San Manuel Casino Goes Big in Bid to Lure High Rollers, Introduces $25,000 Table Games, $1,000 Slots

Posted on: December 20, 2019, 12:06h. 

Last updated on: December 20, 2019, 12:20h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More

Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

San Manuel Casino, one of Southern California’s largest tribal gaming properties, is looking to lure high rollers with a new gaming area offering major league table limits.

The new gaming area – High Limit Tables and High Limit Slots – features 15 tables of baccarat, double-deck 3:2 blackjack, and six-deck blackjack with per hand limits of $25,000. Additionally, the venue now offers over 200 slot machines with $1,000 per spin limits.

Both the new slot and table limits are among the highest in the US, according to the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, owner of the Highland, Calif. casino. A request for information by Casino.org regarding the casino’s previous limits wasn’t responded to prior to publication of this article.

At High Limit Tables and High Limit Slots, a custom marble walkway leads guests into the luxurious slots chamber, which offers more than 200 of the newest and hottest slots in the gaming industry, including Buffalo Gold Revolution, Ultimate Fire Link, Crystal Star, Black Diamond, Lightning Cash and Jackpot Streams, some with denominations up to $1,000,” according to a statement.

San Manuel’s new luxury area features another element of glitz aimed at attracting VIPs: a $10,000 whiskey cocktail infused with a 100-point Bordeaux served in Lalique crystal glass with a diamond and 14k gold cocktail pick. Guests can keep the glass and the pick.

Limiting The Competition?

California is home to roughly 70 tribal gaming properties, and while just a third of those venues are located in the lower part of the state – defined as Bakersfield and south – the region is home to some of the largest casinos in the country. The area is also home to half the state’s slot machines, including 4,900 at San Manuel.

The Morongo Casino Resort & Spa near Palm Springs is in the midst of a 65,000 square-foot expansion that will take its gaming area to 215,000 square feet, while rival Pechanga in Riverside County has a gaming area of 200,000 square feet, making it larger than any Las Vegas casino.

With its new high roller room, San Manuel trumps its rivals in terms of slot limits. Pechanga and Morongo cap slot bets at $100 and $200 per spin, respectively, according to their websites.

Pechanga’s website doesn’t feature information on a dollar figure for its table game limits. But Morongo only accepts wagers of up $2,000 per hand on double-deck blackjack and up to $5,000 a play on baccarat and six-deck blackjack.

Big Numbers

San Manuel opened in 1986, making it one of the oldest tribal gaming properties in Southern California.

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is among the top 10 private employers in San Bernardino County, currently supporting more than 4,900 employees and generating more than $1 billion in annual economic activity in the San Bernardino region,” according to the tribe.

The venue has awarded more than $2 billion in cash and other prizes since opening.