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Ilani Casino located off of Interstate 5, near La Center, Washington is the largest casino in Southwestern Washington and the closest one to Portland. I made the drive up on a Tuesday evening to check it out for the first time. Before heading up I knew next to nothing about the place, a co worker of mine had been a couple times and had said it was one of the nicest places he had been outside of Nevada, but he is not much of a gambler.
Getting there / Arrival
Getting there was easy, even in quasi rush hour traffic from Portland it took barely over half an hour via Interstate 205 to Interstate 5 and then into their parking lot. Parking was plentiful, and on a Tuesday evening that was to be expected, I had no issues finding parking at all. The lot itself was well lit. There are two entrances, one main one, and then the second entrance for VIP/Valet, I used the main one as I am clearly no VIP there.
Design/Layout
Upon entering the front doors, I was surprised at how bright and light colored the area was. Compared to many other casinos I have been to in Nevada as well as Oregon there are usually more dark colors, darker carpeting and less bright lights around. Seeing around Ilani was easy, signage was clear and the whole casino is set up in a very easy to navigate way. The building is essentially a big square with restaurants around the perimeter of the property while all the gaming takes place in the center. The one exception to that is the 360 Bar in the center of the casino.
Ilani Casino News
The casino was exceptionally clean. Both on the casino floor but in the restrooms as well. There was no shortage of support staff cleaning throughout the casino while I was there. This was very impressive to me as even some high end places I have been in Las Vegas can begin to look a little tired and dirty towards the end of a day.
Dining/Drinks
I did not dine at any of the dining options, however the choices were plentiful, from burgers to sushi and a steakhouse and more, there were ample dining options. On another visit I am sure to take the time to enjoy one of their many food choices. The 360 bar had a decent selection of beers, with several local options.
Slots/Video Poker
Now, for the gaming, when it came to slots and video poker, I was incredibly disappointed. Perhaps I am just used to how everything is in Nevada but Ilani left a lot to be desired. All of the slots required a player to play all lines on a given game. There was no option to play however many lines you wanted, so it was very easy to end up with a small amount of change left and no way to play it on any of the machines. Not the end of the world but clearly annoying and so very different from what I have experienced at any other casino I have ever been to.
As for video poker, good lord what a joke. There are perhaps eight video poker machines in the entire casino. They are all at the 25-cent denomination and a variation of Double Bonus which is not bad, but only having such a limited amount of them is damn near unheard of. As my second favorite game to play, I was very disappointed in that.
Table Games
The table game selection was good, offering Blackjack, Craps, Midi-Baccarat, Spanish 21, Pai Gow, Roulette, Three Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em. I played blackjack for a good bit and was able to double my small buy in. The Blackjack was dealt out of a shoe, at least six decks of card were used and Black Jacks were paid at 3/2 which was a very welcome surprise. I was afraid it was going to be dreaded 6/5 blackjack. The chairs were quite comfortable at the tables and were not hard on my butt or back. One minor thing is that they use $2.50 chips to pay for Black jacks if you bet $5 so there are no 50 cent pieces in circulation.
On the Tuesday night I was there, I spotted blackjack tables at the $5, $10, and $50 minimums, all located outside of the high limit area. I did not pop into the high limit area to see what the minimums were there.
Poker Room
There at present is not a poker room at the venue, one is supposedly coming in the future but there is no set date for its opening.
Closest Town Near Ilani Casino Washington Harbor
Race/Sports Book
This isn’t Nevada, so there isn’t one.
Players Club/Rewards Program
Ilani is part of the Momentum rewards program which is also at Mohegan Sun, Mohegan Sun Pocono and Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Program has four tiers Core, Ignite, Leap, and Ascend. They do offer a tier match program with any other Oregon or Washington casino players club. Momentum Dollars are redeemable at all shops and restaurants at the property.
Overall impression
Ilani Casino Washington State
All in all Ilani is a very impressive property, especially for being so close to Portland. It was clean, well-organized and had a large selection of games and dining options. However I am disappointed with its lack of video poker, which for me is a pretty sizable drawback for me. I also know from the words of my co worker that on weekends when it would generally be easier for me to get there, the table minimums are drastically higher which is a turn off as well. Still, it is nice to have somewhere so nice so close to home.