The United States is home to some 1,500 casinos scattered from coast to coast, more than any other nation on the planet. USA TODAY 10Best teamed up with a panel of casino and gambling experts to find the best in the USA.

“ Best luxury hotel in the Huntington Beach, beautiful view to the beach, excellent guest services, Front Desk team exceeded expectations (Shirley, Jared. Luxury beach hotels in California have been available starting from $228, though prices have typically been closer to $330. Price estimates were calculated on October 17, 2020. Southern California Casinos are Booming Pechanga opens its $285 million expansion Viejas Casino will open new luxury hotel tower in February 2018 San Diego Casino Lobster War! Soboba holds 'topping off' ceremony of new 6-story hotel New Lake Havasu Casino breaks ground. #1 Best Value of 12 California Casino Resorts “pechanga Resort and Casino has great concerts for a reasonable price an Great seats were you are15 Rows back an you still can see the stage,their snack bar has a variety of different foods from Asian to fried chic.”. Over the last 30 days, luxury resorts in California have been available starting from $185, though prices have typically been closer to $309. Price estimates were calculated on October 17, 2020. See the latest prices.

• Pechanga Resort & Casino
  Temecula, Calif.

  Located in Southern California, Pechanga Resort & Casino houses a 200,000-square-foot casino floor where gamblers will find 3,400 slots, 130 table games, a 43-table poker room, 700-seat Bingo hall and dedicated areas for high limits and non-smoking gamers.
  Photo courtesy of Pechanga Resort & Casino

• Mohegan Sun
  Uncasville, Conn.

  One of two gambling destination resorts in Connecticut, Mohegan Sun features three casinos: Casino of the Earth, Casino of the Wind and Casino of the Sky. The three gaming floors between them boast a whopping 5,000 slot machines, 275 table games, 42 poker tables, a race book, two smoke-free areas and Sunrise Square, an area fashioned after an Asian market that offers traditional Asian table games like Sic Bo, Pai Gow Poker and Baccarat.
  Photo courtesy of Mohegan Sun

• Foxwoods Resort Casino
  Mashantucket, Conn.

  One of two premier gaming resorts in Connecticut, Foxwoods Resort Casino offers 4,500 slot machines – ranging from penny games to $100 minimums – as well as 300 table games, high stakes Bingo at one of the world's largest Bingo halls, a race book with 50-foot digital projection screens and the largest poker room on the East Coast. Four unique hotel properties and over 30 restaurants make it easy to stay and play.
  Photo courtesy of Foxwoods Resort Casino

• L'Auberge Casino Resort
  Lake Charles, La.

  L'Auberge Casino Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana sits only two hours from the Houston metro area, making it a convenient place to enjoy 70,000-square-feet of gaming space equipped with 70 table games and some 1,600 slots. The casino's High Limits Salon offers even more tables and slots with denominations up to $100, while its 2,100-square-foot, 24/7 poker room has six tables plus one semi-private high stakes table.
  Photo courtesy of Pinnacle Entertainment

• Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Biloxi
  Biloxi, Miss.

  In true Hard Rock style, guests of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Biloxi get a free music download at check-in. The expansive casino boasts 1,300 slots, including 500 video slots, as well as 50 table games and four poker tables.
  Photo courtesy of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Biloxi

• Harrah's Resort Southern California
  Valley Center, Calif.

  Bringing the Vegas experience to SoCal, the casino at Harrah's Resort Southern California features 60 table games and 1,700 slot machines, including a wide variety of video poker and Blazing 7s games. Non-smokers enjoy their own area outfitted with 100 popular machines, while a high-stakes slot room sees games with denominations up to $100.
  Photo courtesy of Harrah's Resort Southern California

• Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
  Atlantic City

  The only nominee in Atlantic City, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa at Renaissance Pointe opened its doors in 2003 as the first new hotel in over a decade. Today, the 2,000-room resort offers gamblers 3,475 slot machines, 250 table games and Atlantic City's largest poker room, all spread out over 161,000-square-feet of casino space. Restaurants by Bobby Flay and Wolfgang Puck headline the culinary lineup, while the 2,400-seat Borgata Event Center plays host to some of the world's biggest names in music.
  Photo courtesy of Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa

• Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa
  Las Vegas

  Frequented by both locals and tourists, the Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa sits on 70 acres of land near the beautiful Red Rock Mountains in Summerlin, about 10 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip. The resort casino includes 3,000 slot and video poker machines, 60 table games, a race and sports book with a 96-foot video wall, a 20-table smoke-free poker room, 600-seat Bingo hall, a 20-seat Keno lounge and two private rooms for high-stakes gamers.
  Photo courtesy of Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa

• French Lick Resort
  French Lick, Ind.

  Located in French Lick, Indiana, the French Lick Resort features a 51,000-square-foot Vegas-style casino with 1,000 slots, 37 table games, a high-limit area and a 9,500-square-foot non-smoking gaming room with both table games and slots. Two historic hotels with spas dating back to the 1800s facilitate relaxation.
  Photo courtesy of French Lick Resort

• Thunder Valley Casino Resort
  Lincoln, Calif.

  The 144,500-square-foot casino at Thunder Valley Resort in Northern California has just about everything a gambler could want in a casino: table games, 2,500 slot machines, a 24-hour poker room, 500-seat smoke-free Bingo hall and high limits salons with their own dedicated dealers, private bars, flat-screen TVs and plenty of tables and slots with bets ranging from $100 to $5,000.
  Photo courtesy of Thunder Valley Casino Resort

After four weeks of reader voting, the polls are closed and we have a winner!

It was an intense battle between the top three finishers, and Pechanga Resort & Casino pulled off a come-from-behind victory to take the top spot and the title of 'Best U.S. Casino.'

The state of Connecticut proved itself as a worthy gambling destination with the second- and third-place casinos: Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino respectively.

Las Vegas, the city most famous for its gambling scene, only had one casino finish in the top 10.

The top 10 winners in the category 'Best U.S. Casino' are as follows:

1. Pechanga Resort & Casino - Temecula, Calif.
2. Mohegan Sun - Uncasville, Conn.
3. Foxwoods Resort Casino - Mashantucket, Conn.
4. L'Auberge Casino Resort - Lake Charles, La.
5. Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Biloxi - Biloxi, Miss.
6. Harrah's Resort Southern California - Valley Center, Calif.
7. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa - Atlantic City
8. Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa - Las Vegas
9. French Lick Resort - French Lick, Ind.
10. Thunder Valley Casino Resort - Lincoln, Calif.

A panel of experts picked the initial 20 nominees, and the top 10 winners were determined by popular vote. Experts Lisa Robertson-Dziedzic (Casino Player and Strictly Slots magazines) and Tony Harrell (Abundant Travel) were chosen based on their extensive knowledge of U.S. casinos.

Additional nominees for 'Best U.S. Casino' included Aria Resort & Casino, Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, Bellagio, Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Mirage Hotel & Casino, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and Wynn Las Vegas.

10Best and USA TODAY extend their congratulations to all the winners. The contest was promoted on 10Best and USA TODAY.

The Experts

Lisa Robertson-Dziedzic

Lisa Robertson-Dziedzic is the Publisher of Casino... Read More

Lisa Robertson-Dziedzic is the Publisher of Casino Player magazine and Strictly Slots magazine. Now in its 32nd year, Casino Player has thrived as America’s most popular gambling magazine. Over the decades, millions of gamblers have enjoyed and benefited from Casino Player’s gaming strategies, as well as its ever-changing lifestyle stories. In 1994, Lisa launched its sister publication, Strictly Slots, the nation’s only magazine written exclusively for slots and video poker players. Lisa is an accomplished director specializing in the gaming industry and has more than 35 years of publishing experience.

