Wind River Hotel & Casino is a Northern Arapaho casino hotel on the Wind River Reservation, about two miles south of Riverton, Wyoming. Its strongest reason to visit is convenience: a substantial machine selection, attached hotel, casual dining, and paid RV spaces at one stop. I see it as a practical choice for regional gamblers and road-trippers, rather than a resort getaway. The main limitation is planning certainty: live poker, particular table games, sportsbook hours, and late-night dining need confirmation before you make the drive.
Wind River Hotel & Casino: quick facts
| Location | 180 Red Wolf Place, Riverton, WY 82501, off Highway 789 |
|---|---|
| Property type | Tribal casino with an attached hotel and paid RV spaces |
| Owner and operator | Northern Arapaho Tribe |
| Casino hours | Reported open 24 hours daily; individual gaming and dining schedules differ |
| Gaming machines | More than 800 reported, including slots, keno, and video poker |
| Live tables | Approximately 10 reported; not necessarily all operating simultaneously |
| Poker room | No |
| Sportsbook | Buffalo Sportsbook reported operating |
| Hotel | Approximately 90 rooms reported; all hotel rooms officially designated non-smoking |
| Dining | Cee Nokuu Café, Watering Hole Sports Bar, and Buffalo Coffee |
| Parking | Free general parking reported; overnight RV spaces cost extra |
| Hotel reservations | (866) 657-1604 |
| Supplied research date | October 12, 2026 |
Gaming counts, hotel size, casino-floor hours, and free parking come from the August 13, 2026, editorial review, not an official property inventory. Treat them as planning guidance rather than a guaranteed arrival-day lineup.
Property overview
Think regional casino hotel, not a miniature Las Vegas Strip resort. Wind River combines gambling, a meal, and a bed without another drive at the end of the evening. Northern Arapaho ownership and the reservation setting give it an identity beyond the machines.
That arrangement makes sense for a casino-centered overnight stay. For a sightseeing trip, I would compare the location with your actual itinerary. A convenient room beside the casino is not automatically the most convenient room for every Wyoming excursion.
Casino floor and gaming
The reported lineup includes more than 800 gaming machines, live tables, a sportsbook, and paper pull tabs. This appears to be a machine-led casino with additional choices, rather than a property built around its table-game pit.
The casino floor is reported to operate around the clock and to be smoke-free. The hotel separately confirms non-smoking rooms. If avoiding smoke is essential, confirm the current casino-floor policy before traveling.
Slots and video poker
The secondary review describes classic slots, video reels, progressive jackpots, keno, and video poker, and names Wheel of Fortune, Dragon Link, and Lightning Link. Titles rotate, so check before building a trip around a particular cabinet.
My usual advice applies: look at the total wager, not just the denomination. A penny machine can ask for considerably more than a penny per spin. For video poker, inspect the actual pay table. The game name alone does not tell you whether you have found an appealing version.
Nothing in the published information supports calling Wind River’s machines loose or tight. Someone else’s winning afternoon is a nice story, not a payout study.
Table games
reports approximately 10 live tables and names blackjack, craps, roulette, and poker. Current minimum bets and a complete dealer schedule are not established here. Ask about your preferred game and arrival time. A 24-hour casino does not necessarily mean 24-hour craps.
At blackjack, check the payout and other posted rules before buying in. I care more about the game being offered than whether its minimum looks inviting on a sign.
Does Wind River have a poker room?
Do not assume there is a regularly operating live poker room. The sources mention poker but do not establish a current room size, cash-game schedule, or tournament calendar.
If poker is the purpose of your trip, ask specifically about player-versus-player games, stakes, and operating hours. Video poker and poker-based pit games are different products.
Buffalo Sportsbook
The August 2026 editorial review reports an operating Buffalo Sportsbook with large-screen TVs and wagering options including spreads, totals, money lines, parlays, and futures.
Current betting-counter hours, kiosk availability, and the technology operator are not established by the supplied official pages. Confirm wagering access if you are planning around an event. Watering Hole bar hours are not necessarily sportsbook hours, and having a mobile account elsewhere does not guarantee access here.
Hotel rooms and booking costs
The attached hotel reportedly has approximately 90 rooms. Official categories include standard king rooms, two-queen rooms, suites, designated pet-friendly rooms, and accessible rooms.
Standard rooms advertise complimentary Wi-Fi, a microwave, a refrigerator, a coffee maker, and an in-room safe. Those are useful road-trip amenities. I would start with a standard room for a short casino stay and consider a suite if the extra living space fits the trip.
Staying on-site removes a drive after dinner or drinks. That practical benefit may matter more than a room upgrade.
Taxes, deposits, and room rates
The hotel publishes a 10% lodging tax per room and requires an incidental deposit, but does not disclose the deposit amount in the supplied text. No dependable current starting room rate or resort-fee amount is established here.
