars that serve food that itself comes from one of the eateries. For one example, Paelo’s Bar serves sandwiches that come from the Medicine Creek Deli.

Pealo’s Bar would also typically feature live entertainment on weekends, but given the current pandemic environment, that is not expected to be the case again until sometime in 2021.

Overall, we would recommend checking this place out if you happen to be around the area (or live in the region) if for no other reason than the unique dining options. In the meantime, we’ll be keeping our ears close to the ground to see if we can hear any additional details as relates the expansion and hotel that will hopefully be coming in the future.

Nooksack Northwood Casino

It says NOOKSACK, not…oh, you get it. Anyway, this is one of two Nooksack branded casinos and this one is located in Lynden, Washington. It is owned and operated by the Nooksack Indian Tribe.

This smallish casino is essentially an overgrown slots parlor and is home to roughly 400 gaming machines. It is currently open from 9:00a-2:00a Sunday-Thursday and from eight in the morning to four in the morning on weekends.

Actually, it might have been unfair to call it an overgrown slots parlor as they actually have a surprisingly wide assortment of table games including Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Pai-Gow Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em, Chase the Flush and Spanish 21. Honestly, some of the supposed resort casinos don’t have this kind of table games selection, so let’s give credit where it’s due. Of course, we don’t expect that all of these games operate during all of the casino’s hours, so we would recommend calling ahead for the usual operating hours for your game of choice.

While this property does not have a hotel, it is home to an RV Park which, as the time of this writing, charges a ridiculously low price of only $7 per night. If you’re travelling the Pacific Northwest by RV, you know where to go!

In terms of eateries, they have a few. Chefs is a Casual American restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner all at very reasonable prices. Prime Buffet features great specials and theme nights when it is open, but it is closed as of the time of this writing due to the pandemic. We expect that both this buffet and thirst bar will reopen at some point in 2021.

All told, this is basically just a small locals haunt, but they do have a great selection of Table Games and some eats. We would strongly recommend stopping by if you happen to be passing through the general area. If you live around there and haven’t checked it out yet, what are you waiting for?

Nooksack River Casino

The Nooksack River Casino WAS also owned and operated by the Nooksack Indian Tribe and is located in Deming, Washington.

Despite being listed on various listing sites, this casino actually closed in December of 2015 as the revenues were grossly insufficient to pay back the loan that they took out when building the casino. Given the way that Tribal Casinos are regulated, no non-Tribal entity is legally permitted to manage a Tribal Casino, so unfortunately for them, they couldn’t get any help that way. While they could have theoretically gotten help from another tribe (one casino in the state was financed by Mohegan Sun) it seems that didn’t happen either.

In addition to defaulting on their loans, it has been reported that the employees did not receive the sixty-day termination notice as required by law. We don’t know whether or not that’s actually true, but if it is, we might recant our recommendation to visit the other Nooksack property. Business fail and some business loans don’t get repaid—all of that is fine—but you’ve got to treat your employees the right way.

Northern Quest Casino

The Northern Quest Casino is located in Airway Heights, Washington (hence the name) and is owned and operated by the Kalispel Tribe. The full name is Northern Quest Resort and Casino.

The original date that the casino opened was sometime in 2000, but then around 2008-2009 (during the Great Recession of all things!) the property’s hotel was completed and that opened creating room availability for the property of 250 guestrooms, of which 22 are suites. Another interesting feature of this property is that they often host some extremely well-known national acts. As opposed to the majority of casinos that kind of have current comedians but vintage music acts, Northern Quest often has performers who are still popular today, such as Kid Rock.

The 100% non-smoking hotel features an indoor pool and hot tub. In addition to that, guests will also enjoy Keurig coffeemakers in every room as well as complimentary wireless internet access. The overall aesthetic of the property is very modern and luxurious and the suites look to be actually worth the price, they’re outstanding!

The casino floor is home to more than 1,600 slot machines, which definitely puts this property on the larger half of Washington casinos when it comes to size and offerings. Additionally, the table games pit is home to 37 tables that spread Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Pai-Gow Poker, Spanish 21, Three-Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em, Down Under Blackjack and Free Bet Blackjack. If you’re looking for anything outside of the casino staples, we would recommend calling ahead and getting the usual operating times for your game of choice.

