Vote now! Readers' Choice Awards Best Casinos Outside Vegas of 2026

You say gambling, we say Las Vegas. Right?

Sure, but Sin City isn't the only place in the U.S. to hit the slots or craps tables. There are many top tier casinos across the U.S. that are worth a visit and to prove it, our expert panel identified 15 casinos outside Vegas that deserve recognition for their gaming floors, amenities, dining, entertainment, and overall experience.

We also want to know which one you think is the best on this list. Is there one on the East Coast that gets your nod of approval? One in the Midwest? Cast your vote for the one you think deserves the title of Best Casino Outside Vegas and then check out our other Readers' Choice Awards.

Voting period ends on July 15, 2026. We'll announce the winners on July 23.

Vote for the best casinos outside Vegas!

Nominee 1: Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa

Rancho Mirage, California

In California’s Coachella Valley Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa delivers a desert-luxury experience that's earned serious hardware. The AAA Four Diamond, 16-story resort holds the Forbes Four-Star Award for its hotel, and its Sunstone Spa carries a Forbes Five-Star designation, making it the only casino property in Southern California to have claimed five Forbes Travel Guide Awards simultaneously.

Our reviewers pointed to the combination of upscale gaming, including a private live poker room and high-limit tables across more than 71,000 square feet of gaming space, with a spa experience that really rivals standalone destination spas. Add an outdoor pool, cabanas, and a concert theater in the shadow of the San Jacinto Mountains, and the property truly becomes a Rancho Mirage anchor.

Nominee 2: Atlantis Casino Resort Spa

Reno, Nevada

Reno has long played understudy to Las Vegas, but Atlantis Casino Resort Spa has built a following on its own terms. Nestled at the base of the Sierra Nevada on South Virginia Street, the AAA Four Diamond property houses more than 60,000 square feet of gaming space and a dining lineup that punches well above the city's weight, anchored by the Atlantis Steakhouse, Reno's only Forbes Four-Star restaurant. You can also try your hand in the poker room, or with race and sports book. Nearly a dozen food outlets range from the sky-terrace sushi bar to the Manhattan Deli. The property's 30,000-square-foot Spa Atlantis, Reno's only Forbes Four-Star spa, is a star amenity that raises a stay well beyond the casino floor.

Nominee 3: Beau Rivage Resort & Casino

Biloxi, Mississippi

Sitting along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Beau Rivage Resort & Casino brings scale and style to Biloxi that travelers more often associate with major resort corridors. The MGM Resorts property rises 32 stories, the tallest building in Mississippi, and holds an AAA Four Diamond designation.

Our panel cited the property's combination of waterfront setting and comprehensive resort amenities: 1,740 guest rooms with Gulf views, a casino floor with more than 1,500 slot machines and table games, a full-service spa and salon, an 18-hole golf course, and a dining lineup that includes the BR Prime Steakhouse and a casual Pan-Asian option. Live entertainment in the Beau Rivage Theatre adds another draw for guests who want more than gaming.

Nominee 4: Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa arrived in Atlantic City in 2003 as an MGM Resorts property and has remained a reference point for East Coast casino luxury ever since. The resort's 161,000-square-foot gaming floor, which is the largest in the Atlantic City market, includes more than 2,500 slot machines, over 200 table games, and what the property bills as the market's largest dedicated Asian gaming space, unveiled as part of a 2025 renovation. The Borgata has plenty of space and a broad entertainment infrastructure: 2,000 hotel rooms and suites, 13 restaurants ranging from fine dining to casual, a 2,400-seat Event Center, a 900-seat Music Box theater, and Spa Toccare, connected to both an indoor pool and an outdoor garden.

Nominee 5: Foxwoods Resort Casino

Mashantucket, Connecticut

Foxwoods Resort Casino occupies a category of its own in New England gaming. Owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation on their reservation in southeastern Connecticut, the property has grown from a bingo hall opened in 1986 into one of the largest gaming complexes in the United States. It features six casinos, more than 340,000 square feet of gaming space, roughly 250 table games, and thousands of slot machines under one roof.

Our panel noted the sheer scope, including over 2,200 hotel rooms across multiple towers, more than 35 restaurants, Tanger Outlets shopping, a world-class bingo hall, and entertainment venues drawing nationally recognized acts. A 2024 expansion brought the new Club Newport high-limit gaming destination, adding a further layer of VIP amenities to an already large complex.

Nominee 6: Gila River Resorts & Casinos

Chandler, Arizona

Operating three properties across the Phoenix metro area, Gila River Resorts & Casinos offers visitors a range of experiences under a single tribal brand.

