Pechanga Resort & Casino

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 9:23 AM

Thank you to everyone who voted for us in the North County Times’ and Californian’s second annual Readers’ Choice Awards. This year we came away with 16 wins, with nearly all of our amenities making the list.

Check out the categories we were a favorite in:

Casino
Pechanga Resort & Casino

Concert Venue
Pechanga Theater

Golf Course
Journey at Pechanga

Golf Hole
6th @ Journey at Pechanga

Nightclub
Eagle’s Nest
Silk

Asian Food
Blazing Noodles

Buffet
Pechanga Buffet

Italian Food
Paisano’s Italian

Steakhouse
Great Oak Steakhouse

Seafood
Seafood Grotto

Fine Dining
Great Oak Steakhouse

Breakfast/Brunch
Pechanga Café

Wedding Spot
Pechanga Resort & Casino

Burger
Kelsey’s

Chef
Chris O’Connell – Great Oak Steakhouse

Karaoke
Cabaret Lounge

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 3:13 PM

This year continues to be a great year for entertainment at Pechanga Resort & Casino. Our next four shows are sold out, and our remaining shows are selling quickly.

To add to our already exciting lineup, we just put the following shows on sale: John Legend (Nov. 5), Lifehouse (Nov. 20) and Neil Sedaka (Dec. 4).

American Idol fans will also be glad to know that Season 8 winner Kris Allen will be joining Lifehouse on their tour, making for an even more entertaining show.

We know these shows will sell quickly, so head over to our entertainment page to reserve your seats today.

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 9:59 AM

Southland Golf Magazine recently interviewed Corey Pavin, Journey at Pechanga Ambassador and 2010 Ryder Cup Captain, at his golf clinic/meet-and-greet at Journey in July.

You can check out their video interview below and watch our interview with Pavin where we ask him about Tiger Woods.

Southland Golf’s readers also recently named Journey ‘Best Clubhouse’ and Pechanga as ‘Best Resort.’

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 7:09 PM

So, you think you can dance? (Yeah, we said it.)

Well, we have good news: Kym Johnson and Damian Whitewood from the hit show ‘Dancing with the Stars’ will be hosting the ‘Dance Your Money Maker Off’ dance competition Aug. 20 at Silk the Club.

Who can enter the competition?

Anyone who thinks they can dance. Keep in mind they’ll be playing Top 40 music that night, so if you can dance to it, Kym & Damian would love to see you perform. This is open to both males & females, as well as solo/couples/groups.

How do I enter the competition?

1. Post a video of yourself (or your couple) dancing on our Facebook page (click the video icon and then upload a video to our page).

OR 2. You can also simply post a link to a YouTube video on our page’s wall.

OR 3. Send us a video link here.

If you have any questions about entering, leave a comment below or ask us on our Facebook page.

When will I know if I get to come compete?

Only finalists chosen prior to the event will be given the chance to come dance at Silk for Kym & Damian. Those finalists will be informed one week prior to the show (Aug. 13, 2010) and announced on our Facebook page.

What do I win if I win the competition?

Aside from getting to dance in front of two famous dancers with more connections than you, we’ll also be awarding a Silk trophy, autographed posters from Damian & Kym and a $150 Pechanga gift card.

We look forward to the competition and hopefully seeing you there.

No purchase necessary. Management reserves all rights.

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 5:30 PM

It’s racing season again at Del Mar, and as a proud partner of the Del Mar Racetrack, we’re excited to offer all Pechanga Club Card holders free admission every Wednesday and Thursday, in addition to a 2-for-1 deal on all other racing days.

Check out the racing schedule to find a day that works for you. Between the races, atmosphere, hats, food and entertainment, it’s definitely worth checking out.

The world-famous, undefeated horse Zenyatta is scheduled to race August 7th, a must-see for sure (and with a 2-for-1 deal from us, why not?). Which race are you looking forward to?

