Ute Mountain Casino Hotel & Resort
Casino playing cards featuring Native American courts.
Ute Mountain Casino Hotel in Towaoc, Colorado, is one of a number of Native American-owned casinos that have issued customised playing cards reflecting Indigenous culture and identity. Operated by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the casino's souvenir deck replaces the standard court cards with illustrations of Native American figures in traditional attire, while the ace of spades incorporates a map highlighting the Four Corners region. Such decks serve both as gaming equipment and as promotional items celebrating tribal heritage. Like most casino playing cards, they were retired after being used and permanently cancelled, typically by clipping the corners or punching holes through the cards. These voided decks were then sold or distributed as souvenirs of the casino and its cultural setting.
This deck is voided with the corner clipped. It’s unclear whether the courts are based on actual Native American costumes. The jokers are bull skulls, a common motif in the American West and Southwest. The same pattern was also used by Sky City Casino in the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico and Thunderbird Wild Wild West Casino in Norman, Oklahoma.
Ute Mountain Casino Hotel & Resort tribal playing cards, USPCC, 1997.
Ute Casino Mountain Hotel website ►
By Lev Golinkin
United States • Member since May 26, 2026
I'm a US-based author and journalist. I've been collecting playing cards since I was about 8 years old, when I got mesmerized by the various decks that were used in Soviet Ukraine, where I'm from. I collect mainly European decks such as those by Dondorf, Grimaud, and Piatnik. I love courts above all else, and am drawn toward historical and artistic decks.
Activity for Ute Mountain Casino Hotel & Resort
Sign in to comment or save this article.
Related Articles
Jungle Playing Cards
Welcome to the jungle – a delightful deck from South Africa.
Arrowhead Playing Cards from San Felipe’s Casino Hollywood
A gorgeous and well-researched celebration of Native American culture.
Meskwaki Casino
A deck reflecting Native American culture where every hand could be a jackpot.
Robin Hood Playing Cards
A Kings Wild Project by Jackson Robinson exploring the legend of Robin Hood and inspired by the Baye...
Pacific Northwest Native American Playing Cards
A bold presentation of animals in Native American artwork – with a political message.
AVES
A rich display of plumage by artist Karina Eibatova.
Rockwell International
Cards celebrating the Space Shuttle, astronauts, and Mission Control staff.
Authentic American Indian Playing Cards (Northern Plains Collection I)
Honouring the Great Plains: carefully chosen symbols on familiar playing cards.
Okinawa Playing Cards
Ryūkyū Kingdom culture meets the international pattern.
San Manuel Casino
Native American-themed playing cards used by tribal casinos.
Library Display
Three seconds to spark a love of playing cards: one collector's library display challenge.
Colonial Art
A collection of 53 pieces of art showcasing detailed scenes from early American colonial life.
Mohegan Sun playing cards
Mohegan Sun playing cards published by Gemaco for Mohegan Sun casino.
New York City souvenir
New York City souvenir playing cards with 53 different views of interest, USA, 1915.
Tonalamatl
Baraja Tonalamatl Mexican Aztec playing cards based on the prehispanic Codex Borgia manuscript.
Caesars Palace®
‘Aristocrat’ Casino Cards with special courts for Caesars Palace® by USPCC 2006.
Apache cards by Tonto Naipero
Apache rawhide playing cards by ‘Tonto Naipero’, c.1871.
Ojibwa Native Indian Cards
Ojibwa Native Indian playing cards hand manufactured on birch bark in imitation of standard French /...
Apache Playing Cards
Apache Indian Playing Cards made on rawhide, first recorded 1875.
The United States Playing Card Company
Over the years the pressures of competition and other market forces have led to many smaller manufac...
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 60 days
-playing-cards-with-wüst-courts/images/rijks-1.465ba2b2.jpg "Oude Kunst (Old Art) playing cards with Wüst courts")
