The majority of America’s largest casinos are more like resorts than casinos; they often have hotels, showrooms, conference rooms, a wide variety of restaurants (including some that are kid-friendly), arcades, escape rooms, movie theatres, and more.
Using floor space as a metric, we compare and contrast the biggest casino resorts in the United States, and guess what? None of them are located in the gambling mecca of Las Vegas!
WinStar World Casino & Resort (Oklahoma)
Gaming Floor Size: 519, 000 sq ft.
The Chickasaw Nation’s WinStar World Casino & Resort, which has been open to the public since 2003, is at the top of the list. It is one of four Oklahoma casinos—all located in Thackerville—that have achieved the feat of being the biggest casino resorts in America.
The gaming area spans 519,000 square feet, making it the largest casino in the state, the nation, and, for a while, the globe.
The location has a sportsbook, a bingo hall, and a sizable poker room, so it covers most bases in terms of the gambling items it offers. But compared to other behemoths on the list, it is severely lacking in the amount of table games it offers, with only 99 games spread across three pits on the gaming floor.
Mohegan Sun (Connecticut)
Gaming Floor Size: 350, 000 sq ft.
In Uncasville, Connecticut, you’ll find Mohegan Sun, one of the largest East Coast resorts. With its two casinos, hotels, and plenty of entertainment choices, it has been welcoming customers since 1996 and is perfect for families as well as people who like gambling.
Mohegan Sun offers a plethora of games, boasting the second-largest casino floor space in the United States. Although there are only 4,000 slot machines, the 300 gaming tables and extensive food selection more than make up for it compared to WinStar, Yaamava, and Choctaw.
A recent report from Gambling.com, written by casino journalist Larry Henry, stated:
“The Mohegan Sun’s poker room has 30 tables and hosts daily cash games and tournaments, as well as hosting larger festivals and special events, such as the North American Poker Tour (NAPT). The casino also has a state-of-the-art sportsbook, which offers players stadium-style betting on roulette and baccarat. With indoor and outdoor pools, a kids’ play centre, bowling, and many other nearby attractions, Mohegan Sun is a family-friendly resort where kids are welcome—just not inside the main casino.”
Foxwoods Resort Casino (Connecticut)
Gaming Floor Size: 344, 000 sq ft.
Mashantucket, another East Coast behemoth in Connecticut, comes in as a close second to Mohegan Sun. The Pequot Tribal Nation runs a museum there to teach people about its heritage and history. The tribe owns the land.
The selection of games is comparable to that of Mohegan Sun, with fewer options in most categories. The 3,500 slot machines and 250 gaming tables make it one of the largest casinos in the nation.
With 54 tables set aside for cash games and tournaments, Foxwoods has a bigger poker room than Mohegan Sun. Additionally, there is a two-story sportsbook that is a joint venture with DraftKings, offering convenient kiosks throughout the place.
Yaamava’ Resort & Casino (California)
Gaming Floor Size: 290, 000 sq ft.
Yaamava, which debuted in 1986 as a bingo hall, is the oldest casino on the list and ranks #4. Situated an hour outside of Los Angeles, the business underwent a name change in 1994 to reflect its expansion into slot machines and other casino games from its previous moniker, San Manuel Indian Bingo.
Its bingo hall was shuttered in 2017 to make room for additional slot machines, which are still its most distinctive feature. With 7,200 machines, it has the largest inventory of any West Coast casino.
It wasn’t until 2021 that the facility rebranded itself as the Yaamava Resort & Casino after adding a hotel. The San Manuel Band of Indians speaks Serrano as their native language, and the term for spring is Yaamava.
Although it may not meet everyone’s expectations, this casino is perfect for big rollers with its many high-limit rooms and bars — and managing guest feedback effectively is increasingly important for resort operations focused on premium service experiences like this. Although it underwent a rebranding in 2021, the venue’s little poker room remained shuttered from 2019 forward.
Thunder Valley Casino Resort (California)
Gaming Floor Size: 250, 000 sq ft.
Our fifth and final big-boy casino resort in the States is Thunder Valley, and is the largest resort in northern California, situated north of Sacramento. It first opened to the public in 2003 and has a 4,500-seater auditorium known simply as “The Venue,” as well as the fifth-largest gaming floor in the United States.
No other gambling establishment in the area compares to this one, with more than three thousand slot machines, one hundred table games, and a thrilling poker room.
The 28-table poker room can accommodate visiting tours such as the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit and the World Poker Tour (WPT) many times a year. Smaller circuits like the Rungood Series also make regular pit stops at Thunder Valley.