Owned by Station Casinos, Green Valley Ranch opened on December 18th, 2001. Located south of Las Vegas in the heart of Henderson, GVR is easily one of the better off-strip casinos in Clark County. Featuring a Mediterranean theme, Green Valley Ranch is a local casino that we don’t expect to be frequented by many tourists outside of Utah, Arizona, and California.
There are a few different entrances into the casino, but no matter where you go valet and self-parking in the outdoor lot are all free. All self-parking areas outside of GVR will take you right to the sportsbook.
The casino floor is pretty dark just about everywhere, but we had fun walking around looking at all the creative colors, architecture and designs of the restaurants and lounges. The hotel includes a salon and spa, and Green Valley Ranch also sports a movie house with ten theaters and an arcade for the kids.
Casino at Green Valley Ranch
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The total gaming space on the casino floor is larger than most, coming in at just under 144,000 square feet. All of the table games are located in their own separate area, which is laid out in the shape of a circle. The game options here are satisfactory, and you can find $5 min. tables for almost all of them. The high limit room is just a short walk from the table games.
A keno book is also available right near the poker room, and daily bingo games are offered on the odd hours of the day from 9-11.
In terms of waitresses, pit bosses and dealers, the entire gaming staff was very friendly – as is usually the case for local casinos.
A look at the Keno lounge:
Baccarat
There was just one table on the main floor with a $10 minimum bet. Unlike most baccarat tables, GVR’s also offered a bad beat jackpot.
Blackjack
Though they do have them, on our last visit to Green Valley Ranch, none of the many blackjack games had a $5 min, but this could always change depending on the current action. We were happy to see that 3-2 odds was the going rate for all the double deck and full shoe games which had minimums of $10, $15, and $25. It was a little odd seeing a $10 table be double deck next to a $15 table dealing out a full shoe, but we figure the $15 table must be for those who don’t have delusions of counting cards. The dealer must hit on soft 17, and if you like other variations of blackjack that have separate rules, Free Bet Blackjack was also in play.
The only table that paid 6-5 on blackjack made sense because it was the single deck game, and their minimum was $10.
Craps
There are plenty of craps tables with mostly $5 minimums, and the odds payouts were 10x.
Roulette
The rules for every table were standard with two zeros, and tables allowed either a $5 or $10 minimum on the inside or outside.
Other Green Valley Ranch Table Games
GVR had a chunk of other games, all available at $5 minimums except for what is noted:
– Three Card Poker
– High Card Flush
– Ultimate Texas Hold’em with Progressive Bonuses
– Pai Gow Poker with Progressive Bonuses
– Crazy 4 Poker with Progressive Bonuses
– Face Up Poker Pai Gow with Progressive Bonuses ($10 minimum)
High Limit Room at Green Valley Ranch
Combined with the high limit slots, the high limit table games are located in a large space. They offered privacy while also being near the main casino floor. The games in the high limit room were limited to just blackjack and baccarat. Baccarat’s limit was $50, and blackjack’s two tables were for $50 and $100, respectively.
Both blackjack games were double deck, but the rules were a little different allowing the player to split aces up to four times, and the dealer must stand on soft 17.
Slots at Green Valley Ranch
Fearing more than 2,000 slots scattered all throughout its floor, GVR offers a wide array of new games to go with its leftovers. Limits started at a penny and went up to $1 with $0.10, $0.25, and $0.50 in between. Some of the most popular games we found here were Wheel of Fortune, Monopoly, Game of Thrones and several variations of Buffalo.
High Limit Slots at Green Valley Ranch
We were impressed by the size and seclusion of the high limit slots room. It clearly cares about serving its special players offering a mix of old and new machines with games like Cleopatra for $1, $5, $10, and $25 a pull. The room was mostly slots but was also touched up with some video poker games, most of which were older machines.
Video Poker at Green Valley Ranch
There are 14 varieties of video poker at GVR, and it can also be played for comped drinks at the bars. The odds are very good for players, offering upwards of 100% payback for Deuces Wild, Double Bonus, Double Double Bonus, and Loose Deuces Wild.
Its payouts don’t fall below 99.11%, and wager amounts start at $0.25, typically going up to $0.50 or $1 per play. It’s a solid deal, but compared to the rest of the casino there was little video poker.
Sportsbook at Green Valley Ranch
Having recently redone its racebook and sportsbook, Green Valley Ranch now strongly competes with all the other locals’ casinos around Las Vegas. The majority of TVs can be watched in HD, and the sportsbook comfortably seats well over 200 people by offering a mix of leather chairs and row desk seating, all of which have their own individual TV as well.
The VIP section of the sportsbook is large and distinctly separate with swivel chairs for the desk seats and also has large semicircle booths.
