Jamul Casino

Nice casino, lots of slots card tables. Wonderful restaurant.

I’ve been here many times, and the last 3 are notable. The third to last time I was here I had $100 I was prepared to loose, and on the slot machines I was quickly up to $214. I decided to press my luck and went to the high roller section, and very soon was up $600. I cashed out and left. The second to last time I was here was not as fun. I had $100 I was prepared to loose and I lost it too soon. That’s the breaks, don’t go to a casino thinking you will leave with more money. That’s not how is works. This last time, the most recent, was splendid. I started in the high roller section on a slot machine. I had put $200 in a machine before I made the max bet, $55. I was totally thinking I would loose, because that’s how it works, and the machine kept going on and on, with different games popping up and gold coins flying around, and when the dust settled, I had $1,200 in the machine. I was up $1,000. I took the money and ran. When you pull up to this casino it is a mile past Jamul, a sleepy rural town just outside San Diego, and it is a huge building on the right labeled “Jamul Indian Village.” These are the signs that point the way to this casino. When you drive in there is this foreboding fear that you are entering a bunker, like a fortification built to withstand the zombie apocalypse. I can’t imagine what the designers were going for, but the entrance to self park comes with a feeling that you are going to be locked inside forever. The garage goes down level after level, and they all look the same, so make sure you remember what number or color your parking level is. Otherwise you will walk out of the elevator and see an empty parking space wheee you thought you had parked, and experience that sinking feeling that comes with the thought that someone may have stolen your car. If this happens to you, find the nearest security guard in a golf cart and tell them what you are going through. They will take you on a tour , level by level, and you will most likely find your car right where you left it. When you enter the casino, you exit the elevators and there is a tasteless barricade on one side and a long high bridge on the other. When you walk across this bridge you are being face scanned for facial recognition and you will be greeted by a Native American security guard, or perhaps tribal police, that I have found to be very polite and helpful. They will happily point out where the restrooms are (off to the left, your ten o’clock, in the large blue flowing wall) and the guest services counter (your seven o’clock alongside the center of the casino) as well as the food court (just past your six, but they are almost always closed when I go there, in the hours of 3:00am to 6:00am) they have a cylindrical pillar in the food court that is mesmerizing. It has an LED tv screen wrapped around it and usually looks like a fish tank, but it also sometimes looks like an elevator in some nightmare robot factory. I’ve found that while the staff is very helpful and friendly, they will not help you to locate any lost members of your party, so stick together. It is very easy to loose track of your friends if you or they wander off and turn a corner. The casino seems to be arranged like a maze that is intended to make keeping track of where you or others are impossible. That being said, if you loose here, which is to be expected, remember that the money you’ve lost is going to the local natives, and it is the least we can do after the horrible atrocities they have endured at the hands of our degenerate “founding fathers” over the last 200 years. Think of it as reparations.

If you are a non-smoker be prepared for the smoke. They may have a non-smoking area but I didnt see it. I live on the east coast, and the casinos are non-smoking so leaving reaking of smoke requires a shower . I went on a Monday around lunch and early evening on a Wednesday. My first 2 hours after getting my players card went well and I was up a few hundred. As it got more crowded the winning stopped. I am a $2.50 to $6.00 better, so when you put a few hundred in a machine and never get a bonus or a decent return hit it kind of makes you mad. I left being a couple hundred down. The Wednesday was way worse. None of the machines even wanted to let you play. If you do get a decent bonus you may want to get up and move games. I don't go to the casino expecting to win. If I leave even I'm pretty happy. All I can say is play smart and be prepared for the smoke. It was a nice, newer casino and they had drink machines for free coffee and soda. All of the staff I came in contact with were very nice and servers also came around with drinks. I did not try the food.

Jamul Casino is always an enjoyable place to spend some money quickly. If only I could cash out while I'm still ahead!

The ambiance was excellent, and there was a wide selection of restaurants to choose from.