Chavdar Vasilev is a journalist covering the casino and sports betting market sectors for CasinoBeats. He joined CasinoBeats in May 2025 and reports on industry-shaping stories across the US and beyond, including legislative debates, market...
Read Full BioHard Rock’s newest property, Hard Rock Casino Tejon in California, has announced that in its first 10 days of operations, it awarded over $10 million in jackpots. These numbers place California’s newest tribal casino among the strongest recent Hard Rock openings in North America.
Hard Rock Tejon President Chris Kelley said the team is “thrilled” for guests experiencing these wins. He added, “Hard Rock has always been about creating unforgettable experiences, and seeing $10 million in jackpots hit in just over ten days shows how much excitement there is on our gaming floor. We’re proud to deliver the winning energy our guests expect.”
The $600 million resort features a 150,000-square-foot gaming floor with more than 2,000 slots and over 50 table games. The property, which is the second-closest full-scale casino to Los Angeles, held a grand opening ceremony on November 13.
Although the ceremony took place on November 13, the jackpot total covers the period from November 11 to 21. That reflects an early soft-opening period not detailed in the public announcement.
How Tejon Compares to Other Recent Openings
The $10 million over 10 days equates to roughly $1 million per day. These numbers are nearly identical to the permanent Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Bristol’s performance. In November 2024, the Virginia property announced that it had paid out over $12 million in jackpots within its first 12 days.
Other recent openings have resulted in lower payouts. Canada’s first Hard Rock casino opened on July 3, 2025. According to the property’s Instagram, July ended with “1,752 jackpots and a total jackpot amount of $8,335,503.”
Hard Rock Rockford in Illinois, which opened on August 29, 2024, had the lowest jackpot payout among recent openings. In a Facebook post summarizing its first full month, the property said: “We paid out more than $7 million in jackpots in September, putting that total over $34 million.”
These results place the Tejon property among the highest reported jackpot totals for recent Hard Rock openings.
How it Stacks Against Mature Hard Rock Resorts
While the Tejon team celebrated the results, the newest Hard Rock property’s early performance does not come close to the company’s largest and most established properties.
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa reported in December 2024 that it had awarded over $2 billion in jackpots for the year. Based on the total, that equates to around $5.5 million per day. The property drew national attention in August 2025, after a player won 389 jackpots in a single day. He walked away with $1.8 million in winnings.
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, similarly, reported in mid-2024 that it had surpassed $1 billion in jackpots for the year. That underscored the jackpot output typical of Hard Rock’s largest destination casinos.
These figures reflect mature destination resorts with far larger daily handle, making them useful only as scale references rather than direct comparisons.
Strong Start for the Central Valley
Tejon’s $10 million in ten days indicates powerful early visitation and play volume for a new regional casino. While the total may normalize as opening-week traffic settles, the early pace puts the property on par with Hard Rock Bristol and above Ottawa and Rockford on comparable timelines.
