Area
Who runs Thompson-Okanagan casinos
Four of the sixteen casinos in this guide are in the Thompson-Okanagan: Cascades Casino Kamloops, Playtime Casino Kelowna, Lake City Casino Vernon and Cascades Casino Penticton. The graph below shows by year that Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited runs all four, while BCLC conducts and manages the gambling itself.
By the Ledger Desk · Checked October 7 and 8, 2026
Thompson-Okanagan, owner by owner
The same record as a table
| Casino | Runs or owns it (October 2026) | Since | Sale agreed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cascades Casino Kamloops | Gateway Casinos & Entertainment operator | since 2015 | |
| Playtime Casino Kelowna | Gateway Casinos & Entertainment operator | since 2002 | |
| Lake City Casino Vernon | Gateway Casinos & Entertainment operator | since 2002 | |
| Cascades Casino Penticton | Gateway Casinos & Entertainment operator | since 2002 |
Room by room, for a visit
| Casino | Hours | Live tables | Poker | Route |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cascades Casino KamloopsKamloops | Sun to Thu 10 AM to 12 AM; Fri to Sat 10 AM to 2 AM | see the room page | Poker room open Thursday to Saturday from 6:00 p.m.. To join the waitlist, call 250-318-4810 after 10:00 a.m.. | Directions |
| Playtime Casino KelownaKelowna | Sun to Tue 10 AM to 1 AM; Wed to Sat 10 AM to 2 AM | Monday to Thursday 12:00 p.m. to Close; Friday to Sunday 11:00 a.m. to Close | see the room page | Directions |
| Lake City Casino VernonVernon | Sun to Thu 10 AM to 12 AM; Fri to Sat 10 AM to 2 AM | Sunday 5:15 p.m. to Close; Monday & Tuesday closed; Wednesday & Thursday 5:15 p.m. to Close; Friday & Saturday 4:15 p.m. to Close | Wednesday to Saturday 6:00 p.m. to Close; Sunday 5:15 p.m. to Close; registration opens 11:00 a.m. (Wednesday to Sunday); poker phone (250) 241-2730 | Directions |
| Cascades Casino PentictonPenticton | Sun to Thu 10 AM to 12 AM; Fri to Sat 10 AM to 2 AM | Wednesday to Saturday 4:30 p.m. to Late; Sunday 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (no table hours listed Monday to Tuesday) | Friday & Saturday table opens 6:30 p.m.; Sunday table opens 2:30 p.m.; poker phone 250-462-4304 (sign-up from 11:00 a.m.) | Directions |
Pacific time. Holiday hours can differ; each room page lists its sources.
One operator for four rooms
The region runs from Princeton in the west to Golden and the Alberta border in the east. To the south it reaches Osoyoos and the Washington state border. Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited runs all four casinos this guide lists there. The company describes itself as the exclusive casino operator in the region.
Gateway bought the Lake City Casinos in Penticton, Kelowna, Kamloops and Vernon in August 2002. Lake City Casino Vernon moved in 2009 into a 30,000 sq ft building on Anderson Way, three times the size of the old casino. Cascades Casino Kamloops opened on August 19, 2015. Cascades Casino Penticton followed on April 5, 2017, on a site by the South Okanagan Events Centre leased from the City of Penticton. In Kelowna, Lake City Casino Kelowna took the name Playtime Casino Kelowna on March 1, 2018.
On January 14, 2019, Gateway bought Chances Kamloops and became the sole gaming provider in Kamloops. This guide has no record of a sale or change of operator at any of the four since 2024.
- Cascades Casino Kamloops Gateway Directions
- Playtime Casino Kelowna Gateway Directions
- Lake City Casino Vernon Gateway Directions
- Cascades Casino Penticton Gateway Directions
Distances between the four
Distances on this page are straight lines between OpenStreetMap points, computed by the guide. They are not driving distances. Playtime Casino Kelowna is 44.9 km from Cascades Casino Penticton and 46.3 km from Lake City Casino Vernon. Between Vernon and Penticton the line measures 90.9 km.
From Cascades Casino Kamloops, the straight line to Lake City Casino Vernon is 88.7 km. Playtime Casino Kelowna is 105.7 km away, and Cascades Casino Penticton is 140.6 km. The guide gives no travel times for any of these pairs.
What stays the same on the floor
None of the four is open around the clock. The Kamloops, Vernon and Penticton casinos open at 10 AM, closing at 12 AM Sunday to Thursday and at 2 AM on Friday and Saturday. Playtime Casino Kelowna runs 10 AM to 1 AM Sunday to Tuesday, and 10 AM to 2 AM Wednesday to Saturday. Hours are Pacific time, and holiday hours should be checked on each casino's own site.
BCLC conducts and manages the games in all four, as it does across the province. Players must be 19 or older. Everyone entering shows government-issued photo ID, which is checked against the self-exclusion list. All four name Encore Rewards, the players' card used at fifteen of the sixteen casinos in this guide.
In Kamloops, the city has received over $43.3 million in host payments since Cascades Casino Kamloops opened.
Questions on the record
Who runs Playtime Casino Kelowna?
Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited runs it. The same company runs Cascades Casino Kamloops, Lake City Casino Vernon and Cascades Casino Penticton, and BCLC conducts and manages the games.
Was the Kelowna casino always called Playtime?
The Playtime name dates from March 1, 2018. Before that the casino was Lake City Casino Kelowna.
Has any Thompson-Okanagan casino changed hands since 2024?
This guide has no record of a sale or change of operator at any of the four since 2024. Gateway runs all of them. The changes of ownership since January 2025 have involved casinos on Vancouver Island and in Metro Vancouver.
Which casino stays open latest on Saturday?
On Saturday all four keep the same closing time, 2 AM. Cascades Casino Kamloops, Playtime Casino Kelowna, Lake City Casino Vernon and Cascades Casino Penticton each open at 10 AM that day. Hours are Pacific time, and holiday hours should be checked on each casino's own site.