If you enjoy casino gambling, you need to consider playing in a tribal casino. But you have to know where tribal casinos are located. Here’s how to find tribal casinos near me in 2023 including Indian gaming in California and elsewhere.
The easiest way to find Indian casinos in 2023 is to usie a map. I’ve included a link to an Indian casino map in this post.
But you can also ask other gamblers and use popular search engines to find local tribal casinos. Keep reading to find out more but Indian casinos, including where to find the ones closest to you.
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How to Find a Tribal Casino Near You in 2023
Finding a tribal casino near you doesn’t take much work. You probably found this page about finding tribal Indian casinos using a search engine like Google. And you can use the same search engine to find local tribal casinos.
You can also use a map of Indian casinos. Whenever I can, I like to look at the information on an official site. In this case, I looked on the National Indian Gaming Commission site. Using the site, you can see a map of Indian gaming locations here.
The map uses a color-coded pin system breaking the tribal casinos into different regions. The regions include:
- Oklahoma City
- Phoenix
- Portland
- Rapid City
- Sacramento
- Paul
- Tulsa
- Washington, DC
States with Tribal Casinos Near Me
Another way to search for Indian tribal casinos is by state.
The following states have tribal casinos:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Iowa
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- New York
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
California and Oklahoma have the most tribal casinos. And many states only have one or a small handful of tribal casinos.
A couple of states, like Alaska, have tribal gambling, but they’re bingo halls and not casinos. And some states only have tribal casinos and no commercial casinos, and some states have both Indian casinos and commercial casinos.
If you want to find tribal casinos, the 500 nations site has more information than any site I’ve found.
California Tribal Casinos Near Me
According to Dan Walters at Cal Matters, California has over 80 tribal Indian casinos. In the same article, he claims the tribal casinos bring in over $8 billion every year. In other words, tribal casinos are big business in California.
With so many tribal casinos in the state, you’re never far from an Indian casino no matter where you’re located in California. You can find tribal casinos as far south as the San Diego area and as far north as Crescent City.
To view the California casinos closest to you, use the map I linked to earlier. You can also find a post about the loosest slots in California on SlotsGuy.
California only has tribal casinos. The state doesn’t have any commercial casinos. The state also has card rooms, but card rooms aren’t allowed to offer casino gambling like the tribal casinos.
Largest Indian Tribal Casinos in California
Here’s an overview and list of the largest Indian tribal casinos in California.
Yaamava’s Resort and Casino – San Manuel Casino
Located in Highland, California, the Yaamava’s Casino and Resort used to be named San Manuel Casino.
Yaamava’s Resort and Casino sits in San Bernardino County, just outside of Los Angeles. You can find 7,000 slot machines, 150 table games, and a poker room at Yaamava’s Resort and Casino.
Pechanga Resort and Casino
Located in Temecula, California, Pechanga Resort and Casino sits in Riverside County.
Pechanga Resort and Casino has over 5,000 slot machines and over 150 table games and a poker room.
Morongo Casino and Resort
Located in Cabazon, California, Morongo Casino and Resort sits 20 miles from Palm Springs.
The property includes a five diamond rated hotel, 4,000 slots games, a poker room, and 80 table games.
Thunder Valley Casino and Resort
Located in Lincoln, California, Thunder Valle Casino and Resort sits just under 30 miles north of Sacramento.
Thunder Valle Casino and Resort has 3,400 slots games, a big poker room, and over 100 table games.
Viejas Casino and Resort
Located in Alpine, California, Viejas Casino and Resort sits just outside San Diego.
Viejas Casino and Resort houses over 2,500 slots games, a poker room, and almost 50 casino table games.
Largest Tribal Indian Casinos in the United States
Here are the largest tribal Indian casinos in the United States. I’ve already covered the biggest tribal casino in California, so these casinos are all outside of California.
WinStar World Casino and Resort
Located in Thackerville, Oklahoma, WinStar World Casino and Resort not only holds the title of largest Indian casino in the world, but WinStar also holds the title of largest casino of any type in the world.
Foxwoods Resort and Casino
Located in Mashantucket, Connecticut, Foxwoods Resort and Casino ranks as the second largest tribal Indian casino in the United States. In addition to a huge casino floor filled with gambling options, Foxwoods also offers one of the largest bingo halls in the world.
Mohegan Sun Casino
Located in Uncasville, Connecticut, the Mohegan Sun Casino comes in third on the list of the biggest tribal casinos. While there aren’t many casinos in Connecticut, you can visit two of the largest in the world if you plan a trip to the state.
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa
Located in Tampa, Florida, Seminole Hard Rock is the largest of the Seminole Hard Rock Casinos. They also own casinos in Hollywood, California, Brighton, and Coconut Creek.
In case you’re wondering where the largest California casinos fit on this list, Yaamava’s Resort and Casino ranks fifth and Pechanga Resort and Casino ranks sixth.
Tribal Casino Gaming
For the most part, tribal casinos and commercial casinos are the same. As a gambler, you probably don’t spend much time worrying about who owns the casinos where you gamble.
But I want to give you a quick overview of tribal casino gaming.
Under United States law, Indian tribes operate using different laws than commercial casino businesses. But Indian tribes don’t work with the federal government concerning casinos. Indian tribes work with state governments concerning casinos and gambling.
Tribes can negotiate a gaming compact with the state where the tribe resides. But this doesn’t mean that any tribe in any state can open a casino. State law supersedes federal law in this area. So if a state doesn’t allow gambling, like Utah, a tribe can’t open a casino.
The casinos and information covered in this post deals with class III gambling. Class III gaming includes what most people think of when they think of casinos. It includes table games and slot machines.
You can also find some tribal gambling operations under class II laws. Class II gambling businesses are almost always related to bingo in one way or another. But some class II establishments have what looks like slot machines.
But class II and class III slot machines aren’t the same. Class III slot machines are the games found in most casinos. All class II games that look like slot machines are based on bingo games. All results are based on bingo, but the results are translated to graphics on a machine.
Who Owns and Runs Tribal Casinos?
Indian tribes own all tribal casinos. But not all tribal casinos are run by tribes.
When an Indian tribe starts a casino they can either run the casino or contract with an outside company to run the casino. And each option has some benefits.
If a tribe contracts another company to run the casino, the company makes money that the tribe could keep a portion of if the tribe runs the casino. But a company that has experience adds value to the business too.
For example, some tribes contract with Caesars Entertainment to run their casinos. Caesars brings experience, name recognition, and proven business strategies for the casino industry to the table.
I’ve played in commercial casinos and a few tribal casinos. And I’ve never really noticed much difference. But you do need to know whether you’re playing in an Indian casino or a commercial casino. The laws are different on Indian-owned land than in the rest of the country.
Conclusion
Oklahoma and California have more tribal casinos than any other states. But many other states have tribal casinos. And now you know how to find tribal casinos near you, no matter where you live.
If you’re looking for the biggest and best tribal casinos in California and around the United States, you know where they’re located now. I recommend visiting all of the large tribal casinos in California and around the United States if you can.
But when you do visit these tribal casinos, don’t expect them to look much different than other big commercial casinos. Once you start gambling, you’re going to forget you’re in a tribal casino.
