Casinos:Washington

Washington is an unusual state in that, in addition to the standard Indian casinos located throughout the state, it explicitly allows card-based gambling of both a player-banked and house-banked nature and has done so since 1997. Individual cities or counties may choose to regulate or ban card gambling, but the state explicitly allows it and licenses it, so unless a local jurisdiction bans it, it is legal. Note that only gambling with cards is legal in Washington; gambling with dice or roulette wheels or slot machines is still banned (except for Indian casinos). Also, card gambling is only legal if it is hosted in a restaurant or bar, since the law specifies the card games must be used to promote food sales.

Accordingly, hundreds of card rooms commonly called mini-casinos have sprung up around the state. Catering to local residents and not tourists, these casinos tend to be pleasant places to play cards without necessarily being flashy or breathtaking. There are so many of these mini-casinos that they generally have a limited drawing area (why would someone drive 30 miles to a mini-casino if there's one five miles away?). Certain cities (notably Seattle) have banned mini-casinos and cardrooms altogether. Indeed, the jurisdictional dispute between cities and counties and the state licensing board led to legislation to work out who would be in charge of licensing new card rooms in 2000.

Despite its legality, not all of the mini-casinos offer true poker. All of them offer blackjack (including variants thereof, such as Spanish 21 or Lucky Ladies Blackjack), and most offer Pai Gow Poker, Three Card Poker, Four Card Poker, and the like. But only about half of the mini-casinos in the state spread poker itself.

This still provides the states with a multitude of poker rooms. State law prohibits mini-casinos from having more than 15 gaming tables, so most mini-casinos spread that number around between blackjack and other house-banked games and poker. No mini-casino has more than 5 or 6 tables of poker.

Local jurisdictions may establish individual limits on wagers, and many do, leading even mini-casinos which offer poker to offer only fixed-limit poker, sometimes with odd limit structures such as 15/25 (in a jurisdiction which only allows up to $25 per wager). Due to the small nature of mini-casinos and the fact that their targeted clientele is locals just out to gamble a bit and have fun, nearly all mini-casinos offer only low limit poker ranging from $2/$4 up to $4/$8. Indian casinos in the state generally offer a wider range of options, including no-limit hold 'em (actually no-limit spread-limit hold 'em as Washington has a $500 max bet law) and high-limits such as 20/40.

Note that all casinos listed below offer poker in addition to blackjack and other house-banked card games such as Let It Ride and Four-Card Poker. Casinos marked with the slot reels are full Indian casinos with slot machines and craps in addition to blackjack and poker, and possibly including roulette, keno, baccarat, etc.

All casinos except for Indian casinos are non-smoking due to the passage of a state law in the early 2000's.

{| border="1" cellpadding="6" ! colspan=6 align=center | Seattle Area (within 20 miles) ! Size !! Rating !! City !! Casino Name & Link !! Games !! Other ! S ! S ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! M ! - ! - ! S ! S ! S ! S ! S ! S ! S ! S ! S
 * - bgcolor="#f0f0d0"
 * - bgcolor="#f0f0d0"
 * - || Seattle || Roxbury Lanes || ||
 * [[Image:2chip.gif]] || Seattle || Rascals Casino || ||
 * - || Seattle || Roxy's Casino || ||
 * - || Seattle || Skyway Park Bowl and Casino || ||
 * - || Burien || Wizards Casino || ||
 * - || Des Moines || Midway Casino || ||
 * - || Kenmore || Kenmore Lanes Casino || ||
 * - || Kirkland || Casino Caribbean || || (web)
 * - || Mountlake Terrace || Crazy Moose Casino || ||
 * - || Mountlake Terrace || Red Dragon Casino || || (web)
 * - || Renton || Cascade Lanes || ||
 * - || Renton || Diamond Lil's ||  ||
 * - || Renton || Freddie's Club || ||
 * - || Renton || Roman Casino || ||
 * [[Image:2chip.gif]] || Seatac || Northstar Casino || ||
 * [[Image:2chip.gif]] || Seatac || Silver Dollar Casino || ||
 * [[Image:2chip.gif]] || Shoreline || Club Hollywood Casino || ||
 * [[Image:2chip.gif]] || Shoreline || Drift On Inn Roadhouse || ||
 * [[Image:2chip.gif]] || Shoreline || Goldie's Shoreline Casino || ||
 * [[Image:2chip.gif]] || Shoreline || Parkers Casino || ||
 * [[Image:3chip.gif]] || Suquamish (6 mi NW) || Clearwater Casino Resort || ||    (web)
 * [[Image:2chip.gif]] || Tukwila || Golden Nugget ||  ||
 * - || Tukwila || Riverside Casino || ||

