The Soboba Casino, in San Jacinto, California, in Riverside County, has been serving the people of Southern California off and on for over 30 years now.
Even though Indian gaming wasn’t legal back when they first started all this, the Soboba Indians didn’t care, and it was defiance from California Indian tribes that started the whole movement toward the widespread Indian gaming we see today, after they tried to shut it down and the Supreme Court ultimately ruled they could not as this violated the rights of sovereignty of the Indian tribes.
Prior to all this being decided, the Soboba Indians at least attempted to exercise their sovereignty, building their first high stakes bingo hall back in 1984. $2 million was spent building this and the people of the area were excited, but they didn’t need any help from the state closing it down, as the enterprise didn’t fare very well.
The bingo hall was opened and closed so many times during this period that tribal officials claim they lost count of how many startups they went through. Finally, in 1995, they finally succeeded in keeping it open, after adding other forms of gambling besides just bingo, with a full fledged casino to go along with it.
This became a big hit among the locals, and this is in an area with a huge population, laying just east of Riverside and the huge Inland Empire of Southern California. It’s also only a short drive away from Los Angeles and players from all over the region could easily make a day trip of it.
San Jacinto is a far cry from the urbanized centers of the area though and provides a nice getaway from the city, with its mountains and lush landscape, and there is some good potential for building a resort here, as some other Indian casinos in the area have done.
However, the goal of the Soboba Casino is to just cater to the locals by providing some great gambling, there isn’t even a hotel on site, it’s just a casino, but a good one and one that players have come to really love.
This casino started out quite small and has been expanded numerous times over the over 20 years it’s been in existence, and there are no plans on stopping now. In fact, the tribe has some very ambitious plans indeed, where they are now talking about not only building a resort, but expanding the casino significantly, to make it one of the world’s largest.
They certainly have some big ideas and in a few years we may look back at the present casino and marvel at how much it has grown since. The Soboba people certainly have the desire to deliver on these promises though and they certainly have the nearby population base to make this a truly world class casino resort one day. For now though it’s just a great place to travel to in order to get in some great casino action.
The Features of the Soboba Casino
Soboba Casino offers limited culinary choices at their location, this is as pure of a casino as you can get really, but they do have 2 different restaurants to find a meal at while you are enjoying all of their casino action. The atmosphere is always lively here.
The Soboba Café remains accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and offers some very budget-friendly meals. They present a daily special with a different one every time for only $3.99. On Sundays from 4 PM to 10 PM you can delight in their Prime Rib Special for merely $13.95.
Opting for lighter nourishment, there’s, additionally, a café on site, the Coffee Kiicha, with fresh coffee and freshly prepared pastries on display, as well as pizza, yogurt treats, and a variety of chilled drinks and shakes.
For amusement, AC’s Lounge welcomes up to 300 guests and includes a full cocktail bar. They even have a large screen TV and a state of the art sound system, and feature an assortment of DJ’s along with some live music acts. Exciting shows are always happening.
There’s additionally a substantial outdoor venue which includes live acts, the Soboba Events Arena, with seating for 10,000 people. This is spacious enough to feature the biggest stars on the casino circuit.
Players here receive free admission into Club Soboba, where everyone is eligible for the gold card, and if you are a significant enough patron, you can get the red card which provides true VIP service, including personal casino assistance, valet parking, and complimentary meals and golf at the nearby Country Club at Soboba Springs.
All members receive free play in addition to discounts at the restaurants, gift shop, and at numerous events. You can, furthermore, get unique invitations to Club Soboba events no matter which card you own.
Soboba also initiates multiple promotions, and this is a significant element of the charm of the place, motivating players to return frequently. This is essentially like a locals casino, there’s no hotel or resort, they do not attract any tourists, and all their patrons are from the region and need to be kept satisfied or they will simply patronize one of the other large casinos nearby. The Soboba adeptly holds its own with customer retention though.
The Soboba Casino Experience
California casinos are generally capped off at 2,000 slots, according to the pact that most of them have with the state of California, and while there are a few that have a few more, Soboba has stuck with the pact, but they do have the maximum of 2,000 slot and gaming machines on hand for your playing pleasure.
They do get to pick the 2,000 that they want though, and the Soboba tribe has selected the latest and most popular slot and video poker machines in the market, to ensure that their players get maximum satisfaction during their stay with them.
Those who like jackpots are particularly well taken care of here, as they average 1,200 jackpot winners of $1000 or more every month. There’s also lots of slot tournaments and other slot promotions to get things even more interesting for their players.
Table game lovers will find 20 gaming tables on site here, which isn’t a lot but there’s no problem getting all the action you want at several popular casino table games, including double deck Blackjack, Ultimate Texas Holdem, Three Card Poker, Spanish 21, Fortune Pai Gow, and Roulette. There are also tournaments for table game players here as well.
They also have an online casino offering free play to whet your appetite a little for the real action at the casino, although there’s no substitute for the thrills of playing casino games, slots, and video poker for real money.
Soboba Casino has been around for quite a while now and they have a lot of success to show for it, and if you are in the area, this is one of the better casinos around and have been named one of Southern California’s best casinos in fact.