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 2:46 PM

Recipe by Kelsey’s Chef Javier Castro

Check out this delicious, healthy summer salad recipe from Kelsey’s Chef Javier Castro. Leave a comment below to tell us about your favorite summer salads. 

Ingredients

• Shrimp u-12, grilled - 3 each 
• Spring mix lettuce - 4 oz
• Roasted Corn - 1 oz
• Tomatoes, diced - 1 oz      
• Tomato Wedges - 3 each
• Popcorn Shoots - 1 oz
• Beet Sprout - 1 oz
• Vinaigrette - 2 oz (see below)

Marinade shrimp in olive oil lemon salt and pepper for 15 minutes. Place shrimp on the grill and cook until done set a side. Combine spring mix, roasted corn, diced tomato, popcorn shoot, and beet sprout in mixing bowl.  Drizzle Raspberry vinaigrette over top and toss.  Assemble the mixture onto plate.  Place the three shrimp around the base of the salad.  Place the three tomato wedges in between shrimp.  Top with left over popcorn shoots in center, and scatter beet sprouts over the salad.  

For Vinaigrette:

• Raspberries, fresh - 4 oz
• Red wine vinegar - 2 tablespoon
• Fresh thyme leaves picked - 1 teaspoon
• Shallots, minced -  1 teaspoon
• Honey - 1 teaspoon
• Olive oil - 1 cup
• Salt - 1 teaspoon

Add all ingredients to clean food processor except olive oil. Pulse to combine and scrape edges. Turn on and pour olive oil in steady to emulsify, season to finish.

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:43 AM

Here are the highlights from the most recent Q&A with our VP of Slots, Buddy Frank, via our Facebook page. Be sure to tune in and ask your question every other week.

Which slot machines have the best payouts?

There’s no easy answer to which machine has the best payouts. Megabucks, Wheel of Fortune, Wizard of Oz and the other nationally linked progressive machines have the largest payouts. Ironically, these games sometimes have the worst odds. The loosest odds in any casino tend to be the video poker machines (same here at Pechanga). Then there is everything in between. My personal favorite this week are the Bally Quick Hit Platinum machines in pennies with the tall video screens.

Do casinos make slot machines looser on certain days?

It’s quite a bit of work to change the machine odds, and you’d have hate your employees if you made them change the odds every other day. Some folks believe that the machines are looser after big weekends (not true). Or that new machines are looser when they first hit the floor (not true). The “truth” is that Lady Luck (also known as the random number generator in the game) is the only thing that counts.

Do more people win on penny machines than quarter machines?

There are more “winners” on the pennies, simply because they get played more. However, the “bigger” winners at Pechanga are generally on the $1 and up machines since the individual jackpots are higher. We also say that the pennies have higher “hit frequencies.” This is why players like them. Even though they are not as loose as the $1 and up machines, they have a lot of smaller, frequent jackpots that make them more fun.

Are slot machines set up to hit quick when they have been idle for a while?

The amount of play a machine gets has little impact on the odds—-in most cases. Any machine can hit on any pull. I have seen back-to-back jackpots on the same game many times in my career, just like I noticed that once a game hits, it might not hit for a few weeks. Honestly, it’s about 50/50. It’s just the fickle whims of Lady Luck. (in case you are wondering about exceptions — the odds improve on single progressive machines as they get more play —since the jackpot meter grows. For us here at Pechanga, the payouts are the same, but a player will win more and his/her individual odds will be better. In other words, look for a machine with the highest meter reading in a group of similar machines.

How frequent do progressive slots hit?

We have hundreds of progressives and they are growing in popularity each day. I don’t recall a single day when at least a hundred progressive didn’t hit. However, if you’re are talking about the really big ones ($100,000 and more), they hit here every few months and seem to come in waves. We had $113,093 on July 4th - $447,655 in June and a $1,061,225 in October. However, we’ve had a flurry of $50,000 jackpots recently with over a dozen hits in the last 30 days. Yes, Christina, the best odds are still video poker if you are a skilled player.