The poker room deals Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em as well as Omaha variants and is open seven days per week from noon to two in the morning. This casino features regular poker promotions, tournaments and enables players to earn players club points for playing.

This is also one of the Washington casinos to feature live Keno and has a dedicated Keno counter as well as Keno runners that canvass the property so you can get your cards in from basically wherever you happen to be on the casino floor. Finally, off-track race betting is available during daylight hours Wednesday-Sunday and is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays as of the time of this writing. That makes this one of only a few off-track betting casinos in the State of Washington.

In terms of eateries, there are plenty to be found at this establishment. The EPIC Sports Bar basically does what it says on the box and is a great American food outlet and sports lounge, similar to something like Buffalo Wild Wings, to enjoy some casual American fare whilst watching your game of choice.

Masselow’s Steakhouse is an upscale steakhouse that is open for dinner from Wednesdays-Sundays with reservations strongly recommended. This is not the most wallet friendly of choices, even by steakhouse standards, with three and four-course meals running $70 and $90 per head, respectively. Is it worth it? This writer has no idea. I wouldn’t even pay that much to eat using comp dollars/food credits.

Open daily at 11:00a.m., Fai’s Noodle House is your place for traditional Vietnamese Pho and Chinese cuisine. This eatery features a wide variety of noodle dishes, soups and stir frys.

For those of you who love fast food burgers (like me) feel free to misbehave at the casino’s Fatburger location. If you’ve experienced one of the juicy burgers from this chain before, then you already know what to expect. We’d recommend doing it for lunch, though, save your dinner for one of the nicer places and try something new. Actually, something relatively light from Fai’s would be a good dinner choice after such a heavy Fatburger lunch.

Qdoba is a nationwide burrito chain that many readers here have at least seen, if not tried. In the opinion of this writer…it’s okay. One thing to keep in mind if you haven’t had it before is that these are very Americanized burritos…which is to say comparatively bland compared to most. They’ll get the job done if you’re looking for something to tide you over until dinner and don’t have a lot of time.

Thomas Hammer is your place for specialty coffees, desserts and some grab and go options. It’s no secret that nobody does coffee like the State of Washington and we expect that to be no different at Thomas Hammer.

Everyone knows Ben & Jerry’s, even most of our visitors from abroad recognize the brand. Well, you’re in luck if you get a craving for specialty ice cream flavors because a Ben and Jerry’s location can be found on site.

In addition to the four lounges spread across the property, visitors will also enjoy Legends of Fire cigar bar, which is said to have some of the finest selections in the Pacific Northwest. While we’re on the subject of lounges, we should also mention that the casino floor features one lounge that is entirely non-smoking, so feel free to visit that for the proverbial breath of fresh air.

In addition to all of this great stuff to do for adults, the resort also features Cyber Quest and Kids Quests, which make this a stop for the whole family. These are somewhat common arcades for Tribal Casinos, but are the only ones that we’ve encountered so far on this listing page…either way, we definitely like it when a place that wants to call itself a resort offers up something for the whole family.

As of the time of this writing, The Deli (quick eats and sandwiches) River’s Edge Buffet and Riverbank Taphouse are all temporarily closed, though they are expected to reopen at some point in 2021. Either way, this property is certainly not short on terrific dining establishments, so you should still be fine.

Whether you’re travelling with the kids, alone or as a couple…it’s easy to spend a weekend (or perhaps longer) at the Northern Quest Casino which is why it is one of the destinations that we recommend in Washington State. You can easily spend an entire weekend at the property, without ever leaving and still not have time to try out all of the different dining options. All of them seem pretty reasonably priced as well, except for maybe the steakhouse.

Okanogan Casino and Bingo

Okanogan Casino and Bingo WAS a property located in Okanogan, Washington, which should come as no surprise.

This casino opened in 2003, but closed in 2015 upon the opening of the 12 Tribes Resort and Casino essentially to avoid self-competing.

Quil Ceda Creek Casino

The Quil Ceda Creek Casino is a property scheduled to open in Early 2021, though it remains to be seen whether CV-19 might delay things. Check back later for more details.

