Scotts Valley Tribe Opens Preview Casino as $700M Resort Hangs in the Balance

The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians has opened a small preview casino on a site close to where it hopes to one day build a $700 million casino resort in Vallejo, Calif.

The venue, which hosts a modest number of Class II gaming machines, consists of several repurposed modular buildings on the site. For now, access is by invitation only.

Nevertheless, the tribe said Friday the opening was an important step toward “exercising [its] gaming rights and keeping our commitment to develop our homeland for the benefit of our members and the people of Vallejo.”

The larger resort is far from a done deal. The outgoing Biden administration greenlit the tribe’s trust application on January 10, 2026, paving the way for the casino. But Trump’s interior department put that decision on hold, pending legal analysis of whether the land qualified for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).

Lawsuits Fly

The project is one of the fiercely contested tribal casino developments in the US. Several neighboring tribes have sued to block it, arguing the proposed resort would be built in the ancestral homeland of the Patwin people, not the Pomo.

At the heart of the dispute is an IGRA provision that allows certain restored tribes to build casinos on newly acquired trust land if they can demonstrate a sufficient historical connection to the site.

The Scotts Valley Band says federal officials correctly concluded it met that standard in the Biden-era decision, while rival tribes argue the original decision was wrong and that the land has long been recognized as Patwin territory.

The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and Kletsel Dehe Nation were the first to challenge the federal approval. They have since been joined by the Lytton Rancheria and the United Auburn Indian Community in separate lawsuits, while Scotts Valley has sued the Interior Department over its decision to reconsider the project’s approval.

Open for Business

For now, the tribe’s modest gaming offering has the approval of the federal National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC), as well as the city of Vallejo in the form of a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

“Working hand in glove with the city, we’ve taken steps to ensure that Vallejo has the financial resources it needs to provide city services in connection with this initiative,” Shawn Davis, Chairman of the Scotts Valley Band, said in a statement on Friday (July 25).  

“We will continue to work closely with city leaders as we pursue our vision of a world-class gaming and entertainment facility that drives long-term economic growth for our tribe, the City of Vallejo, and Solano County,” he added.

The DOI’s decision on the tribe’s eligibility for gaming on the land is expected before the end of the week (July 31) and will determine the future of the $700 million resort.