US and Canada members: do you go to tribal casinos or hold out for trips to "traditional" gaming cities such as Las Vegas?

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Propane Goat

Propane Goat

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I'm in Northern California and have multiple tribal casinos within a short driving distance, one of them is only a few minutes away and consistently has gas prices 25-50 cents/gallon cheaper than any other station.

They have "big name" performers stopping by often for live shows, multiple hotel rooms, and the same slot machines that the Vegas properties do, but the cigarette smoke at some tribal casinos can be overpowering during high-traffic periods such as New Year's Eve. Even though California bans smoking in public places, tribal reservation land is considered as a "sovereign nation" so they don't necessarily have to comply with all state laws.

Thunder Valley Casino and Resort is one of the largest properties in this area and also hosts WPT events.
 
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Once a year I go to Vegas. In between trips out there I play at both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun which are tribal casinos, and casinos in New Hampshire.
 
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Well where I used to live they have a couple awesome casinos on tribal land that are great,

here they have what they call casinos on every corner but they're really just little rooms with slot machines,

but to answer the question... the tribal casinos I've been to were awesome, Vegas is also great fun in general,

so I guess my answer is why not both?👍
 
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Well, I love Vegas, but you need way more money to go there, so I save a little for Vegas
and visit the tribal ones for a night of fun, well, at least I did in Washington.
But in Arkansas, I visit my local casino and horse track. ( a block away) 😊
If I win, I put a little in my Vegas fund 😍
 
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While I would love a trip to Vegas - it's long overdue - for me, Ontario has enough poker rooms FINALLY that one can scratch the itch to play live without going too far as there are 5 solid options within 2 hours of me including Great Canadian Casino Toronto which has held some of the bigger wsop Circuits over the last two years, and Playground is 4 1/2 the other direction which hosts both the WSOP & WPT & has fantastic cash games & a massive tournament venue,
 
It seems that the tribal casino market in Northern California is getting saturated, there was a new one that opened up in the typical temporary rigid tent structure that they often use but they couldn't even keep it going for a full year.

Having two other fairly large full-service tribal casinos within a 15-minute drive and being in a rural area on top of that certainly didn't help.

Mechoopda Casino | Shut Down Indefinitely

Mechoopda Casino was shut down indefinitely on Feb. 1, 2025. Future plans are uncertain. The casino had opened as a 'temporary casino' on Feb. 15, 2024 in Oroville, California. The tribe had planned to replace it in a few years with a larger, permanent Mechoopda Casino
www.500nations.com www.500nations.com
 
CRStals said:
While I would love a trip to Vegas - it's long overdue - for me, Ontario has enough poker rooms FINALLY that one can scratch the itch to play live without going too far as there are 5 solid options within 2 hours of me including Great Canadian Casino Toronto which has held some of the bigger WSOP Circuits over the last two years, and Playground is 4 1/2 the other direction which hosts both the WSOP & WPT & has fantastic cash games & a massive tournament venue,
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The playground is on tribal land PG. Do you go there often Chris? We might have played at same table, a lot of people from Ontario there in the big events. I try to go 2 or 3 times a year. Here in New Brunswick, there is only 1 tribal casino, I only went there once, they don t have worth while garanties for tournaments, it is not that big.
 
lovemiscou said:
The playground is on tribal land PG. Do you go there often Chris? We might have played at same table, a lot of people from Ontario there in the big events. I try to go 2 or 3 times a year. Here in New Brunswick, there is only 1 tribal casino, I only went there once, they don t have worth while garanties for tournaments, it is not that big.
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I've only been a few times, dying to get back there but the options here are now much better so it is tougher to justify the longer drive to get there, but I did forget it was on tribal land...
 
There are 2 tribal casinos within 3 hours of me so and they are Caesars properties so I definitely go to the closest one as my primary casino. It only takes about 1 hour and 40 min to get there.
 
Propane Goat said:
I'm in Northern California and have multiple tribal casinos within a short driving distance, one of them is only a few minutes away and consistently has gas prices 25-50 cents/gallon cheaper than any other station.

They have "big name" performers stopping by often for live shows, multiple hotel rooms, and the same slot machines that the Vegas properties do, but the cigarette smoke at some tribal casinos can be overpowering during high-traffic periods such as New Year's Eve. Even though California bans smoking in public places, tribal reservation land is considered as a "sovereign nation" so they don't necessarily have to comply with all state laws.

