Barona Resort & Casino Guide 2023

Barona Resort & Casino in Lakeside, California is an award-winning tribal casino just 30 miles from Downtown San Diego. 

The property is owned and operated by the Barona Band of Mission Indians and has been named the Best Casino Outside of Las Vegas in the 2019 USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards, beating 900 other casinos.

With a casino game floor spanning over 340,000 square feet featuring 2,200 slot machines and 75 thrilling table games, Barona Resort & Casino is a strong candidate among the best casinos in California. 

The award-winning San Diego golf course, dining options, and a 400-room hotel on the premises are grist to Baron Resort & Casino’s mill when keeping their patrons entertained at all times. 

In this guide, you’ll get all the necessary information about the venue in question, including where is Barona Resort located, its gaming offer, amenities, and more. 

Barona Resort & Casino Pros and Cons 

Pros 

• Award-winning casino
• Loosest slots in San Diego
• Only Chipless Arena in San Diego
• 30,000 square feet of non-smoking gaming space 

Cons 

• No live poker 
• No sportsbook, because there is no legal sports betting in California

About Barona Resort & Casino in California

Barona Resort & Casino in California is located at 1932 Wildcat Canyon Road, Lakeside, CA 92040, just 30 miles from Downtown San Diego. Overlooking the beautiful Barona Valley, this casino features a clear ranch-style design that does the rugged native lands and the legacy of the Barona Band of Mission Indians the honor they deserve. 

Barona Resort & Casino began its journey as a card room in 1991. Then, after the tribe had gathered enough money, it evolved into a circus-theme bona fide casino, the Big Top Barona Casino in 1994, with wooden replicas of acrobats placed overhead and juggler acts. 

In 2002, after a major $260 million and two-year expansion process and overhaul, the Big Top Barona Casino went through a rebranding process and became Barona Resort & Casino with 397 luxurious rooms, 33 deluxe suites, an events center, a championship golf course, and multiple other facilities. 

Barona is one of 14 18-and-over casinos in California.

Sports Betting at Barona Resort & Casino

Sports betting was voted down by Californians in the 2022 election in huge landslide losses for Prop 26 and Prop 27. Prop 26 would have legalized in-person sports betting at tribal casinos and California’s four licensed horse racetracks, and Barona surely would have launched a sportsbook.

Now, until we see how things go in the 2024 election, the current forms of gambling at Barona Resort & Casino in Lakeside will remain slots and table games. 

Accommodations at Barona Resort & Casino

While many Southern California casinos offer accommodation services, few can match the amenities the almost 400-room hotel on the premises can offer. Guests to spacious rooms and  elegant suites can enjoy amenities such as: 

• Free WiFi
• Fitness center
• Swimming pool
• Free parking
• Business center

Barona Resort & Casino also features a championship and a par 72 golf course of the Barona Creek Golf Club with 7,393 yards, almost 100 multi-fingered bunkers, and ponds and lakes that make it one of the most challenging courses in Southern California. Special discounts and offers are reserved for members of the loyalty Club Barona program. 

Barona Casino Customer Support

You can reach the Barona Resort & Casino customer service department via multiple communication channels, including: 

• Phone: 1-619-443-2300
• Toll free phone: 1-888-7-BARONA (1-888-722-7662)
• Email: [email protected]
• Contact form on the site. 

Barona Casino Game Selection

The award-winning Barona Resort & Casino gaming floor spans over 340,000 square feet of space with 2,200 slots, keno, video poker machines, and 75 table games. 

The casino is a boon to all slot enthusiasts looking for loose slots and games. It has been voted San Diego’s Loosest Slots casino for 12 consecutive years in the annual San Diego’s Best U-T Readers Poll. Let’s explore the casino’s gaming offer and its distinct features in more detail. 

Playing Poker at Barona

Barona Resort & Casino used to have a live poker room, but it was closed indefinitely due to the pandemic and hasn’t been opened since. However, there are certain heads-up poker versions you can play against the dealer, such as Three-Card-Poker, Mississippi Stud, and Ultimate Texas Hold’em. 

Barona Resort & Casino Slots 

The venue’s centerpieces are its loosest San Diego slots. You can find over 2,200 different traditional, progressive, and interactive penny and high-limit slot games from the world’s leading providers such as IGT, Aristocrat, Scientific Games, and many others. 

The casino’s group of technicians, dubbed the Loose Troop®, has loosened all slots in the casino and ensures they remain so. 

Furthermore, Barona Resort & Casino was the first tribal casino in California to use the IGT’s Cashless EZ Pay system in 2000, which allowed players to take a ticket from one EZ Pay machine and insert it into another machine’s ticket validators. 

Barona Casino’s patrons can also visit the rotating “Sneak Preview” area and try the games not available anywhere else in California and possibly the entire United States. 

The lineup of slots on the gaming floor includes titles such as: 

• Power Link Neptune
• Power Link Zeus
• Ocean Spin —  Kingdom’s Treasures & Pirate’s Riches
• Hao Yun Lai
• Buffalo Link
• Cash Fortune Deluxe
• Game of Thrones – Winter Is Here

Barona Resort & Casino Table Games 

There are approximately 75 table games, including the Best Blackjack in the country as voted by the readers of the Casino Player magazine and the Best Blackjack in California as per the Blackjack Hall of Fame. Among the games on the floor, you’ll encounter: 

• Blackjack
• Bonus Bet Blackjack
• Barona Craps
• Barona Roulette 
• Dai Baccarat
• EZ Baccarat
• EZ Pai Gow

Barona Resort & Casino features San Diego’s only Chipless Arena, a specially dedicated area allowing players to play up to four table games simultaneously from the comfort of their terminal. You can buy in with chips or cash and are ready to start betting. 

Moreover, Barona Casino boasts the largest Asian table games pit in San Diego, featuring games such as Asia Poker, EZ Pai Gow, and others. 

Barona Resort & Casino FAQs