If it’s 2020 and you go to the Quil Ceda website, just ignore it as everything on it is just referring to the Tulalip Resort Casino (listed below). We’re not really sure why they would do that, but there you have it…it makes it look like the Quil Ceda is actually open already.

Quinault Beach Resort and Casino

Quinault Beach Resort and Casino is located in Ocean Shores, Washington and is owned and operated by Quinault Nation.

This casino property is just big enough not to be called small, at least, after their expansion a few years back. The original property, as it opened in 2002, was pretty small. An expansion went underway in 2016 and was completed in 2018, which significantly increased the size of the casino floor and added a few new dining and lounge options.

In addition to an RV Park, this property is home to a modestly sized hotel that features a wide array of amenities including an indoor pool and hot tub. One thing that’s nice for couples or those traveling alone is that there are adults-only hours (as of the time of this writing) for the pool starting at 9:00p.m. The adults can relax after the kids have had their fun, so it’s a win for everyone. Other amenities include a fitness room and wireless internet for guests. Every guest room comes with its own mini-fridge, coffeemaker and microwave–at a minimum. The total room count is 159, inclusive to both standard rooms and suites.

The gaming floor is home to something in the neighborhood of 750 slot machines. There would normally be a Table Games pit, but this casino has made the surprising decision to close that completely until the pandemic is under control. Is that the right thing to do? That’s not for me to answer, but good on management and ownership for doing what they think is the right thing to their own financial detriment.

We will list all of this casino’s eateries, but keep in mind that they are mostly closed during the pandemic, so you will want to call and check ahead for availability…unless you’re reading this when the pandemic has ended—in which case, Yay, it’s over!

Emily’s Oceanfront Restaurant, it should come as no surprise, overlooks the ocean and features award-winning seafood. This is something akin to a fine dining experience, but with fairly reasonable prices considering the uncompromising quality and preparation of the dishes. You definitely have to try it post-COVID if you visit the property.

This casino is actually home to two different buffets, one of which that specializes in seafood selections. Unfortunately, all casino buffets are closed during the pandemic, so expect this listing to perhaps be updated sometime in 2021 when all of this is hopefully over. If the pandemic’s over and this hasn’t been updated, send us a message and we’ll get on updating these listings as soon as possible.

Fireside Coffee features some of the best gourmet brew you’re going to find in the state alongside an assortment of delicious pastries and other desserts.

Sidewalk Bistro is your casual stop for burgers, salads, chowder and sandwiches served pretty quickly and at very reasonable prices.

Finally, the Ocean Lounge has a wide assortment of libations and serves a few seafood dishes as well as more traditional American pub food.

If you’re hitting the beach in this part of the state, we’d be hard-pressed not to put Quinault Beach Casino and Resort on the shortlist of recommendations for your stay. At least, when the pandemic ends. For the time being, they’re basically a shadow of their usual selves. We would also want to emphasize that we’re recommending this if you live in the region or are heading up to that area anyway, given the limited dining selections (even when there’s not a pandemic) it’s a bit tough to recommend this as a destination property unto itself.

Shoalwater Bay Casino

The Shoalwater Bay Casino is located in Tokeland, Washington in Pacific County…so that alone should give you a pretty good idea where it’s at. It is owned and operated by the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe, hence the name. Since you’re in Tokeland, that should be a good reminder to remember to toke your dealers and other casino staffers! Since you’re in Washington, it might actually just be a good reminder that you can step outside and toke up—legally!

Correction about the above paragraph from a helpful reader named ‘R’:

This is not accurate. The casinos are on Federal Land, and this would be illegal. The casinos strictly enforce this. Additionally, National Parks within Washington are also federal land and same applies.

We won’t do a full listing of the hotel since it is technically offsite, but this casino owns Tradewinds at the Bay, which is a lodging area that they say is a short walk from the casino. If you’re not feeling like walking, don’t worry, the casino has a shuttle to take you to and from.

The current slot count stands at 288 units, but usually there are closer to 350. Of course, this makes Shoalwater one of the smallest casinos in the state, but you certainly can’t argue with the location. If you’re still reading this during the pandemic, first of all—sorry—but secondly, they have actually enabled their machines in such a way that, when you insert your players club card into a machine, the machine(s) on either side of you will automatically shut off to ensure social distancing. That way, you get the social distancing but can still choose from any machine you want as opposed to every other machine just being off all the time.