Thunder Valley Casino and Resort is one of the largest properties in this area and also hosts WPT events.
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I need to get myself over there. Honestly we should do a Northern California CC round-up and get some folks over there!

Propane Goat said:
It seems that the tribal casino market in Northern California is getting saturated, there was a new one that opened up in the typical temporary rigid tent structure that they often use but they couldn't even keep it going for a full year.

Having two other fairly large full-service tribal casinos within a 15-minute drive and being in a rural area on top of that certainly didn't help.

Mechoopda Casino | Shut Down Indefinitely

Mechoopda Casino was shut down indefinitely on Feb. 1, 2025. Future plans are uncertain. The casino had opened as a 'temporary casino' on Feb. 15, 2024 in Oroville, California. The tribe had planned to replace it in a few years with a larger, permanent Mechoopda Casino
www.500nations.com www.500nations.com
Click to expand...
It is getting very saturated. We used to just have the Jackson Rancheria, and then the next closest was Black Oak in Sonora. But now they have Chicken Ranch just down the road, at the 108/120 junction, and here in Amador we have a Harrah's in Ione (out in the middle of nowhere - it's kind of comical, actually - farm fields all around, ranches, and then Harrah's neon... 😆 ). And now they are about to open another one just over in Plymouth - Acorn Hills, I think it's going to be called? Opening next month.

All these casinos are probably within less than 20 miles of each other. All different bands of the Miwuk tribe... I feel like at least the Ione band could have pulled resources and just opened ONE casino, but now, as it is I don't know that they will be able to sustain enough traffic to really be successful. I hope so for their sakes.
 
Unfortunately i am neither from the USA nor from canada but if i would be from there i would probably not care and just go to whatever place is more near my location.
 
Tammy said:
I need to get myself over there. Honestly we should do a Northern California CC round-up and get some folks over there!


It is getting very saturated. We used to just have the Jackson Rancheria, and then the next closest was Black Oak in Sonora. But now they have Chicken Ranch just down the road, at the 108/120 junction, and here in Amador we have a Harrah's in Ione (out in the middle of nowhere - it's kind of comical, actually - farm fields all around, ranches, and then Harrah's neon... 😆 ). And now they are about to open another one just over in Plymouth - Acorn Hills, I think it's going to be called? Opening next month.

All these casinos are probably within less than 20 miles of each other. All different bands of the Miwuk tribe... I feel like at least the Ione band could have pulled resources and just opened ONE casino, but now, as it is I don't know that they will be able to sustain enough traffic to really be successful. I hope so for their sakes.
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I drive by that Mechoopda casino site every day on the way to work, they had a large surge of traffic for the first couple of months then after that I knew they were going to be in trouble. There's no way to cover utilities, payroll, and insurance when you only have 15-20 cars in the parking lot every day.

It's impossible to set up a temporary structure with a few slot machines and a cheap snack bar, and successfully compete with Gold Country and Feather Falls casinos which are less than 15 miles away. Both have multiple full-service restaurants and buffets, multi-story hotels, and RV parks. Feather Falls even has their own brewery on-site.
 
Propane Goat said:
I drive by that Mechoopda casino site every day on the way to work, they had a large surge of traffic for the first couple of months then after that I knew they were going to be in trouble. There's no way to cover utilities, payroll, and insurance when you only have 15-20 cars in the parking lot every day.

It's impossible to set up a temporary structure with a few slot machines and a cheap snack bar, and successfully compete with Gold Country and Feather Falls casinos which are less than 15 miles away. Both have multiple full-service restaurants and buffets, multi-story hotels, and RV parks. Feather Falls even has their own brewery on-site.
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The Harrah's in Ione was literally 2 miles from my house. I NEVER set foot in it. I had to show solidarity to my good friend who is part of the other band of Ione Miwuks; the one that is opening a casino in Plymouth... plus she said that place is built on cursed ground..."Don't go in there! You'll get bad joo-joo!" Ok, fine... 😆 The Harrah's is really small - but still has a full service restaurant, etc. It never seems very busy. And from talking with my cousin who works at the Jackson Rancheria, even that small casino is messing with their traffic. Will be interesting to see how the Plymouth one does.
 
I can see why Vegas has a different appeal, Propane Goat. But having a good local casino nearby would make regular visits much easier.
 
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