As an explicitly illustrative example, a $150.00 pretax room quote would carry $15.00 in lodging tax under the published rate. This is not an advertised Wind River room price, and it excludes other applicable charges and the incidental deposit.
Tribal, government, group, and AAA rates are listed without prices. Compare the full booking cost and cancellation terms, not just the quoted nightly rate. Obtain check-in and check-out times from your reservation confirmation.
Pets and accessible rooms
The lodging page lists nine pet rooms available by request and a $25.00 additional pet charge. It does not specify whether that charge is per night or per stay. Reserve the appropriate room and clarify the billing.
Accessible bathroom configurations differ: five rooms list tub and shower handrails, while one lists a walk-in or roll-in shower. Request the feature you need. An accessible-room label is not enough if a roll-in shower is essential.
Restaurants and bars
The official dining material identifies Cee Nokuu Café, Watering Hole Sports Bar, and Buffalo Coffee as the practical choices to plan around.
Cee Nokuu Café
Cee Nokuu serves breakfast plates, burgers, sandwiches, frybread dishes, and other casual meals. Its Indian Taco is listed at $12.00, and the menu advertises complimentary soda and coffee at the beverage station.
- Sunday through Thursday: 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday: 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
- Breakfast: 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
A limited late-night menu is advertised Thursday through Saturday without precise service hours. I would use the official schedule rather than the secondary review’s description of a 24-hour café, and confirm late-night service directly.
Watering Hole Sports Bar
The dedicated Watering Hole page lists made-to-order food, beer, cocktails, spirits, TVs, and bar-top gaming machines. The menu includes burgers, sandwiches, pizza, wings, and ribs. This is the more natural choice for a meal built around watching sports.
Closing times conflict: the official dining overview lists 11:00 p.m., while the dedicated bar page lists 9:00 p.m. Both show an 11:00 a.m. opening. The dedicated page advertises happy hour from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Confirm kitchen and bar closing times rather than assuming the later schedule applies.
Buffalo Coffee and Red Willow
Buffalo Coffee advertises Starbucks products, specialty drinks, and homemade desserts, with daily hours of 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. It serves Starbucks products but is not necessarily a standalone Starbucks store.
Red Willow appears in secondary coverage but not in the supplied official dining overview. I would not plan a steakhouse dinner around that name without confirming current operation.
Gamboool menu comparison: remember the fries
Both venues list a $10.00 hamburger, but Cee Nokuu charges separately for fries, while Watering Hole includes standard fries. That is why I prefer comparing complete orders instead of headline prices.
the calculations put Cee Nokuu’s hamburger with fries at $12.50. With bacon and cheese, the café order totals $16.00, compared with $14.50 for Watering Hole’s bacon cheeseburger with included standard fries.
These are menu-cost comparisons before tax and tip, not taste-test results. Portions are not assumed to be identical, and premium side substitutions change the comparison.
A separate supplied example puts a 16-inch Watering Hole pizza with one meat topping and one vegetable topping at $20.00 before tax and tip. That is an example order, not a published package.
My takeaway: compare Watering Hole for a burger-and-fries meal, and consider Cee Nokuu for breakfast and frybread dishes. Hours and what you actually want to eat still matter more than the cheapest base item.
Gamboool original analysis
We assembled the comparison below from published information and our calculations. These are selected examples, rather than measured gambling sessions or a representative survey.
