Ah, Napa Valley: vineyards, wineries, wine country tours, tasting rooms, fine food and dining establishments, luxurious resorts, the romantic wine region ambiance of southern France and northern Italy, and gambling. Gambling? Gambling in Napa Valley? Though you won’t find it in the guide books and brochures, or hear of it during your wine country tours, it’s true; there is gambling to be had in Napa – just barely.
When you head to a tourist destination you always experience it for the first time in the manner of the uninitiated, getting the high level view that most people – other tourists, are aware of before spending enough time to delve further in and find the things that exist below the surface. The Napa Valley Casino is the sort of establishment buried far beneath the thick layers of that for which it is known. When you think of gambling, if you envision Monte Carlo, Macau, Las Vegas, or even Reno, you’re setting yourself up for great disappointment when it comes to Napa Valley’s casino. There’s a reason that no one outside of some hard-core gambling locals have ever heard of gambling being associated with the Napa Valley. The marketing budget for this year, as with any of the thirty odd years it’s been in existence, seems tightly linked to the number zero.
This facility will stretch your perception of just what the definition of “casino” might be, with maybe seven tables dedicated to poker, then one for blackjack and another for pai gow. The whole room might be less than one thousand square feet, not including the two single occupant restrooms. The ceiling doesn’t exist, but you do get a roof just beyond the exposed ducting, which is kind of nice in the event of rain. And if you sit down to a table you’ll quickly know what it’s like to be an interloper; all of these players are locals who are on a first name basis. If there is a prize for the player traveling the farthest, it would likely be going to someone who has come from the other side of Napa Valley about ten away. This is not a tourist destination. If you enjoy your gambling with an intimate, basement game room feel and lament the fact that no one decorates in wood paneling anymore, this is your place. The culinary fare is well suited to the environment as well, with hot dogs displayed enticingly on those heated rotisseries found in convenience stores. And if that doesn’t make you nostalgic for simpler times, surely the self-serve cigarette machine will do the trick.
In its current form I would suggest that you not break away from your wine country tour anytime soon just to get a no frills poker table experience. But if within your midst you had a relative who happened to be a hand-core gambler, and not much of a wine drinker or exactly stimulating company, this facility might come in handy as a dumping ground while you’re touring the wine country. But that’s not to say that the facility couldn’t find itself addressing a broader audience at some point. BVK Gaming bought the place three years ago and added a television and replaced the thirty year old carpeting, so while it’s not exactly embracing change quickly, it is now owned by deeper pockets than the former owner/operator.
