The Bay Area’s tribal casinos aren’t ready to reopen quite yet, even as restrictions to combat the spread of coronavirus relax and casinos elsewhere in California and Nevada are welcoming back gamblers.

San Pablo Lytton Casino, Graton Resort & Casino just outside Rohnert Park and River Rock Casino near Geyserville — the region’s three tribal casinos — have held off in announcing when they’ll unlock the doors and turn on the slot machines.

But if the reopenings in other California counties are any indication, the return of Bay Area casinos will be greeted by throngs of players eager to get out of their homes and back to the slot machines and gaming tables. Openings in other parts of the state have delivered long lines, packed parking lots and, in the case of the Hard Rock Sacramento at Fire Mountain Casino in Yuba County, traffic jams.

Table game seating will be limited, and some slot machines will be placed out of service. Based on the ruling by the St. Louis County Health Department, and in order to help reduce the spread of COVID – 19, River City Casino will be requiring all persons in public areas will be required to wear a mask covering the face and nose. We’re beyond excited to let you know we’re opening our doors June 29 and we cannot wait to see you again.Things may look a little different when you return but we’re still the same great place with the same friendly faces! At River Rock Casino your health and safety are our number one concern.

Casinos have been facing pressure to reopen not only from eager gamblers, but also from tribes that count on the revenue to fund health and education programs, as well as cities that rely on tax payments from the casinos.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and public health officials, however, have urged the casinos to take a more cautious approach to reopening, particularly in urban areas.

Will Harper, a spokesman for Contra Costa Health Service, said local officials were “strongly recommending against” the reopening of San Pablo’s casino. However, the decision doesn’t belong to the county, and casino officials were being encouraged to “take every effort to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in their facility,” he said.

River Rock Casino Opening Dates

Cities that are home to casinos are also growing anxious. San Pablo receives 60% of its annual budget from Lytton Casino and faces a $10 million loss in revenue because of the outbreak, City Manager Matt Rodriguez said. The city may have to dip into reserves and cut programs — and possibly jobs — if the deficit grows too deep, he said at a recent City Council meeting.

“Hopefully, there may be a state-wide order issued by Governor Newsom and the state public health officer to enable California tribal gaming to reopen with aggressive protective measures in place to protect their workers and the public,” Rodriguez said in an email to The Chronicle.

Officials for Rohnert Park, which receives both guaranteed and revenue-based payments from the Graton casino, said revenue projections are uncertain and the city budget could face significant impacts.

The state’s 70 tribal casinos are exempt from regulation because the tribes that own them are sovereign nations, based on the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. But they all agreed to shut down when county health officers and Newsom rolled out stay-home orders in late March and required most businesses to close in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Now, as the state reopens, casinos are moving forward as well, even though Newsom and some county health officers have asked them to wait. After large casinos in San Diego County announced plans to reopen, the governor sent a May 15 letter to tribal casinos asking them to slow down.

“This deeply concerns me, and I urge tribal governments to reconsider and instead make those determinations based on how they align with the current local public health conditions and the statewide stage of reopening,” Newsom wrote.

Three large San Diego casinos declined his request, and several other California casinos also opened for business.

Other Northern California casinos have announced they will reopen June 8, including Cache Creek in Yolo County, Thunder Valley near Lincoln (Placer County), Red Hawk Casino near Placerville (El Dorado County) and Jackson Rancheria in Jackson (Amador County). The governor’s office, which has acknowledged that it cannot prevent the casinos from opening, said it is working with operators and would not confirm who suggested the June 8 reopening date.

“The governor is working with tribal leaders on a government to government basis to discuss the public health impacts of reopening, as well as working collaboratively with tribes to develop guidelines for casinos to open safely with modifications,” Newsom spokesman Jesse Melgar said in a statement.

Casinos that have reopened have stepped up efforts on hygiene and social distancing and reduced the number of gamblers allowed inside at the same time. Most require customers and employees to wear masks while inside the casinos and liberally dispense hand sanitizer at stations around the casinos. Active slot machines and poker games have been reduced and chairs around gaming tables have been cut from six to three.

Some casinos have installed plexiglass shields between dealers and players, as well as between players, and some require temperature checks before customers can enter.

Reactions on social media have included visitors saying they felt uneasy about the number of people inside the casinos, though others said they were somewhat reassured by efforts.

“The place was way over packed,” patron Kathleen DeBlois of Herald (Sacramento County) wrote in a Facebook review after a Saturday visit to the Hard Rock Sacramento casino. “People were lined up for machines. If you were fortunate to get on a machine, you were stuck there.”

Bay Area casino operators have been been vague about their reopening plans, but so far they’re cooperating with the governor and county public health officials.

“Graton Resort & Casino will continue to fully comply with the safety standards set out by Gov. Newsom,” said Greg Sarris, chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which owns the casino in Rohnert Park. “We will reopen only when it is safe to do so and when the governor’s recommendations allow as much.”

Sonoma County public health officials did not respond to The Chronicle’s requests for comment on the reopening of the Graton or River Rock casinos.

River Rock Casino Opening Date

San Pablo Lytton Casino has set no reopening date, but it will likely be slow to reopen because of its location in a densely populated area, casino spokesman Doug Elmets said.

“They’re going to wait and see how it goes with other casinos,” he said.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan