Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)
-   United States (https://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/)
-   -   Are there any casinos near Salt Lake City? (https://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/are-there-any-casinos-near-salt-lake-city-385245/)

dfotravels Dec 30th, 2003 09:12 AM

Are there any casinos near Salt Lake City?
 
I will be going to SLC at the end of January and was wondering if there are any casinos nearby. It seems logical that there would be plenty of native american reservations in a state named after an Indian tribe. Are there casinos there as well?

Thanks for any assistance.

SAnParis Dec 30th, 2003 09:45 AM

The Mormons run the state & I know of no casinos. utahtea can better answer that. You're only 5-6 hours to Las Vegas though.

J_Correa Dec 30th, 2003 10:28 AM

I don't remember seeing any casinos in Utah. I wouldn't guess that there would be any either.

dfotravels Dec 30th, 2003 11:00 AM

Thanks for your replies. Hopefully Utahtea will see this and give us the definitive answer. I realize that as SAnParis stated, "the Mormons run the state," but they would have no jurisdiction to prevent casinos from being opening on native american land. Utahtea, are you out there?

cd Dec 30th, 2003 11:11 AM

dfotravels
Elko Navada is a 3 1/2 hr drive from Salt Lake and has around 6 casinos. You can also fly on the Casino Express Airline that flies out of Salt Lake. It would probably be a reasonable price. The number is 1-800-258-8800

dwooddon Dec 30th, 2003 12:23 PM

The closest casino to SLC of which I am aware is in Wendover, NV on the state line. It is much closer than Elko.

Wendover has a thriving casino/motel/food business serving I-80 traffic as well as action-seeking SLC residents. It is larger than you'd expect because it is a logical stopping point for east bound drivers from San Francisco and adjacent areas.

I'm not a gambler so I can't tell you much about the casinos but I have stayed there on several trips and found the name-brand motels to be clean and comfortable, if not luxurious.

J_Correa Dec 30th, 2003 01:08 PM

Regarding the mormons running Utah issue - I am not completely sure how the laws of a state affect Indian gaming, but I believe the states have some control over whether or not it is allowed. Here in California the laws were recently changed to allow more Indian gaming and casinos have been going up right and left.

BarbaraS Dec 30th, 2003 01:14 PM

The closest casino is in Wendover, Nevada, 126 miles West of Salt Lake. The closest Native American casino is 176 miles North in Fort Hall Idaho. Las Vegas is about a 45 minute flight from Salt Lake. Wendover is a small town in the middle of nowhere. I haven't been to Fort Hall, but wouldn't plan on driving there in January, we've had a lot of snowy weather this year. If you really have your heart set on gambling, I'd fly to Vegas.

CalgirlSusan Dec 30th, 2003 01:23 PM

Gambling? Honey, they don't even allow drinking in Salt Lake City (or try their best to prevent it).

wsoxrebel Dec 30th, 2003 02:45 PM

Don't the Mormons also have a controlling interest in Marriott? I wonder if any of the Marriott properties have casinos in them?

BarbaraS Dec 30th, 2003 03:42 PM

Bashful - Perhaps you could share with everyone a link to where your proven facts can be verified.

John Dec 30th, 2003 08:53 PM


Don't the Mormons own most of the land on the strip in Vegas?

SAnParis Dec 31st, 2003 04:27 AM

Here in NC the Tribal Councils still have to petition the state in regards to casinos, types of games, etc. Until recently most everything in NC were computer run. There were very few table games. That is slowly starting to change.

SAnParis Dec 31st, 2003 04:29 AM

I believe Utah & (maybe Hawaii) are the only two states without some form of legalized gambling. This includes, horse tracks, dog tracks, lotteries, etc.

RandyK Dec 31st, 2003 05:10 AM

Tennessee is still a state that does not allow any type of gambling although that will change in February when a lottery comes to TN thus giving the poorest citizens of this state yet another regressive tax. For now, you can't do a raffle, do a 50/50 drawing or play bingo for $$ or prizes in this state.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 08:39 AM.