Cache Creek May 2026
May 2nd, 2026 at 1:48:54 PM
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I got a comped room on a FRIDAY night at Cache Creek Resort in middle-of-nowhere California, about an hour’s drive west of Sacramento.
I’d had a players card since the early 2000s, but they recently revamped their website and encouraged me by email to go on the site, create an account, and check for room offers. So I did!
I was able to check in a little before 2 p.m. The North Tower rooms are older, but the Mrs prefers them because those rooms have bathtubs. The South Tower is where the family swimming pool and fitness center are located. I stopped by after lunch and had a good swim in the 79-degree weather. The fitness center is decent-sized, with a small stretching/yoga area. It’s tucked away in the middle of the 5th floor, and seems little-used.
For gambling, the Mrs. hit four aces with a kicker for $500 within 5 minutes of sitting down. I was eating lunch at the Sports Page restaurant. Fish and chips and fries were good, but the side of cole slaw was ridiculously small. I asked if I could have another one, and the server brought out a cup of cole slaw, but then charged me $4. Oh well. I joined the Mrs. and was up $12.50 in DDB (dealt trip-deuces didn’t improve!), then she wanted to eat. I ate a bit of her chicken burrito—it tasted light and good!
Later, I played $25 minimum Pai Gow Tiles (their other two tables were $50), buying in for $100. Here’s how it went:
1. P
2. P
3. P
4. P
5. L
6. L
7. L
8. L
I timed it: $100 lost in about 22 minutes.
I went over to the $10 minimum craps-with-cards table. (It was $5 surprisingly up until 8:40 p.m., and right when I was about to buy-in, they changed the minimum (the table limit display has a touch-screen interface!). I was even for two shooters, then it was my turn to roll. I bet $10 pass line and rolled a 6. Place the 8. I made my 6, then came out with an 8. Everyone moved their place bets over to the 6. I wound up rolling for 20 minutes but with 5s, 9s, 11s, a 4, maybe a 10, everything but the 6 or 8. So I made a lot of money for everyone else, but when I 7-out, I was down $11! I finished down $48.
We had dinner at a their version of the coffee shop, sharing a chicken noodle soup, buffalo wings, and a grilled chicken spinach salad. All very good. For our usual evening walk, we did three laps around the casino, which was 1 mile. It’s a much smaller casino than its nearby rival, Thunder Valley.
We decided to play some reel slots. The Mrs. lost her buy-in fairly quickly. I was playing 5x$0.25, and was going down and up. I saw a lot of wild, double, and triple bars showing up—teasing me. So I started playing 9x$0.25, and in the words of Vegas Matt, I got wrecked! Lost $112.50.
All in all, though, a good time.
I’d had a players card since the early 2000s, but they recently revamped their website and encouraged me by email to go on the site, create an account, and check for room offers. So I did!
I was able to check in a little before 2 p.m. The North Tower rooms are older, but the Mrs prefers them because those rooms have bathtubs. The South Tower is where the family swimming pool and fitness center are located. I stopped by after lunch and had a good swim in the 79-degree weather. The fitness center is decent-sized, with a small stretching/yoga area. It’s tucked away in the middle of the 5th floor, and seems little-used.
For gambling, the Mrs. hit four aces with a kicker for $500 within 5 minutes of sitting down. I was eating lunch at the Sports Page restaurant. Fish and chips and fries were good, but the side of cole slaw was ridiculously small. I asked if I could have another one, and the server brought out a cup of cole slaw, but then charged me $4. Oh well. I joined the Mrs. and was up $12.50 in DDB (dealt trip-deuces didn’t improve!), then she wanted to eat. I ate a bit of her chicken burrito—it tasted light and good!
Later, I played $25 minimum Pai Gow Tiles (their other two tables were $50), buying in for $100. Here’s how it went:
1. P
2. P
3. P
4. P
5. L
6. L
7. L
8. L
I timed it: $100 lost in about 22 minutes.
I went over to the $10 minimum craps-with-cards table. (It was $5 surprisingly up until 8:40 p.m., and right when I was about to buy-in, they changed the minimum (the table limit display has a touch-screen interface!). I was even for two shooters, then it was my turn to roll. I bet $10 pass line and rolled a 6. Place the 8. I made my 6, then came out with an 8. Everyone moved their place bets over to the 6. I wound up rolling for 20 minutes but with 5s, 9s, 11s, a 4, maybe a 10, everything but the 6 or 8. So I made a lot of money for everyone else, but when I 7-out, I was down $11! I finished down $48.
We had dinner at a their version of the coffee shop, sharing a chicken noodle soup, buffalo wings, and a grilled chicken spinach salad. All very good. For our usual evening walk, we did three laps around the casino, which was 1 mile. It’s a much smaller casino than its nearby rival, Thunder Valley.
We decided to play some reel slots. The Mrs. lost her buy-in fairly quickly. I was playing 5x$0.25, and was going down and up. I saw a lot of wild, double, and triple bars showing up—teasing me. So I started playing 9x$0.25, and in the words of Vegas Matt, I got wrecked! Lost $112.50.
All in all, though, a good time.
May 2nd, 2026 at 2:46:04 PM
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I still remember the TV commercials:
Cache Creek...where blackjack always pays 3-2...and all our dealers stand on Soft 17.
The part they leave out:
Just remember to turn left on Woodland Avenue (at Hog Canyon Deli) in Esparto, or you'll end up in the middle of Yolo Valley nowhere.
Cache Creek...where blackjack always pays 3-2...and all our dealers stand on Soft 17.
The part they leave out:
Just remember to turn left on Woodland Avenue (at Hog Canyon Deli) in Esparto, or you'll end up in the middle of Yolo Valley nowhere.
