Nevada casino operators are staking a claim in California’s gold country. Will that hurt Reno-Tahoe?

Sunday, September 7, 2025 2:13 PM
Image aggregated from The Nevada Independent.
  • Howard Stutz, The Nevada Independent

Red Rock Resorts is aiming to strike gold again in Northern California.

Along with Boyd Gaming and Caesars Entertainment, the company is helping develop and operate casino-resorts in tandem with area tribes seeking their piece of the nation’s largest Indian gaming state.

Red Rock, which operated Thunder Valley Casino near Sacramento from 2003 to 2010 and the Graton Resort & Casino in Santa Rosa from 2013 to 2021, is back in the game. The company began construction last year on a tribal casino in Madera, 30 miles north of Fresno and 140 miles south of Sacramento.

Boyd operates a casino in the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove, while Caesars has one tribal casino in rural Ione and is developing a second property.