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| Washington Casinos |
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There are 26 Indian casinos operating in Washington. Twenty-four of the casinos are affiliated with tribes that have compacts with the state allowing them to offer table games, as well as electronic ‘scratch’ ticket games which use a finite number of tickets with a predetermined number of winners and losers. These video gaming machines have a maximum bet of $5 and aren’t allowed to accept cash. Instead, a cashless system is used whereby you have to go to a cashier cage, or a kiosk, get a “smart” card and deposit money to that card’s account. The machines will then deducts losses from, or credit wins to, your account. Ticket-in ticket-out (TITO) receipts are also used in some casinos. The remaining two casinos (Chewelah and Two Rivers) are affiliated with the Spokane Tribe which has an ongoing dispute with the state and their casinos are operating without a compact. These casinos offer regular spinning-reel slots which accept cash, plus an assortment of table games. All of the state’s Tribes are not required to release information on their slot machine percentage paybacks. However, according to the terms of the compact between the Tribes and the state, the minimum prize payout for electronic ‘scratch’ ticket games is 75%. Most Washington casinos are not open on a 24-hour basis and the hours of operation are noted in each casino’s listing. All casinos offer blackjack, craps, roulette, slots, video poker and pull tabs. Optional games offered include: baccarat (B), mini-baccarat (MB), poker (P), pai gow poker (PGP), Caribbean stud poker (CSP), three-card poker (TCP), Spanish 21 (S21), big 6 wheel (B6), keno (K), Off-Track Betting (OTB) and bingo (BG). The minimum gambling age is 21 for casinos and 18 for bingo or pari-mutuel betting. Although most of the casinos have toll-free numbers be aware that some of these numbers will only work for calls made within Washington. CARD ROOMSCard rooms have been legal in Washington since 1974. Initially limited to just five tables per location, the law was changed in 1996 to allow up to 15 tables. One year later, a provision was added to allow house-banked games. Permissible games include: blackjack, Caribbean stud poker, pai gow poker, let it ride, casino war and numerous other card games. Baccarat, craps, roulette and keno are not allowed. The maximum bet at each card room is dependant on certain licensing requirements and is capped at either $25 or $100. Additionally, the rooms can be open no more than 20 hours per day. These card rooms are now commonly called “mini-casinos.” The minimum gambling age in a card room is 18. Each city and county has the option to ban the card rooms so they are not found in every major city (Seattle has none). For a list of card rooms, we suggest that you contact the Washington State Gambling Commission at (360) 486-3581, or visit their website at: www.wsgc.wa.gov. For more information on visiting Washington call their tourism department at (800) 544-1800 or go to: www.experiencewashington.com. Shown below is a list of all Washington casinos. Click on a casino name to see a page of detailed information about that particular casino.
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