Lisa Robertson-Dziedzic

Lisa Robertson-Dziedzic is the Publisher of Casino Player magazine and Strictly Slots magazine. Now in its 32nd year, Casino Player has thrived as America’s most popular gambling magazine. Over the decades, millions of gamblers have enjoyed and benefited from Casino Player’s gaming strategies, as well as its ever-changing lifestyle stories. In 1994, Lisa launched its sister publication, Strictly Slots, the nation’s only magazine written exclusively for slots and video poker players. Lisa is an accomplished director specializing in the gaming industry and has more than 35 years of publishing experience.

Tony Harrell

Tony Harrell, travel consultant and owner of Read More

Tony Harrell, travel consultant and owner of Abundant Travel, plans customized vacations for plus-size clients and customers of any size. He is a certified destination expert for Las Vegas and New Orleans as well as Canada. He feels that while Las Vegas is the obvious American mecca for gambling and other entertainment, there are other destinations across the country that are worth the trip.

Tony Harrell

Tony Harrell, travel consultant and owner of Abundant Travel, plans customized vacations for plus-size clients and customers of any size. He is a certified destination expert for Las Vegas and New Orleans as well as Canada. He feels that while Las Vegas is the obvious American mecca for gambling and other entertainment, there are other destinations across the country that are worth the trip.

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CALIFORNIA LAND BASED GAMBLING

California Indian Casinos

California is home to the largest Indian casinos in the United States. They offer most popular casino games including slots and blackjack.

California Card Rooms

California card rooms are found throughout the state. They offer poker along with Cal games which are variations of Blackjack, Pai Gow, Baccarat and more.

California Race Tracks

There are 4 Race Tracks in California, 3 in Southern California and 1 in Northern Calfornia along with access to online horse racing across the United States.

CALIFORNIA GAMBLING INFO

California is a state of contradictions, at least where gambling is concerned. The state offers multiple types of gambling through legal technicalities. Generally, you can find most types of gambling somewhere within California’s borders.

Below we will break down the specifics so you know how to partake in different gambling activities within the Golden State.

California Sweepstakes Gambling

Online gambling is illegal in California with a few minor exceptions (i.e. horse racing and daily fantasy sports). However, sweepstakes gambling is legal because of a loophole.

Legality Of California Sweepstakes Gambling

Sweepstakes gambling technically does not have you play for real money. Instead, players compete for Sweeps Coins or other digital currencies. You can place money into sweepstakes gambling apps or sites to purchase Gold Coins or other premium currencies, which can be exchanged for other real prizes. But this just isn’t the same as actually playing for real money.

Where To Play

The best sweepstakes sites in California are Chumba Casino, Luckyland Slots, Funzpoints and Global Poker. Chumba is a phenomenal digital casino featuring hundreds of slot machines and lots of other online games, like electronic blackjack.

Global Poker is an ideal online poker resource that provides two main poker variants: Texas and Omaha Hold’Em. In Global Poker’s case, finding people to play with never takes too long since the site operates almost everywhere in the US. Global Poker’s player pool is quite full.

Until online gambling becomes legal in California, these types of sites are your only choice for online poker and slots games. Since online gambling is becoming legal in other states, California may yet change its stance over the next few years.

Casino In California Southern

California Indian Casino Gambling

In California, tribal gambling enterprises are legal and provide the state government with significant revenue in return, either directly or through ancillary income streams. For instance, someone traveling a great distance to visit a famous casino may also stay at a local hotel, resulting in taxable spending for the state government.

At the time of this writing, there are 63 casinos currently running. These are largely concentrated in both the Riverside and San Diego Counties, which between them include 17 casinos.

Legality Of California Indian Casinos And Gambling Revenue

Tribal casinos are legal in California because of long-standing government pacts between the state government and Indian tribes. Basically, tribal casinos are legal because the casinos are technically not built on state-owned land.

The Indian tribal casinos in California collectively generate over $8 million in annual revenue every year. Casino themes, attractions, and offerings can vary dramatically from place to place. The largest casinos are near 200,000 ft.² and may feature thousands of slot machines in addition to dozens of restaurants and bars. Many of the best casinos also feature hotels with hundreds or thousands of rooms, plus expansive spas.