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 7:45 PM

Statement from John Palinkas, President of Pechanga Development Corporation, regarding the reported 5.4 earthquake centered 15 miles Northwest of Borrego Springs:

We are very pleased to report that there were no injuries or any damages from the earthquake that occurred at 4:53pm today. In addition there was no interruption to business of any kind.

Our Team Members and patrons were very surprised at the long and rolling quake that seemed to last much longer than it actually did. It instantly led to property-wide conversations among the thousands working and visiting us at the time. The Pechanga Fire Department, our Department of Public Safety and our Facilities Department have conducted thorough inspections of the facility and have no injuries or property damage to report. All infrastructure and utilities are intact and functioning properly.  

Pechanga Resort & Casino was originally built to meet or exceed the same earthquake standards as a hospital and is expected to withstand a quake more than 8.0 in magnitude.

There were no failures of any system. As of 6:30pm tonight, our facilities crew was performing a second walkthrough of the property and plumbing system to inspect for damage. Our hotel elevators did perform an automatic earthquake reset as they are designed to do for any quake 4.0 and above, in order to ensure the safety of our guests. Hotel guests that wanted to visit the casino floor were rerouted and escorted by Department of Public Safety officers.

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 2:27 PM

Few slot machines can blow you away from yards away; IGT’s ‘Wheel of Fortune Experience’ does just that.

With five machines connected to a 103-inch screen (plus an additional two 40-inch screens on each side), it’s hard to miss the latest addition to the Wheel of Fortune slot series.

The machines use innovative new technology that create a 3D effect on the screens to simulate the look of realistic reels.

The real fun though with this behemoth is the community play that comes with the bonus round, which allows three players to try and solve a classic word puzzle and then earn all players a bonus.

The games attached to the overall display are called Safari 7s and Red White & Blue and are dollar games, with a 3 credit max bet per line.

And for you ‘American Idol’ fans, get ready for when the first ‘Idol’-themed slot debuts in the same size and format soon.

The game can be found near the Silk elevators, but trust us when we say it won’t be hard to miss.

Check out the video below for a quick peek:

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 6:49 PM

We’re excited to introduce a new Facebook game centered around our property-wide ‘Summer of Fun’ promotion. There are ways to win all summer long at Pechanga (and not just on property).

The slot-themed game has everything from pirate battles to exciting timed bonus rounds. The game will often take away what you’ve earned (sound like a slot machine yet?), making for an exciting, unpredictable experience. There are opportunities to brag about your accomplishments and invite friends to help you along in the game.

The prizes for this edition of the game include: Backstreet Boys tickets + VIP passes, free gas money and gift cards for the Pechanga Spa.

We hope you check it out and stay tuned for more Summer of Fun themed games throughout the summer.

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:10 AM

As a proud partner of the Los Angeles Lakers, we here at Pechanga are happy to congratulate the Lakers on a great season and for making it to the NBA Finals once again.

We also wish them the best of luck tonight with Game 1 against the Boston Celtics. Which team do you think will take the title this year in the Celtics-Lakers saga?

Did You Know: We are also proud sponsors of the LA Galaxy and LA Angels.

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:08 AM

Check out our latest promotion as part of Pechanga’s Summer of Fun. Have you played the Lucky Dragon Boat Race game yet?

Sat, 29 May 2010 5:32 PM

We wanted to recommend to the Pechanga community a great winery to check out locally while staying the weekend with us.

Taste of Temecula, a local food & dining site, was kind enough to ask their community of food, dining and wine lovers for a recommendation for us. The votes are in and the most popular recommendation was: Palumbo Family Vineyards and Winery.

Palumbo has a collection of small lot, handcrafted wines from varieties grown on property. Check out Taste of Temecula’s official review of the winery and why they, too, recommend it.

We also awarded one of their readers a $50 gift card to our Great Oak Steakhouse, home to a wide collection of wine from around the world.

Have you already been to Palumbo? What did you think?

