Betting in Reno

Located in Northern Nevada near the California border, Reno proudly proclaims itself to be “The Biggest Little City in the World.” Since 1931, it has certainly been noteworthy for its first class gaming and entertainment. Today Reno’s downtown streets are so brightly festooned with neon that they are unrivaled except for New York’s Times Square and the mighty Las Vegas Strip.

Reno offers gambling halls for local residents with a truly friendly neighborhood atmosphere, right alongside some of the largest and best known casinos in the world. Sports betting is legal, as are electronic games of chance and live dealer table games. In the 12-month period ending August 31, 2012, the total gaming win in the city and surrounding Washoe County was just shy of $735.7 million, led by slot machine play with an 80.3% share.

The Boomtown Casino & Hotel on the western outskirts of town is representative of the type of large-scale slot floors that can be found in Reno. Open 24 hours a day, it features 39,650 square feet of gaming space with 600 gaming machines plus 14 table games. Also on site are four restaurants, three bars, a 318-room hotel and an RV park.

Even larger is the 983-room Atlantis Casino Resort & Spa on South Virginia Street. It offers 61,000 square feet of gaming space for 1,500 slot units, along with 50 table games and ten restaurants. The city’s largest slot venue in terms of number of installed machines is the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino with 1,580 electronic games in an 80,400-square-foot gaming space, plus 67 table games, nine restaurants, seven bars and a 1,635-room hotel.

Another huge slot venue is the 24/7 Silver Legacy Resort Casino on North Virginia Street. Its 85,000-square-foot gaming space is home to 1,410 gaming machines and 67 table games, accompanied by six restaurants two bars and 1,720 guestrooms. Meanwhile, the neighboring Eldorado Hotel & Casino has 81,000 square feet of gaming space for 1,240 and 58 table games, plus ten restaurants and an 816-room hotel.

Some of the biggest names in international gaming have their presence felt in Reno. Circus Circus on North Sierra Street has a 61,000-square-foot gaming floor, 915 slot machines, 40 table games, six restaurants and 1,572 guestrooms, while Harrah’s legendary casino-hotel on North Center Street offers 41,600 square feet of gaming space with 830 gaming machines, 35 table games, seven restaurants and 928 rooms. Then there is the Sands Regency Casino Hotel with its 29,000-square-foot gaming space, 555 gaming machines, 18 table and poker games, five restaurants and 860 guestrooms.

Many of the venues favored by locals are home-grown brands, like the Club Cal-Neva Hotel Casino on East Second Street downtown with its 80,000-square-foot gaming space, 849 gaming machines, 41 table games, six restaurants and 181 rooms. Similarly, the Bonanza Casino, the Grand Sierra, the Diamonds Casino, the Nugget and the Gold Dust West each have their loyal clientele. There’s a joke that a “one-armed bandit” can be found on every corner in Reno, and it is certainly true that slot machines abound in Reno supermarkets, gas stations and convenience stores, as licensed and permitted by law. Scolari’s Food & Drug Company with three locations around town plus Sak’n’Save a is an example of localising the games, as are Sparky’s Bar, Sierra Junction and Sierra Gold Tavern, each with 15 machines. Restaurants like the Gold N’ Silver Inn have their own slot areas with up to 29 machines, too.

Lastly, to make sure visitors don’t miss an opportunity to play inbound or outbound, there is a 1,500-square-foot gaming space called the Reno/Tahoe International Airport Slots. It is open daily while flights are taking off and landing from 5am to 11pm, with 210 gaming machines and a Brew’s Brothers restaurant on site.

Published on: 02/04/2013

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