The sportsbook allows smoking except for pipes and cigars, but half the sportsbook is non-smoking. It has its own bathroom, can be accessed directly from the parking garage and outdoor lot, and is far away from the casino floor preventing any outside noise from causing a distraction.
Food is nearby at the Turf Grill, and sports bet drink tickets are only $20 per ticket while any bet at the racebook will earn you a drink ticket. $20 for a drink ticket may sound unfair, but this is the new age of drinks in the sportsbooks. Go to the strip and you will be required to bet way upwards of $50.
Station Casinos also has its own race and sports betting app. Opening an account is simple and free, but separate accounts are needed for the sports and horses. If you like live betting, which is betting on games after they have begun, the app allows you to for the majority of the games. You can also do it at the sportsbook, but not every day and it’s typically only available for whatever the most popular game going is.
Poker Room as Green Valley Ranch
We really liked the poker room (which is very spacious) but usually only a few of the 22 tables have a game going. Green Valley Ranch spreads Texas Hold’em and Omaha, but Hold’em is usually all they get. No Limit is $1-$2 most of the time, with the occasional $2-$5 $500 max on weekends or during the World Series of Poker, and limit generally stays at $2-$4 with the occasional $4/8$ Half-Kill.
Bad Beat Jackpots are in play along with some high hand bonuses. Food comps are earned every hour, and the rates double from 7-11 AM and 5-7 PM.
Surprisingly, GVR is also the occasional sleeper for a high stakes $10-$25 no limit game, but this is an infrequent unpredictable occurrence.
If you like tournaments, there is a $50 daily event at 10 AM with a prize pool guaranteeing $1,000, and GVR has also recently introduced $50 bounty tournaments every Monday and Wednesday at 6:30 PM which also guarantee $1,000.
Hotel at Green Valley Ranch
The hotel holds 495 rooms with a wide variety of suites. The standard room starts at a pretty standard 495 square feet, and it gets much bigger from there. The bigger the suite, the more likely it is reserved for VIP players, but you never know. Below we listed all of the room options for the Green Valley Ranch hotel:
– Standard room (495 square feet)
– Executive Suite (715 square feet)
– Grand Suite (1,000)
– Tuscany Suite (1,500)
– Mediterranean Suite (1,500)
– Geneva Suite (2,200)
– *Villa Suite (2,500)
*Villa suites each have their own private pool.
Various packages like a bed and breakfast deal, or those that include deals on the spa and things like that are offered each month, and residents of Utah, Arizona, and California may receive 50% off their room rate when staying at least two nights.
Perhaps the biggest drawback to Green Valley ranch is the gut wrenching $39 resort fee charged every night to everybody. For what it’s worth, the fee includes the Internet, fitness center, pool (food and drink service not included), shoe shine, and shuttles to the airport and strip.
Given that the average room rate for a standard room is usually a hefty $250 and the casino is also not even located near the strip, even with the strip shuttle service, GVR does not exactly scream value if you are looking for a mix of madness and seclusion.
Spa and Fitness Center
The spa, which is also accompanied by a salon tends to all types of hair services, nails, waxing, massage, body treatment, and facial treatment. The resort fee only include access, not the services themselves. The spa opens early and closes at 8 PM.
The fitness center has the same hours, but also offers every day in the morning and sometimes evening a variety of Yoga, Pilates, and other classes that help center the mind with the body.
Restaurants at Green Valley Ranch
We were pleased to see a diverse variety of food options. Though there wasn’t much fine dining, the casual options are reasonably priced. In addition to a large food court, the restaurants were:
– Borracha: Mexican Cantina
– Bottiglia: Italian with wine, Sunday Brunch, Happy Hour, and packages that include the spa.
– Grand Café: 24/7
– Feast Buffet: $22 dinner, $41 seafood buffet on Fridays
– Pizza Rock
– Tides Seafood & Sushi Bar
– Turf Grill (by the sportsbook)
Fine Dining
Hank’s Fine Steaks is the lone high end restaurant, but you won’t have to refinance your house to eat here. Complete with a full wine list and happy hour menu in its bar/lounge, Hank’s opens every day for dinner in the early evening and sometimes features live music.
Bars at Green Valley Ranch
In addition to Hank’s, GVR provides five other additional bars for your drinking needs:
– Sip: open daily with a wide selection of cocktails and martinis
– Drop Bar: bottle service available and also hosts live music. Reservations needed.
– Lobby Bar: open daily for wine and beer drinkers
– Sports Bar: 24/7. right behind sportsbook with lots of TVs and video poker
– The Pond: Adult only resort pool. By waterfall with bottle service available. No additional cover charge.