Wed, 26 May 2010 4:02 PM

We’re excited to be hosting the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest at the Pechanga Theater June 6 at 6 p.m. where five finalists will compete to move on to compete against other Elvis tribute artists from around the world.

In addition to the show on June 6, we will (via our Facebook page) be giving away a free night stay at the Heartbreak Hotel in Memphis (travel not included).

Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel is a fashionable boutique hotel that takes its cues from the legendary hospitality and personal style for which the King of Rock & Roll was known.

To be entered to win, visit the show’s event posting on our Facebook page and RSVP to the event. One winner will be announced June 5.

No purchase necessary, must be 21+ to enter to win. Room is subject to availability. Prize has no cash value.

Fri, 21 May 2010 11:15 AM

We wanted to know the Pechanga Facebook community’s favorite gambling comeback stories, but we never expected to hear such epic tales from both here at Pechanga and abroad. Take a look at a few of our favorites below:

Eric won tickets to Ray Romano & Brad Garrett May 22 for being so persistent in making his recent comeback happen.

“Went to Pechanga one saturday and played jackpot station amongst other games but mostly that game. I lost my $800 bank roll in no time. I was so bummed since I knew it was going to be a long hour plus drive home to Long Beach, and I had pretty much just got there. So I left and came home. It bugged me all night, I couldn’t even sleep. So when sunlight hit at around 5:45 am I got dressed and drove right back to pechanga. I was determind to win. Sat down played jackpot station and lost another 300 bucks.I was crushed. Walked back to the parking lot and began to drive away when my wife says “You know we have another hundred bucks we can play.” That’s all I needed to hear. I parked, sat back down at jackpot station and hit a bonus right away and walked out of the casino with $800 bucks. I know it wasn’t all I lost but I felt sooo awesome. Now that’s a comeback story. literally. hah” - Eric J.

Pauline won a Pechanga gift card for her story, which we simply had to recognize as an honorable mention:

“Lost my money, was waiting for my husband to finish up his. Was standing against a Hoot Loot machine looking at an ATM machine wondering if I should pull more money out, I did. Got a hundred dollar bill put into the Hoot Loot machine, selected 20 lines $1 each, hit the spin button, the machine went black!! OMG!

I thought it stole my money and was wondering how I was going to explain this to my husband, but like 15 seconds later it said JACKPOT on the screen. $4000 beautiful dollars! Went home not saying a word to my husband, until he came out of the shower and saw all the money covering the bed!! You should have seen the look on his face!!” - Pauline L.

From $100 to $4,000

“We were at TI 2000 Super Bowl Sun. after the game and about $150 left out of $1500 from a fun weekend, we thought one more $100 then off to bed to drive home Mon. we went over to the $5 machines and dropped it in, playing one coin at a time hit for $1000 my husband and I were with a couple of friends so I gave them some money, the four of us were playing the whole row of $5 machines, It seemed every one we played hit… CRAZY!!! We walked away with $4000 so then on our way to bed one last stop at the roulette one more number can’t remember the number but hit for $600. It was like Lady Luck was sitting right on my shoulder……Once in a life…..awww I hope not” - Tammy C.

From $20 to $9,576.17

“Went to ENCORE in Vegas 4 months after they had opened. @ 5am my husband and i called it a night cuz we lost a lot at the Roulette table. I decided to stop by @ a penny machine with a max bet of $1.80. It had a progressive of $9,576.17.

I put a $20.00 and the first time i bet.. got the JACKPOT BABY! the funny thing is that we were so tired that we didn’t noticed that we had won. I kept trying to bet but it wouldn’t until the attend said that we had won… best ever! So really it’s all about luck and timing!” - Kathryn Serafin

From $200 to $5,000 (at Pechanga no less)

“Went out to Pechanga with my wife for dinner and some gambling….bought in the Craps table for $100 each, wasn’t going to hot…at one point we had all monies on the table then cards kept hitting 4, we kept pressing the bets we ended up with a $200 bet on 4 and we went home with $5000” - John C.