This property used to have four gaming tables, but that hasn’t been the case for a few years now and there are no table games with no plans to bring them back.

We’re honestly pretty impressed by that functionality because this writer does not know about abroad, but it’s the first he’s heard of any casino in the United States setting up such a thing. Most casinos have just been turning every other machine completely off.

The Bayview Cafe is one of the property’s eateries and features soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers and other casual American fare. Casual food, casual prices–can’t go wrong.

The North Cove Bar and Grill is open Wednesday-Sunday and could probably be called upscale casual if you had to call it anything. It has a surprisingly varied menu, but focuses mainly on steaks and seafood. Compared to similar eateries in other casinos, your wallet will thank you.

The property’s bar is called the Washaway Lounge—great name!

All told, this is just a nice little place for those who live around the area or happen to be visiting up there. Given the size and offerings, it’s obviously not a destination unto itself, but it’s a place you should definitely consider visiting (whether or not you’re staying at Tradewinds) if you happen to be up that way.

Silver Reef Casino

Continuing our trend of oceanic-themed names, we move on to the Silver Reef Casino which is located in Ferndale, Washington and is owned and operated by Lummi Nation.

Upon its original 2002 opening, this property cut the ribbon housing fewer than 800 slot machines, but an expansion in 2013 added an event center as well as substantial square footage to the casino floor enabling the establishment to bring their total machine count to right about 1,100 units.

More properly called Silver Reef Casino and Resort, the hotel is home to a combined 206 guest rooms and suites and is 100% non-smoking in the hotel.

This property is also home to a spa and golf course, so they’ll typically offer different sorts of stay packages if you intend to avail yourself of those things. Guests will enjoy in room coffeemakers and complimentary wireless internet. There would normally be a fitness center, indoor pool and hot tub, but those are closed at this time purportedly due to Covid-19…if this is still the case we encourage you to keep in mind that many other casino hotels do have these types of amenities open on an appointment basis.

There are fourteen gaming tables that spread Blackjack, Craps, Pai-Gow Poker, Face Up Pai Gow Poker, Four Card Poker, High Card Flush, Roulette, Spanish 21, Three Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em. Naturally, these games are not going to all operate around the clock, so unless your game is Blackjack, we recommend calling ahead for the typical operating times of your game of choice.

The property’s fine dining establishment is literally called, “The Steakhouse,” so they’re not getting any points for creativity on that one. The prices are about on par with other casino steakhouses, which is to say slightly more expensive than what you would expect from a non-casino steakhouse. We don’t know. Name it something. Give it a theme. If they put as much effort into their food as they do the name and design–you probably won’t be impressed.

Pizzanini does what it says on the box and is one of three casual dining selections for this property. Red River Cafe is your stop for casual American food, opens at 8:00a.m. and serves all three. Panasia is your stop for quick casual Asian food.

I don’t know. They’ve got a golf course, a spa and a really elegant looking and modern Event Center, but if you’re in it mainly for casino and dining, we’d be really hard-pressed to try to justify calling this a resort. It’s tough for us to recommend this place unless you’re either a golfer or you’re going to be in that general area anyway, but we wouldn’t go out of our way for this one. Our main complaint is that the dining options are way too limited and not at all unique.

Skagit Valley Casino

The Skagit Valley Casino is located in Bow, Washington and is owned and operated by Upper Skagit Indian Tribe.

The full name is technically Skagit Valley Casino and Resort, but we see what it usually ends up being when people use that, “R,” word. Will it be justified this time? Probably not. But, give it a chance and keep reading.

The Skagit Hotel is home to 103 total rooms of which 28 are suites. As of the time of this writing, the fitness center as well as the indoor pool are closed due to the pandemic, but we would expect those to open later this year.

Can the pool be operated safely? Sure. Does the pool make money? No. Casino hotels have operated their pools all over the state on a reservation-type of basis, or with restricted occupancy. This writer’s tendency (and I don’t speak for the site here) is to think that the places closing up these sorts of offerings are mainly doing so as an excuse to save a few bucks.