Games Available

Tribal casinos in California offer three types of games ranging from Class I to Class III. These include but are not limited to:

• Bingo
• Poker
• Lottery games
• Blackjack
• Electronic games
• Roulette

There’s almost always something new to try at these resorts. Most of the Indian casinos in California feature poker tournaments or private games. For example, the Morongo Casino Resort Spa offers private poker tables for high-stakes games or work retreats, which can be reserved ahead of time.

You need to be 21-years-old to enter many (but not all) California Indian casinos since most of them serve alcohol on their premises, even though the legal gambling age is 18.

Where To Play

Some of the best California Indian casinos include:

• Pechanga Resort Casino, with 4,500 slot machines, 20 restaurants/bars, and an expansive hotel with over 1,000 rooms
• Thunder Valley Casino Resort, which features 2,800 slot machines, 114 gaming tables, live poker games, and a 145,000 ft.² space.
• Table Mountain Casino, 20 miles north of Fresno, which features 2,000 gaming machines plus 40 table games
• San Manuel Casino, a former bingo-only casino that now has tons of games, a new hotel, and a spa under construction that is set to be fully completed by 2021.

California Card Rooms

California is home to some of the best card rooms in the entire country. As of 2019, there are 66 card rooms active in the state. An additional 21 have licenses, but not for poker, which is one of the biggest draws for card rooms. All California card rooms are well-regulated to ensure fair play.

You can find most major types of poker within these card rooms, including Texas and Omaha Hold’Em and Seven-Card Stud.

Tournaments

Another big advantage of going to California card rooms is the ability to participate in a wide range of tournaments. For example, The Bicycle Hotel and Casino offers tournaments attached to the World Series of Poker, which normally run from November to December. Other card rooms like California’s Commerce Casino host the LA Poker Classic, which is held from January to March.

Regardless of your skill level, it’s easy to find tons of poker tournaments for beginners and experts and with plenty of prize pools.

Special Games Available

Additionally, most California card rooms include special “Cal Games”, which are variations of regular casino card games that feature rules that are modified to fit within existing California gambling laws. Most California card rooms offer special variants of blackjack, Chinese Poker, Pai Gow, and more.

Where To Play

Some of the best California card rooms include the aforementioned Bicycle Hotel and Casino, the Commerce Casino, Hollywood Park Casino, and Hawaiian Gardens Casino. Most California card rooms are attached to casinos or include hostel. These hotels can be a fantastic base of operations for touring the local area and attractions.

Keep in mind that you’ll need to be 18-years-old or older to play in any California card room. Both Southern California and Northern California have tons of card rooms available. Overall, there are more in the state’s southern counties.

California Race Tracks

California is actually one of the best states for horse racing, especially because it has some of the oldest tracks in the country. The first track was built in 1858. However, these days, there are four main race tracks that host the majority of racing events across the territory.

Where To Go

• Santa Anita Park, built in 1907, later found a new and permanent home at the border of the San Gabriel Mountains. Famous horses like Seabiscuit and Zenyatta have raced at this track before. Santa Anita Park has a long history of hosting famous World Cups or other tourneys.
• Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, built in 1936, recently hosted the Breeders’ Cup in 2017. Beyond horse racing, it’s a big part of the local community since it hosts summer concerts, county fairs, and other local events all the time.
• Golden Gate Fields, built in 1941, features a new tapeta racing surface and an abundance of entertaining and fine dining options. All-American tournaments and breathtaking views of the Bay Area make it a wonderful track to visit at least once.
• Los Alamitos Race Course, an old race track that recently underwent renovation in 2014, is another landmark site. Nighttime Quarter Horse racing and thoroughbred daytime racing are both offered throughout select months of the year, and notable events like local derbies and high-stakes tournaments are commonplace

Legality Of California Horse Race Betting

Horse race betting has been legal in California ever since 1933, though low attendance has caused most tracks, except for the above four, to either collapse or significantly reduce their offerings. Online horse betting is also legal, which is notable since most other online gambling activities are illegal in California.