From $40 in poker to a streak of awesome

“I had 40 dollars left…I went to the poker room and played a 1-2 no limit game….down to 8 bucks….I went all in with a 5/7 off suit made a straight..won that pot…THEN after that 2 hours later im up 1300 dollars!!!!! I LOVE PECHANGA!!!! WOOP WOOP!!!! On top of that I got High hand of the hour two times!!! For an extra 150 bucks each!!! I had four of a kind 8’s and A STRAIGHT FLUSH!!! It was amazing, the most insane lucky streak I have ever had!!!!” - Adrianne H.

Wed, 19 May 2010 11:00 AM

If you weren’t able to make it out to the Wango Village before Wango Tango to see the Pechanga Boardwalk, check out the video tour below with KIIS-FM’s TJ and Karli.

Or check out our photo gallery on Facebook. If you were there, leave a comment about your Wango Tango experience below.

Tue, 18 May 2010 10:27 AM

Stay tuned for more news on this year’s Pechanga Pow Wow…

Fri, 14 May 2010 3:22 PM

Here are the highlights from the most recent Q&A with our VP of Slots, Buddy Frank, via our Facebook page. Be sure to tune in and ask your question every other week.

What time of day do the biggest slot jackpots happen?

Almost anytime. The largest was a $38.7M payoff on a $3 bet on MegaBucks at the Excaliber in Las Vegas. A 25-year old software engineer came to watch the NCAA basketball tournament on March 21, 2003 and won $38.7 million at 1:16 p.m. Here at Pechanga, our most recent big wins were also in the early evening; however there have been big hits in the middle of the night. Last month there was an $800K win at 7 a.m. which is not common. It appears that Lady Luck has no consistent pattern and never sleeps.

Why are you taking all the three reel, 3 and 5 line machines off the floor?

Video reels started disapppearing about three years ago with the boom in video reel games. However, the good news is they are making a comeback. We added over 150 this year alone in three, four and five reel games. Our single most poplar model is still a three-reel Bally Bonus Times game. They may be leaving elsewhere, but reel games are alive and well at Pechanga. However, some themes such as Red, White and Blue (which was Number One ten years ago) have just about disappeared.

Why is it always so hard to get some help on a machine?

We apologize about that. I have two suggestions to help: 1. - our change or service buttons are now hooked to an automated system and response should be much faster than years ago. Two, we have a radio dispatch system with operators that standy. Any team member (employee) can call the slot dispatch number for you get a slot attendant there quick.

Thu, 13 May 2010 5:52 PM

May is Celiac Disease Awareness month and we have good news for the three million Americans who have been diagnosed with this genetic disorder.

Check out the list of foods below that are gluten-free at Pechanga’s restaurants:

Great Oak: Shrimp cocktail, oysters, tomato & red onion salad, all steaks, lamb, lobster tail, and swordfish.

Blazing Noodles: All Pho soups are gluten-free as they have rice noodles and do not use soy, Singapore noodles, imperial rolls, tom yum goong, spring rolls.

Seafood Grotto: All fish and seafood items that are grilled or steamed, caprese salad, ceviche, lobster and shrimp cocktail, greek salad, sushi if not dipped in soy

Kelsey’s: Cobb salad, wedge salad, all steaks are safe with steak fries, a baked potato, corn or broccoli.

Thu, 13 May 2010 10:55 AM

K-FROG is hosting their 8th annual “K-FROG Cares Golf Classic & Concert,” featuring Luke Bryan and Jewel at the Pechanga Theater. Proceeds from the event will benefit Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.

LLUCH is the world leader in infant heart transplantation, pioneering this life-saving procedure and comprehensive care for children to keep your family healthy and thriving. They are doing some amazing work and you can follow this link to submit a donation to their efforts.

Jewel is set to perform an intimate acoustic performance tonight at 7 p.m. to a sold out crowd. Post your reviews of the show later tonight below.