The casino floor is home to roughly 900 slot machines with a partial list of the different titles arranged alphabetically on their website, so at least that’s convenient if you want to see whether or not they have a particular game.

Table Games consist of Blackjack, Three-Card Poker, Pai-Gow Poker, Spanish 21 and Roulette.

The property is home to three dining options, which pretty much immediately nullifies any possibility of it being a bona fide resort. The only eatery currently operating is Express Eats, which is a place for quick bites and grab and go options…nothing says resort like frozen onion rings. The Five Onion Grill does a little bit of everything when it opens back up, serving American, Italian, casual and seafood selections. The Market Buffet is the property’s buffet when it opens back up.

The Pacific Showroom is a 460 seat event center and concert hall.

Bottom Line: This place is not a resort by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a locals casino and a place for a staycation, nothing more. There’s not anything wrong with that, but you can’t have every place that has a hotel calling itself a resort or the word stops meaning anything. Oh, it also has a gas station and tobacco shop…what’s a resort without a gas station?

Anyway, this place is basically a locals casino and not even a glorified one. It doesn’t really have anything that a locals casino with a hotel wouldn’t have and the number of dining selections are laughable even in normal times. As far as the, “Resort Hotel,” I’ve personally seen Comfort Inns that are every bit as nice. Unless you’re right in that area anyway, this one’s a pass in our book.

Spokane Tribe Casino

The Spokane Tribe Casino is located in Airway Heights, Washington and it shouldn’t be hard to guess who owns it. It is said that this will eventually become a Hard Rock branded casino, which should be excellent, but that will not happen until the property is actually finished.

The Spokane Tribe broke ground on the property in 2016 and, in 2018, completed the first phase of building which includes a small casino of under 40,000 square feet, fewer than 500 slot machines and about a dozen table games. The intention is that the property will become much larger and will feature a 300 room hotel, but full completion is not expected until the year 2026…so it’s going to be awhile. It is at that time (or maybe before if the larger casino floor opens) that the property is expected to rebrand as a Hard Rock.

In the meantime, the property is humming along as basically a locals casino until the completion of all of the phases of the project.

The previously mentioned Table Games pit consists of a dozen tables spreading Blackjack, Spanish 21, Heads Up Hold ‘Em Poker and Pai-Gow Poker. If you’re looking for a specific game other than Blackjack, then you should probably call in advance to get its usual hours of operation.

For the time being, the property is home to three eating establishments that include Three Peaks Kitchen and Bar, which is open for lunch and dinner and serves upscale casual food.

Speelya’s Den is a deli location that does a little of everything as, in addition to sandwiches and soups, you can find specialty desserts and gourmet coffee drinks.

Finally, Whaluks is something of an Indian-themed pub that features casual pub dining choices as well as a wide assortment of libations.

We’d recommend stopping by and checking out one of the eateries as well as the casino floor if you’re in the area, you can also see how the project is going if there is any work going on by the time you’re there. We look forward to seeing what develops, but until then, what you have here is a no-frills (but fun) little locals casino.

Swinomish Northern Lights Casino

The Swinomish Northern Lights casino is a property located in Anacortes, Washington and is owned and operated by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community.

Originally opened as a Bingo Hall in 1990, following a compact with the state and adjacent (though smaller) casino was completed in 1992. The casino floor was expanded more than 25 years later and there is no longer a completely separate building for bingo. As a result of the expansion, the property was able to add to its slot count and introduce some new table games.

In addition to the casino, this property is also home to the Swinomish Lodge, which is a hotel consisting of 98 guestrooms and suites. Hotel guests will enjoy free wireless internet access, complimentary coffee and tea in all guestrooms, floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Swinomish Channel (awesome view!) and access to the guest fitness center. There’s also an RV Park if you’re travelling by those means.

The casino floor features more than 900 slot machines and the site comes with a search function to search for your favorites by denomination or title. In addition to the slots, this property also has EZ Keno kiosks which are a fully automated way to play the game from the kiosks. Table Games include Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em and Pai-Gow Poker.

Perhaps the most outstanding view can be found at 13 Moons restaurant, which is the property’s fine dining establishment open for dinner service Wednesday-Sunday. There may be other items on the menu, but going with a seafood dish is practically mandatory as they do it as well as anyone else on the Pacific side of the country.