Horse racing enthusiasts can bet with both straight and exotic-type bets, either on-track or by using online apps. Off-track horse betting is also pretty commonplace throughout the state. You can find casinos, businesses, or even gas stations that allow off-track horse race betting, allowing you to place wagers on horse races that are occurring elsewhere. It’s an ideal solution if you don’t want to use an app, but still want to bet on a race you can’t personally attend. There are 27 satellite locations in total that offer off-track betting to some extent.

You have to be 21-years-old to place any horse racing bet, including if you want to use one of the mobile apps. Of the apps, TVG and Twin Spires are particularly good choices, as they feature easy-to-navigate interfaces and 24/7 horserace streaming for both California races and races around the world.

Sign-Up Bonuses For New Players

Both apps feature excellent welcome bonuses. TVG provides a risk-free bet up to $300, while Twin Spires offers its new players $100 in site credit if you wager $500 within the first 30 days of creating your account.

California Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS)

The daily fantasy sports situation in California is a bit complex. In a nutshell, daily fantasy sports legislation has been in the works since around 2015. However, no bill has been passed, either fully legalizing or outlawing daily fantasy sports operation within the state.

Legality Of California DFS

As a result of the lack of legislation, there isn’t any daily fantasy sports regulation. Also, in the absence of any legislation that explicitly declares DFS illegal, major DFS operators like DraftKings and FanDuel continue to operate within California borders. They do this by referencing a clause in the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Act. In brief, this allows both operators to provide DFS gambling since DFS can technically be seen as a game of skill instead of a game of chance.

Since both DraftKings and FanDuel have offered DFS in California, there have been no major attempts to shut them down or prevent them from operating. Both of these operators have the majority of DFS players shared between them, and the DFS market in California is actually the largest in the US overall.

California has easily over 130,000 DFS players at this time. This number may even grow since there aren’t any taxes, fees, or legal frameworks to regulate DFS operation at this time. Until the California state legislature firmly decides one way or the other whether DFS operation should be legal or illegal, things are likely to remain this way.

Sign-Up Bonuses For New Players

Both DraftKings and FanDuel are excellent DFS operators to go with, but you can actually use both apps. This is recommended since you can try both apps to figure out which interface you like best or which lineups are more to your liking.

Opening bonuses are:

• $500 deposit match for DraftKings and $20 free credit with your first deposit
• $5 and $5 more with your first deposit on FanDuel

The DraftKings bonus is a lot better at first glance. When you dig into both apps, you’ll find that the interfaces for both are pretty similar, with rosters on the right and different selectable sports on the left-hand side of the screen. You’ll be able to choose from all the staple sports like NFL, NBA, MLB, and so on without trouble.

However, FanDuel has a few more sports lines available, like international and championship soccer leagues and European league sports. On the other hand, DraftKings offers WNBA betting.

Both apps are also pretty similar in terms of the bets you can place. All in all, DraftKings and FanDuel are likely to stay legal in California for quite some time, even if legislation trends toward making them illegal over the next few years. Now’s a great time to try both apps out and see which one you like best.

CALIFORNIA GAMBLING FAQ

No. This is largely because of disagreements between the tribal casinos and state government. At this time, tribal casinos are looking to monopolize sports betting by limiting it at their brick-and-mortar casinos. Online sports betting is, thus, unlikely to appear in the near future.

The National Indian Gaming Commission regulates most of the tribal casino games, while daily fantasy sports operators aren’t really regulated at all. The California Horse Racing Board takes care of regulating all horse racing activities within the state.

It’s because of anti-gambling legislation that swept across the United States decades ago. In a nutshell, gambling that takes place within games of pure chance is illegal if money is involved. This ostensibly prevents people from being taken advantage of.

Card rooms are legal since players wager against one another instead of the house. Card rooms make a profit by charging players fees to use their facilities.

Through pari-mutuel betting, which means that the tracks take a cut of the winnings from each wager. Again, this keeps this type of wagering legal since players bet against each other.