| Detail | Published information |
|---|---|
| Wind River hotel: Room tax and deposit policy | The hotel publishes a 10% lodging tax per room and requires an incidental deposit without specifying its amount. |
| Wind River hotel: Special-rate categories | Tribal, government, group, and AAA rates are listed, but no prices or discount percentages are supplied. |
| Wind River hotel: Smoking policy | All hotel rooms are designated non-smoking; this statement does not establish the casino-floor policy. |
| Wind River hotel: Pet-room availability and surcharge | Nine pet rooms are available by request, with a $25.00 additional pet charge. The passage does not specify whether that charge is nightly or per stay. |
| Wind River hotel airport shuttle: Scheduling and fees | Airport shuttle service is listed, but visitors must inquire about its schedule and fees rather than assume it is free. |
| Wind River RV spaces: Published nightly price and capacity | The RV area lists 24 spaces at $25.00 per night, providing a published overnight cost where hotel room prices are not supplied. |
| Wind River RV spaces: Rewards Card discount | Rewards Card holders are offered a 10% RV-space discount. |
| Wind River accessible rooms: Bathroom-feature availability | The hotel distinguishes five rooms with tub and shower handrails from one room with a walk-in or roll-in double-headed shower; request the needed configuration specifically. |
| Cee Nokuu Café: Regular hours and breakfast window | The café lists later Friday and Saturday closing times than Sunday through Thursday, with breakfast restricted to the morning window. |
| Buffalo Coffee: Daily service window | The coffee outlet lists daily service from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., unlike the café’s earlier opening and later closing. |
| Watering Hole Sports Bar: Venue-specific hours and happy hour | The dedicated venue page lists daily hours of 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and happy hour from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; confirm hours for a late visit. |
| Cee Nokuu Café: Hamburger and add-on pricing | A hamburger is $10.00, cheese is an additional $1.00, bacon is an additional $2.50, and another patty is an additional $4.00. |
| Cee Nokuu Café: Sandwich side pricing | Fries cost an additional $2.50 with a sandwich, while onion rings cost an additional $3.50. |
| Watering Hole Sports Bar: Included burger sides and substitutions | Standard fries are included with sandwiches and burgers. Listed alternative sides add $2.00, unlike Cee Nokuu’s separate fries charge. |
| Watering Hole Sports Bar: Build-your-own burger and topping prices | The burger starts at $10.00; bacon adds $2.50, and cheese adds $2.00. Its cheese surcharge differs from Cee Nokuu’s. |
| Watering Hole Sports Bar: Pizza starting price and topping tiers | A 16-inch cheese pizza starts at $15.00. Listed meat toppings are $3.00 each, listed vegetable and fruit toppings are $2.00 each, and extra cheese is $3.00. |
| Cee Nokuu Café: Complimentary drinks and price-change policy | The menu lists complimentary soda and coffee at the beverage station and warns that prices may change without notice. |
| Calculation | Result | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|
| Rewards Card discount on one RV night | $2.50 saved per RV night | Ask for the published Rewards Card discount when reserving an RV space; the benefit does not require assuming additional gambling. |
| Three-night RV base-cost budget without the card discount | $75.00 per example RV stay, before discounts and any unlisted charges | Use the posted RV rate to budget the parking portion of a longer visit, and confirm the final charges before arrival. |
| Lodging tax on an illustrative hotel room quote | $15.00 in lodging tax for the example room quote | A pretax room quote is not the final booking cost; also ask about the required incidental deposit. |
| Cee Nokuu hamburger with fries | $12.50 per meal, before tax and tip | Compare complete meals rather than burger prices alone: Cee Nokuu charges separately for fries, while the Watering Hole menu includes them. |
| Cee Nokuu bacon cheeseburger with fries | $16.00 per meal, before tax and tip | This provides a like-for-like menu-cost comparison with the Watering Hole bacon cheeseburger and its included standard fries, without assuming identical portions. |
| Watering Hole bacon cheeseburger with included standard fries | $14.50 per meal, before tax and tip | The included fries matter when comparing this order with Cee Nokuu; choosing a premium side substitution changes the comparison. |
| Watering Hole pizza with one meat and one vegetable topping | $20.00 per example pizza order, before tax and tip | Budget toppings separately from the advertised starting price; this order is an illustrative selection, not a published package. |
Research references: windriverhotelcasino.com 1, windriverhotelcasino.com 2, windriverhotelcasino.com 3, windriverhotelcasino.com 4.
Method: Published inputs collected 2026-10-12. Illustrative assumptions are labeled, and the full calculation inputs remain in the saved research record. These examples support planning; they do not predict a particular session.
This original compilation uses supplied public menu and lodging observations and their supplied calculations. It is not a firsthand meal review, representative survey, or exclusive underlying dataset. Published prices can change.
Entertainment and cultural amenities
Watering Hole advertises karaoke on Thursdays and Saturdays, board games on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and a Wednesday Magic: The Gathering night. Confirm event times and exceptions for your dates.
Both editorial sources highlight the Northern Arapaho Experience Room as a distinctive cultural feature. The older tourism story describes artifacts, artwork, and historical photographs near the hotel lobby.
The official Experience Room page publishes daily visiting hours of 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Plan around the midday closure rather than assuming the museum follows the casino’s round-the-clock schedule. Confirm programming for your dates.
reports no pool or spa. Approach Wind River as a gambling-and-lodging property, not a resort-recreation booking.
Directions, parking, and airport shuttle
Use 180 Red Wolf Place, Riverton, WY 82501 for navigation. The official lodging page places the property two miles south of Riverton on Highway 789. Free general parking is reported in the secondary review.
The hotel advertises shuttle service to and from Central Wyoming Airport in Riverton. Ask the front desk about scheduling and fees. Do not assume the shuttle is free or waiting whenever a flight lands.
RV spaces and nightly costs
The property lists 24 RV spaces with power connections and Wi-Fi at $25.00 per night. Rewards Card holders are offered a 10% discount; the supplied calculation shows a $2.50 saving per night before any unlisted charges.
