Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River

Located in Murphy, a little over an hour’s drive southwest from Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, the smaller Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel offers many of the same games and amenities as the larger venue. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians owns both properties, and Caesars Entertainment oversees operations.

Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River first opened in 2015 and has since undergone two significant expansions. Today the property features 60,000 square feet of casino space offering slots, table games and sports betting. There’s even a brand new 10-table WSOP poker room.

An expansion is due for completion sometime in 2024, greatly expanding all hotel and casino offerings.

Look below for a full rundown of everything Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River has to offer those visiting the hotel and casino tucked in the picturesque mountains of western North Carolina.

Casino games at Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River

Slots are the main draw at Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River, although you’ll also find a nice selection of table games on the casino floor and a sportsbook nearby.

Slot machines

Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River casino offers more than 1,000 slots, costing anywhere from a penny to $100 a spin to play. Also among the slot machines are a large number of video poker terminals and electronic table games.

Available slots include favorites like Bier Haus, Birds of Pay, Invaders from Planet Moolah, Pot o’ Gold, Wizard of Oz: Emerald City, Wheel of Fortune, Wolf Run, and more.

Table games

Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River has around 65 table games on the casino floor. These include practically all of the popular table games found in casinos around the world, including the following:

• Baccarat
• Blackjack
• Craps (including “Crapless Craps” and “Roll to Win Craps”)
• Criss Cross Poker
• High Card Flush
• Mississippi Stud
• Roulette
• Spanish 21
• Three Card Poker
• Ultimate Texas Hold’em

Keep in mind there are electronic table games on the casino floor as well — you can play electronic blackjack, craps, roulette, and other games.

Caesars Sportsbook

Amenities at Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River

Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River features a 300-room hotel with a variety of room sizes. There are expansion plans to add another 300-room tower in the near future. The property also features its own Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Motorcoach, serving multiple locations in Georgia and Tennessee.

The UltraStar Multi-tainment Center is a hangout for those interested in non-gambling entertainment. The center features a bowling alley, an arcade, and a bar.

There are numerous local attractions in close proximity to the property, as well. Guests have convenient access to multiple golf courses, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and other sites, including historic Cherokee villages and museums.

Caesars Rewards loyalty program

Like all Caesars Entertainment properties, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River invites its guests to take part in the Caesars Rewards loyalty program, enabling members to collect both reward credits and tier credits whenever they play games at the casino or spend money anywhere on the property.

Members can redeem their reward credits at Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River in several ways. One is to use them to receive $1 of free play in the casino for every 200 reward credits. You can also use reward credits to earn discounts on hotel stays, dining and shopping, visits to the UltraStar Multi-tainment Center, and more.

At the same time you earn reward credits, you also earn tier credits. When the tier credits you’ve accumulated cross certain thresholds, you move up in tier levels. The higher the tier, the more perks and additional amenities you can receive at Caesars properties. Such rewards include free hotel stays, discounts when dining and shopping, and other VIP benefits.

Here are the Caesars Rewards tier levels:

• Gold: 0 to 4,999 tier credits
• Platinum: 5,000 to 14,999 tier credits
• Diamond: 15,000 to 24,999 tier credits
• Diamond Plus: 25,000 to 74,999 tier credits
• Diamond Elite: 75,000 to 149,999 tier credits
• Seven Stars: 150,000 tier credits and above (invite only)

The tier credits reset with each calendar year. You can earn and use reward and tier credits at any Caesars property, of which there are more than 50 in the US and worldwide.

New Caesars Rewards members will often receive rewards right away, such as $50 in free play. Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River also runs frequent promotions for Caesars Rewards members. For example, the casino sometimes offers a Rapid Win Free Play Giveaway that involves multiple drawings per day giving away free play in the casino just for playing games during designated periods. There are other special drawings, as well.

History of Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the state of North Carolina first agreed to a gambling compact that was approved in 1994. In 1997, the tribe opened its first casino in Cherokee — Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.

Amendments to the compact followed, including one in 2012 that permitted the tribe to open up to three casinos on its lands located in a five-county area in the western part of the state. Three years later, on Sept. 28, 2015, the Cherokees opened their second North Carolina casino, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River. The property is in Murphy, just over an hour southwest of Cherokee and right in the corner of the state bordering Georgia to the south and Tennessee to the east.

The original casino cost $110 million to build. In 2018, the property added a $13 million expansion that provided more gambling space and additional games, plus the UltraStar Multi-tainment Center. In March 2021, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River opened a new Caesars Sportsbook.

In July 2021, the facility announced another much larger expansion, this one projected to cost $275 million and involving the addition of a new hotel tower, a restaurant, and an indoor pool. The new hotel will double the number of available guest rooms from 300 to 600.