The flagship Wild Horse Pass location in Chandler completed a $180 million luxury expansion in 2022, adding a new hotel tower with balcony suites, two pools, an event center, and Prime, a Shula's Steakhouse perched on the 11th-floor rooftop with panoramic views of the Estrella Mountains.

The newer San Tan Mountain property, opened in 2023, introduced floor-to-ceiling windows framing the San Tan Mountains and the first white roulette wheel in America, along with the state's largest casino sports book. Our experts noted how Arizona-specific characteristics of the properties made everything come together: desert views, contemporary design, and a gaming environment that stands on its own in the Southwest market.

Nominee 7: Graton Resort & Casino

Rohnert Park, California

About an hour north of San Francisco, Graton Resort & Casino sits in Sonoma County wine country and brings an upscale, modern sensibility to Northern California gaming. The property is owned and operated by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and opened in 2013 with 3,000 slot machines, 144 table games, and a poker room. A 200-room hotel followed in 2016.

Our panel wanted to specifically praise the resort's ongoing investment in developing its entertainment and dining offerings, including a 3,500-seat theater and a rooftop restaurant with panoramic views, to be completed by 2027. The wine country location adds an obvious appeal for visitors looking to combine a gaming getaway with some of California's premier wine and culinary touring.

Nominee 8: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City

Atlantic City, New Jersey

On 17 acres of the Atlantic City Boardwalk, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City brings the brand's signature music-forward identity to one of the country's most storied gaming destinations (it's the former site of the Trump Taj Mahal, which Hard Rock International purchased in 2017 and reopened in 2018). The property's entertainment infrastructure is its most distinctive asset: the 5,500-seat Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena, the 1,300-seat Sound Waves venue, and a devotion to live programming every day of the year. More than 2,300 slots and 130 table games fill the casino floor.

Our panel of experts loved the oceanfront location, the breadth of dining—10 restaurants on-site—and an entertainment calendar that has featured acts ranging from Stevie Nicks and Alicia Keys to Dave Chappelle.

Nominee 9: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain

Wheatland, California

Located in Wheatland, about 30 minutes north of Sacramento, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain opened in 2019 as Hard Rock's first Vegas-style casino in California and quickly established itself as a major entertainment destination in the Sacramento Valley. The property is owned by the Estom Yumeka Maidu Tribe of the Enterprise Rancheria and sits adjacent to the Toyota Amphitheater. Our reviewers called attention to the resort's gaming floor of more than 1,800 slot machines and table games, a high-limit room, and a concert venue that attracts touring acts to a Northern California market that has historically lacked a major gaming resort. Plans for a multi-billion-dollar phased expansion beginning in 2026 signal the property's ambitions to grow into a far larger regional entertainment hub.

Nominee 10: Mohegan Sun

Uncasville, Connecticut

Mohegan Sun, located on the Mohegan Indian Reservation in Uncasville, Connecticut, is one of the largest casino complexes in the country by gaming space—more than 364,000 square feet spread across two casino environments, Casino of the Sky and Casino of the Earth. Our panel recognized both the scale and the design: the Casino of the Sky features a planetarium-style domed ceiling, while its counterpart houses the 55-foot indoor Taughannick Falls waterfall, one of the most photographed features at any casino resort in the United States.

Owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribe, the property includes over 1,500 hotel rooms across two towers, a 10,000-seat arena that serves as home to the WNBA's Connecticut Sun, a 100,000-square-foot convention center, and a full dining and retail promenade.

Nominee 11: Ocean Casino Resort

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Ocean Casino Resort cuts a distinctive profile on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. The building is a modern glass tower at the northern end of the strip, with floor-to-ceiling windows in every one of its nearly 1,400 rooms, each featuring direct views of the Atlantic Ocean or the city skyline. The property opened in its current form in 2018 on a site that was originally home to the Revel Casino Hotel.

Our experts underlined the resort's Ocean Premier players' lounge, its 138,000-square-foot gaming floor, and a status-matching program that has attracted players looking for an aggressive loyalty offer. Rounding out the luxury property, find 15 restaurants, three nightclubs, a 5,500-seat Ovation Hall, TopGolf, seven pools, and 160,000 square feet of meeting space.

Nominee 12: Pechanga Resort Casino

Temecula, California

In Temecula wine country, Pechanga Resort Casino operates one of the largest gaming footprints in the Western United States with more than 200,000 square feet of smoke-free gaming space, including more than 5,400 slot machines, approximately 130 table games, and a 43-table poker room. Owned and operated by the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians in Southern California, the resort has held the AAA Four Diamond designation every year since opening in 2002.