An illustrative three-night stay at the posted base rate totals $75.00 before discounts and additional charges. This is a budgeting example, not a reservation quote. Confirm availability, hookup requirements, and final charges before bringing a large rig.
For younger travelers, confirm the current minimum gambling age directly and bring government-issued photo identification. the published information does not establish an authoritative current age policy.
Rewards program
The official lodging page documents a Rewards Card through its RV discount. Secondary coverage describes a players club, but current earning rates, tiers, and enrollment offers are not established by an official loyalty page in the published information.
I would ask about enrollment before playing and eligible lodging benefits before booking. Take a discount you qualify for, but do not gamble extra to manufacture a bargain.
The casino’s published win/loss statement instructions say play not associated with a Rewards Club account is not tracked. A statement can therefore miss uncarded play. Keep your own gambling records rather than treating the casino’s total as complete.
Available review praise and practical limitations
What the available reports praise
The August 2026 editorial review and older Visit USA Parks story both praise clean, comfortable hotel rooms and the property’s Northern Arapaho cultural character. The newer review also praises the smoke-free casino environment and personable dealers.
These are subjective editorial reports, not a representative guest consensus or evidence of a firsthand visit by Steve. The tourism story was created in partnership with the property and contains pandemic-era information, so it deserves less weight for current operating details.
Drawbacks and gaps to plan around
The supplied records do not support a recurring customer-complaint pattern. Google Travel material yielded no accessible guest reviews, and an editorial review cannot substitute for a broad collection of guest experiences.
The practical limitations are clearer: no confirmed live poker schedule, no pool or spa reported, conflicting bar hours, and incomplete disclosure of room prices, deposit amounts, and shuttle fees. These are planning drawbacks, not attributed guest complaints.
Older coverage also describes an alcohol-free property, while current official bar pages advertise alcohol. For dining and drinking plans, use the official venue descriptions and confirm exceptions directly.
Who Wind River is best for
- Regional casino visitors seeking a machine-led gambling outing near Riverton.
- Overnight players who value an attached hotel more than elaborate resort amenities.
- Road-trippers and RV travelers wanting lodging, food, and gaming in one stop.
- Sports viewers who prefer a bar-and-food setting, with wagering access confirmed separately.
It is a less obvious fit for a poker-focused weekend, a pool-and-spa vacation, or guaranteed late-night restaurant service. My bottom line: Wind River looks useful when the casino is part of the journey, but specific facilities should earn their place in your itinerary through confirmation, not assumption.
Frequently asked questions
Is Wind River Hotel & Casino open 24 hours?
The casino floor is reported open 24 hours daily, and the official lodging page advertises 24/7 operation. Table games, restaurants, and sportsbook service may follow shorter schedules.
Does Wind River have a sportsbook?
The August 2026 editorial review reports an operating Buffalo Sportsbook. Confirm current wagering hours and facilities before planning to bet there.
Does Wind River have a live poker room?
There is no dedicated poker room.
Are hotel rooms non-smoking?
Yes. The official lodging page designates all rooms non-smoking. The casino floor is separately reported smoke-free by the secondary review.
Can you bring a pet?
Designated pet rooms are available by request, with a listed $25.00 additional charge. Confirm availability, restrictions, and whether the charge is per night or per stay.
Is there an airport shuttle?
Yes. The hotel advertises service to and from Central Wyoming Airport in Riverton. Arrange scheduling and confirm fees with the front desk.
Is parking free?
Free general parking is reported. Overnight RV spaces are separately priced at $25.00 per night before additional charges or an eligible discount.
Sources and research note
- Wind River Hotel & Casino official website, retained from the existing property page.
- Official lodging page: room categories, taxes, deposit policy, pets, accessibility, RV pricing, Rewards Card discount, and airport shuttle.
- Official dining overview: dining lineup, Buffalo Coffee, and venue hours.
- Official Cee Nokuu Café page: menu prices, breakfast window, regular hours, and late-night menu notice.
- Official Watering Hole Sports Bar page: menu, included sides, alcohol offerings, events, and venue-specific hours.
- editorial review, updated August 13, 2026: reported gaming inventory, sportsbook, hotel size, parking, and subjective impressions.
- Visit USA Parks property-partnered tourism story: tribal ownership, cultural features, and older lodging impressions.
Research note: This source-based guide uses material supplied as researched on October 12, 2026, not a firsthand visit. Guest-review access was limited, so no representative consensus, rating, or recurring complaint pattern is claimed. Gaming age, live poker, table limits, sportsbook hours, current room charges, and conflicting dining schedules remain confirmation points for user editorial review. This SEO edit did not independently fact-check the article. The existing WordPress image is retained; no new photo rights or AI hero asset are supplied.
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