The Thunder Valley Casino Resort of California has been hard at work making $56 million worth of additions and upgrades to its casino and hotel in an effort to help retain long-time patrons, attract high-rollers nationwide and to stay a step ahead of the competition.

The Sacramento Bee reports that resort officials on Friday gave members of the media a hard-hat tour of the construction efforts currently going on in the casino area. Efforts reportedly include a new smoke-free, 25,000 square foot poker room and bingo hall. The current poker room is also being expanded to offer high-limit slot gaming.

The new poker room will have 27 tables, with convention space to provide as many as 45 tables when larger tournament events are scheduled. The space will be 7,000 square feet in size and should be open by the completion deadline of March 1st.  On March 2nd, the poker room will be host to a World Poker Tour event. The bingo room will be even larger, at 13,000 square feet, expected to open by April 1st.

Players interested in the high limit slots area will find the room will house over 200 slot machines as the casino plans to add 80 more to the room. The high limit machines will have a $1 denomination wager, but a single spin can wager a total of $125. This area of the casino should be ready by summer, with a July 1st opening.

The casino has also finished work on their 17-story hotel, with three floors having been previously left unfinished due to the recession. The now completed trio of floors will add 111 guestrooms to the property. The hotel will now undergo construction to see upgrades made to luxury suites. The largest suite will be 2,100 square feet in size and include luxury fixtures and furniture.

Officials of the casino want to stay up to date with their gaming offerings and provide only the best for their customers. Competition is looming with the plans of the Wilton Rancheria to build a tribal casino and hotel nearby. The project has an estimated price tag of $400 million and would be in competition with Thunder Valley.