Carver’s Cafe is a casual American dining experience and is open most hours of the day. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner…if it’s late in the afternoon and you’re in the mood for an omelette—never fear, Carver’s will make you their delicious breakfasts anytime they are open.

Swinomish Sports Bar and Grill is your casual stop for either watching the game or just hanging out and enjoying the brews, cocktails and pub fare.

If you’re in the mood for something quick, delicious and extremely bad for you (have to break the rules sometimes), you’ll be glad to hear that this property is home to a Fatburger location, which prides itself on never freezing the beef.

Manchu Wok is your place for some pretty quick Casual Asian eats and delicious noodle dishes, so you Asian food lovers out there won’t be left out.

Moka Joe Coffee is your place for quality coffee drinks, pastries, grab and go items and other desserts.

The Center Bar is smack in the middle of the casino floor.

If you’re going to be in this area, then we would recommend stopping by the casino for at least one night if the hotel’s not all booked. Honestly, you could probably do a full weekend staycation as, with the assortment of dining options, this property is closer to being a resort than some of the places that actually call themselves resorts. We definitely recommend this place for some fun gambling and great food!

The Point Casino

The Point Casino is located in Kingston, Washington and is owned and operated by the S’Klallam Tribe.

In addition to an RV Park, this property features a four-story and 85 room boutique hotel that consists mostly of fairly simple, but nicely appointed rooms, along with a few suites. If you’re traveling by RV, we definitely recommend calling ahead to reserve a spot because they only have ten of them, so you don’t want to find yourself having to get right back on the road when you thought you were done for the day.

The modest casino floor is home to 500 slot machines as well as eight Gaming Tables spreading Blackjack, Spanish 21, Pai-Gow Poker, Roulette and Craps. We should mention that they have not been operating Table Games during the pandemic, so it’s expected that those will remain closed until sometime in 2021. Please feel free to send us a message if you see them opened next year and we need to update the listing.

Given the small size, the property features a somewhat surprising assortment of eateries for guests to enjoy. Little Boston Bistro is a reasonably priced upscale American style restaurant that, when it comes to the expense, is probably only a few dollars more on the entree than American chain restaurants, it’s closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Also closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, Kloomachin Kitchen isn’t too much different compared to Little Boston Bistro in terms of selection, with exception to the fact that they have a few fairly pricey steak selections. This isn’t the Midwest, just so you guys know, the Pacific Coast does seafood best…so in our opinion, you’ve got to go with a seafood dish. (The author’s Midwest bias is showing a little, here.)

Point Julia Cafe serves up breakfast seven days per week, and then through the day has sandwiches, soups, salads and other grab and go items. If you want a lunch and you want it quickly, get it here! Just remember to save some of your appetite for one of the proper restaurants come dinnertime.

Also located in the food court area is the Pizza Pit Stop, so you can choose from personal pizzas and whole pies.

The property is also home to the Cutter Cigar Bar and this writer only recognizes a few of the selections from the cigar menu, but they seem pretty in line with what you’d expect to pay at any other cigar bar or smoke shop.

There’s also a food truck on certain days of the week with varied offerings that mostly depend on the day of the week. We’re going to just direct you to that page of the casino’s website so you can see what’s going on.

Hell yeah, nice little hotel that covers the basics, decent table game selection—great food! We can very easily recommend spending a night here if you’re in the area and perhaps even a full weekend. This is definitely going to be a place for those traveling alone or as a couple, though.

Tulalip Resort Casino

Located in Tulalip, Washington and owned by a tribe of the same name, Tulalip Resort Casino is a large property that features a 370 guest room and suite hotel. Amenities include free wireless internet access for guests, a spa, an outdoor pool, business center and coffeemakers in every room.

The casino floor features more than 2,400 gaming machines as well as a 37 table pit spreading Blackjack, Free Bet Blackjack, Roulette, Craps and I Luv Suits Poker. By the way, I gag every time I have to type the word, “Love,” that way.

One funny thing I noticed on their website is that they call the Craps game, “Fire Craps,” but what I think they mean to say is that they have the Fire Bet on their Craps tables, which is a side bet with a horrendous house edge that you should never play.