! colspan=6 align=center | Other Washington ! Size !! Rating !! City !! Casino Name & Link !! Games !! Other ! - ! - ! - ! - ! M ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! S ! - ! - ! S ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! S ! S ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! - ! M ! - ! - ! - (web) ! - ! -
 * - bgcolor="#f0f0d0"
 * - bgcolor="#f0f0d0"
 * - || Airway Heights (near Spokane) || Northern Quest Casino ||   ||
 * - || Anacortes || Swinomish Northern Lights Casino || ||
 * - || Arlington || Chrome Cafe and Card Room ||    ||
 * - || Auburn || Iron Horse Casino Auburn || ||
 * - || Auburn || Muckleshoot ||   O  ||  (web)
 * - || Bellingham || Slo Pitch Pub & Casino || ||
 * - || Bremerton || Bremerton Lanes Casino || ||
 * - || Bremerton || Chips Casino || ||
 * - || Chehalis || Classic Island Casino || || (web)
 * - || Deming || Nooksack River Casino ||       ||
 * [[Image:5chip.gif]] || East Wenatchee || CLEARWATER POKER ROOM || || (web)
 * [[Image:5chip.gif]] || Ellensburg || WILD GOOSE CASINO || || (web)
 * - || Everett || Big Apple Casino || || (web)
 * - || Everett || The Club Casino || ||
 * - || Everett || Final Table Casino ||  ||
 * - || Everett || Great American Casino || || (web)
 * - || Everett || Iron Horse Casino Everett || ||
 * - || Everett || JR's Sports Bar & Poker Room || ||
 * - || Everett || New Grove Cardroom ||  || (web)
 * - || Everett || Royal Casino || ||
 * - || Federal Way || P.J. Pockets Casino || ||
 * - || Kennewick || Cleo's Island Casino || ||
 * - || Kent || Great American Casino || || (web)
 * [[Image:2chip.gif]] || Kingston || The Point Casino || ||    (web)
 * - || La Center || Chips Casino || ||
 * - || La Center || Last Frontier || ||
 * - || Lacey || Hawk's Prairie Casino ||  ||
 * - || Lake Stevens || Highway 9 Casino || || (web)
 * - || Lakewood || Chips Casino || ||
 * - || Lakewood || Happy Days Casino || ||
 * - || Lakewood || Macau Casino || ||
 * - || Lakewood || Paradise Poker Room at Bowlero || ||
 * - || Lakewood || Torch Lite Cardroom ||  ||
 * - || Longview || Cadillac Island Casino || ||
 * - || Ocean Shores || Quinalt Beach Resort & Casino || ||
 * - || Olympia || Red Wind Casino || ||
 * - || Pasco || Crazy Moose Casino || ||
 * [[Image:5chip.gif]] || Pullman || Mr. Z's Casino || || (web)
 * - || Rochester || Lucky Eagle Casino || ||
 * - || Rustin || Point Defiance Casino || ||
 * - || Shelton || Little Creek Casino || || (web)
 * - || Spokane || Classic Rock Casino || || (web)
 * - || Spokane || Players and Spectators || || (web)
 * - || Tacoma || Rising Dragon Casino ||  ||
 * [[Image:4chip.gif]] || Tulalip || Tulalip Casino ||       H ||   (web)
 * - || Toppenish || Yakama Nation Legends ||   ||
 * - || Yakima || Casino Caribbean || || (web)
 * [[Image:3chip.gif]] || Yakima || NOB HILL CASINO || ||
 * [[Image:5chip.gif]] || (various) || Your Home Town Casinos || || (web)
 * -}