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72 2 0 1 5 T R A V E L G U I D E T O C A L I F O R N I A CA.CASINOS GRATON RESORT & CASINO; RANDY MIRAMONTEZ/SHUTTERSTOCK ; PECHANGA CASINO. OPPOSITE: TONY LYLE (LTVA) companies in Las Vegas. Bettors cheer the swanky gambling floor, which boasts a 20- table poker room, more than 130 table games, and thousands of slots. Foodies flock to the place, too—the restaurant lineup includes a Chinese bistro from Chef Martin Yan, and a food-court outpost of Tony's Neapolitan-style pizzeria. Other Native-American casinos in this region are small but superlative in other ways. Many, including Cache Creek (Brooks) and Thunder Valley (Lincoln), have full-service hotels. Red Hawk, in Plac- erville, offers child-care services for tykes while mom and dad play. Most of the other gambling options in the Bay Area are card rooms, and many are located in the suburbs of San Fran- cisco and Sacramento. The two most popular: San Jose's Bay 101, which hosts a number of World Poker Tour events throughout the year, and Colma's Lucky Chances, which doles out nearly $1 mil- lion in cash prizes (not to mention lots of seats to the annual World Series of Poker) over the course of every year. Casino M8trix, in San Jose, distinguishes itself with a thumping nightclub. SoCal and L.A. Southern California—from the northern edge of the San Fernando Valley to the Mexico border, the Pacific Ocean to I-15— is home to some of the biggest Native-American casinos in the state, including Harrah's Resort Southern Cali- fornia in Valley Center; Pala Casino Spa Resort in Pala; Barona Resort & Casino in Lakeside; and Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula. All of these properties boast Vegas-style hotels with eateries, shopping and spas. In 2014, after a $160-million ren- ovation, Harrah's opened up a new GRATON RESORT & CASINO entrance, right; Richard Thompson (R) performs with Peter Frampton at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, middle; romantic dinner in Pechanga Casino, below.