One thing you’re going to want to keep in mind if you enjoy Live Bingo is that, even though the property advertises Bingo on their website, the Bingo Hall and Bar (while nice) is a completely separate property altogether. It’s in a building called Tulalip Bingo and Slots and also has 200 slot machines.

Blazing Paddles is one of the property’s eateries and is the place to go if you’re in the mood for pizza. Apparently, these pizzas are stone-fired artisan pizzas, which is excellent, because most places in the state seem to favor New York style thin-crust pizza instead.

Serving steak, chicken and seafood dinners Thursday-Sunday, Blackfish is the signature eatery for this resort. For our part, we would recommend going with one of the seafood dishes because if there’s one thing the Pacific Northwest is truly excellent at, it’s delicious seafood. Apparently, this restaurant is also known to have some of the best wine selection in the state, and though it might surprise you, this writer thinks that shucked oysters pair very nicely with a rich red wine, such as a Cabernet Sauvignon.

For a quick casual lunch or dinner, Canoe’s Carvery is the place to go for soups, salads, sandwiches, desserts and more.

Caesars Cafe is a pretty casual place that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is open during most of the hours of the day all the way into the early a.m. hours.

The Draft Sportsbar and Grill is mainly a burgers and wings pub that does what it says on the box. We’d pass on this in favor of something more focused on the seafood, but if you’re really craving a burger, then that’s your place.

Journeys East is also open seven days per week for lunch and dinner and features a wide variety of Asian dishes that they claim are inspired by a litany of Asian countries. They list like five of them…but it seems to me that the different Asian countries probably have very different food from one another. Most people eating there probably wouldn’t know any better, and if I’m honest, I wouldn’t either.

Tula Bere Pastaria and Chophouse is a place that is generally open for dinner and features a wide assortment of Italian entrees and appetizers. It’s probably pretty good, but we wouldn’t recommend it if you come from an area (as this writer) with a ton of Italian restaurants. Elsewhere in the country, glorified spaghetti passes as, “Italian cuisine,” so who the hell knows what you’re going to get. I’d find someone you trust and see if they’ve eaten there to get an opinion from them first. Even then, I’d stick to the seafood dishes.

This establishment is also home to a cabaret, a ballroom, a cultural centre as well as an amphitheatre, so they’re certainly not laking for entertainment options when there’s not a pandemic happening.

All things considered, we would definitely recommend checking this place out for at least one night if you’re going to be in the area, if not for an entire weekend. That’s especially true if you’re travelling alone or as a couple given that you will enjoy the wide assortment of eating options—kids wouldn’t care. Besides that, this isn’t one of those resort properties that really has much in the way of stuff to do for kids, scroll up to some of our other listings for the best casino-resort properties to visit if traveling as a family.

Conclusion

With the exception of actual Class III slot machines like other gambling jurisdictions, in a roundabout way, Washington has everything that most gamblers could ever want.  The only thing that they really seem to be missing is full-scale casinos and that’s because they just seem to not want to authorize slot machines.

Of course, you have to go to a Tribal Casino if you want to do any sports betting or live Keno, as those are all things that are not permitted in the card rooms.  At least slot players will have the Tribal Video Lottery (called, “Electronic Bingo” anywhere else) machines to keep them occupied there and probably wouldn’t even notice the difference if you don’t tell them.

As with slot machines, the state is pretty hardcore about online gambling, so we don’t expect a full authorization and regulation of that to come anytime soon.  Unfortunately, it’s also one of the only states where playing online in the capacity of a player (rather than operator) could ever be considered a felony.

For that reason, we also wouldn’t expect Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) parlors to appear anytime soon.  Other than the fact that the Tribal Casinos can have a certain type of machine that is basically a slot machine and not at the same time…the state pretty much seems adamantly opposed to anything having to do with machines.

The Charitable Gaming laws are pretty liberal, so a charitable Bingo game should not be a difficult thing for you to find.

Overall, we wouldn’t exactly consider this a destination state for gambling, but if you’re a gambler who is going to the state anyway (or if you actually live in the state) take solace in the fact that Washington isn’t the worst place you could be…that would be Utah.

References

• Washington Lottery: Official Site
• Washington State Gambling Commission

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