Thunder Valley joins other casinos in plans to reopen gaming with new safety protocol Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee · May 27, 2020 at 7:13 am The region’s largest casino announced plans Tuesday to reopen June 8, joining other gaming operations that are opening with new plans for increased cleaning and a cutback in the number of available slot machines and card tables. Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln joins Red Hawk Casino in Placerville in announcing plans to reopen June 8 with hand sanitizers throughout the gaming areas, temperature checks of people entering the casinos and a requirement that players and workers wear face masks. Casinos shut down in mid-March amid COVID-19 concerns, and the two casinos are the latest to announce reopening plans. Despite the face mask requirement, some players have found ways around the policy.