The amenity stack was a big reason our experts wanted to nominate the Pechanga Resort Casino: 1,090 hotel rooms and suites, 13 restaurants, a 4.5-acre resort pool complex with four pools and five spas, a 25,000-square-foot two-level spa, and the Journey at Pechanga, an 18-hole championship golf course with views across the surrounding wine country. California's largest casino floor is the obvious headline, but the resort functions convincingly as a full destination.

Nominee 13: Potawatomi Casino Hotel

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

In Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley, the Potawatomi Casino Hotel was the first off-reservation casino in the United States when it opened in 1991 by the Forest County Potawatomi Community on land they had worked to restore from industrial brownfields. Over three decades of expansion have transformed it into a full-service gaming resort, and a nearly $200 million renovation completed in 2025 added updated gaming floors, new dining concepts, state-of-the-art technology, and the Midwest's largest sportsbook—a two-story, 200-seat venue with a 2,000-square-foot LED video wall. The scale of the renovation and the property's enduring relevance as Milwaukee's primary entertainment destination are evident in 3,000 gaming machines, 100 table games, 500 hotel rooms, and a dining lineup that includes the Dream Dance Steakhouse and the VIP-only 1833 Club.

Nominee 14: WinStar World Casino and Resort

Thackerville, Oklahoma

WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma, holds the title of the world's largest casino by gaming floor, drawing an estimated 6 million visitors a year to a location just 75 miles north of Dallas–Fort Worth. The Chickasaw Nation property began as a bingo hall in 1991 and has expanded into a resort with nine internationally themed gaming plazas modeled after cities including Paris, Rome, Cairo, and London and featuring more than 10,500 electronic games, table games, a poker room, and a bingo hall.

Our experts made sure to point out the resort's scale and the breadth of its amenity stack: nearly 1,500 hotel rooms, two 18-hole championship golf courses, a 250,000-square-foot Lucas Oil Live entertainment venue, more than 20 dining options, and a spa.

Nominee 15: Yaamava' Resort & Casino at San Manuel

Highland, California

Yaamava' Resort & Casino at San Manuel has positioned itself at the top of the Southern California gaming market through a combination of scale and service. Owned and operated by the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation in Highland, about 60 minutes from downtown Los Angeles, the resort holds the only AAA Five-Diamond designation of any casino hotel in the country. The property's gaming floor spans 290,000 square feet with more than 7,200 slot machines, five VIP gaming rooms, and hundreds of table games. The property doesn’t just deserve recognition for its size but for its execution: a Forbes Four-Star hotel and steakhouse, a Forbes Five-Star spa, a 3,000-seat Yaamava' Theater, and nine restaurants, including George Lopez's Chingon Kitchen.

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Our Experts

BethEllen Clausen

Clausen is a freelance writer with a heavy emphasis on art and culture. She is a member of the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association and the LA Wine Writers, and she writes for Food, Wine and Travel Magazine, the Napa Valley Wine Academy, and Costco Connection. You can read more about Clausen's experiences at her website, Organic Wine Travel.

Marguerite "Peggy" Cleveland

As an Army veteran, military spouse, and adventure-seeker, Cleveland has lived across the United States and has turned a lifetime of moving, exploring, and discovering hidden gems into a successful writing career. The travel journalist and author loves sharing stories about destinations, food, wine, and wellness. Her work has appeared in major publications nationwide, and she is the author of 100 Things to Do in Tacoma Before You Die. When she’s not writing, Cleveland is often planning her next adventure—or enjoying one.

Susan Lanier-Graham

Lanier-Graham is an award-winning food, wine, and travel writer with more than three decades of experience exploring destinations around the world. She has visited luxury resorts, boutique properties, and hidden gems across six continents, bringing a discerning eye to every stay. As publisher of Wander With Wonder, she leads an award-winning digital publication that inspires readers to discover exceptional travel experiences. Her work blends firsthand insight with a passion for storytelling, offering trusted recommendations on where to stay, dine, and explore. Susan’s expertise helps travelers confidently choose destinations that transform trips into unforgettable, experience-rich journeys.

Reviewed Editors & Experts

Reviewed editors and experts have hard-earned insight from a broad range of backgrounds, and our nomination panel includes independent researchers, subject matter experts, and editorial team members. We provide unbiased, experiential editorial coverage on products, brands, and companies across the U.S.