From Bill Burton,
Your Guide to Casino Gambling.
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On September 13, 2007 the Viejas Casino in Alpine California celebrated its 16th anniversary. Located about 30 minutes from San Diego, the casino opened as the Viejas Casino and Turf club with 10,000 sq feet of gaming space and 80 employees. It struggled through the early years but has emerged as one of east San Diego County’s largest employers. Today the casino has 250,000 sq feet of gaming space and has over 2,300 employees.

The Bottom Line
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Viejas Casino. I have visited many casinos over the years and some casinos just feel more comfortable than others. I felt right at home at the Viejas Casino. When I visit a casino my primary interest is naturally the gaming but I also want to enjoy other entertainment and dining options to round out my time. The Viejas Casino has something for everyone no matter what your taste may be. They offer good table games, with friendly dealers along with a wide variety of slots and video poker machines. There are a number of restaurants to chose from and plenty of entertainment as well as shopping in the large Viejas outlet center.

Gaming
The Viejas Casino has 80 table games, 2,500 slots and video poker machines, a large poker room, 150 seat Off-Track betting facility and 700 seat Bingo hall. They offer daily poker tournaments as well as other slot and table game tournaments throughout the week. During my weekend visit I had the opportunity to play in a Poker, Blackjack and Pai Gow tournament.

The two games I play most in the casino are Blackjack and Video Poker. The Viejas Casino offers a variety of Blackjack games. They advertise that there is always a five dollar Blackjack game 24/7 in the casino. One of the tables I saw used a continuous shuffling machine (CSM) for the five dollar game. They also offer single and double deck games along with six and eight deck shoe games. The single deck game paid 6:5 for a natural blackjack so this game should be avoided but the rules of the other games were the usual. Dealer hits soft 17, DOA, DAS and you can split pairs three times (aces once). They even allowed mid shoe entry in the game but there is a maximum $100 bet if you do so.

I did find a few full pay quarter video poker machines. There were several machines with the 8/5 bonus poker game. There was also a 9/6 triple play Jacks or Better game and there are several progressive machines that can go positive.

Slot players will not be disappointed as there are plenty of games to play from the penny slots all the way up to the $100 high stakes machines.

Craps players will be a little disappointed becasue the State of California does not allow games using dice. However there are plenty of other good games to play. There is also a law against spinning balls used in Roulette but the Viejas Casino does have the game. Instead of a spinning ball the wheel spins and a card with the corresponding number for that space drops down to signify the winner. The wheel is numbered just like a regular one.

The Players Club
When you join the V Club (player’s club) you can earn points that can be redeemed for food, merchandise, show tickets and even cash back. Every 100 points you earn equals one dollar in merchandise or cash back. (1,000 points = $10 cash back)In the slot machines it takes $5 coin in to earn one point. When you join the V Club you are eligible for special discounts at the Viejas Outlet Center as well as invitations to special events.

Dining
The Viejas Casino offers several dining options to cover all tastes and budgets. You can dine at the Harvest Buffet, Sunrise Diner, China Camp, Mezz Deli, V Lounge or enjoy a gourmet meal at the Grove Steak House. I had the opportunity to dine at the Grove Steak House on a Saturday night and the food and service was excellent. The next morning I enjoyed breakfast at the Harvest Buffet as I was seated by the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the mountains.

Entertainment
The casino houses the DreamCatcher showroom that doubles as a full service cocktail lounge and nightclub but can also accommodate banquets, and indoor concerts. The most impressive entertainment option is the Concerts in the Park offered on the giant stage located outside at the Viejas Outlet Center. The outdoor arena can hold 1,500 concert goers and it has hosted many of the top names in entertainment. The concerts have covered all tastes and styles of music including rock, country, soul classical and even comedy.

The Viejas Outlet Center
The Viejas Outlet Center is located across the street from the casino. The center is home to over 60 national brand name stores offering discount prices. This list includes stores such as: The Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Eddie Bauer and more along with numerous restaurants and eateries.

A large courtyard at the entrance to the outlet houses the interactive fountains. During the day those wishing to beat the heat can play in the water that spurts up into the air. Each night a free show is held around the fountains as lasers, colored lights and bursts of fire combine with the fountains in a spectacular show that lights up the night. The show changes during the year. The show I watched runs April though October and is called the Legend of Nightfire. An actor portraying a Native American medicine man tells stories of the Kumeyaay traditions and myths. The show is hard to describe but a pleasure to watch.

Lodging
The only negative I found with the Viejas Casino is that they do not have a hotel attached to the casino at this time. There is lodging close by at the Ayres Inn and the casino offers free bus shuttles to and from that facility. The Viejas Casino has announced plans to build a new $800 million resort and casino to open sometime in 2012.

Viejas Casino
5000 Willows Road
Alpine, California 91901
(619) 445-5400