MONARCH CASINO & RESORT INC

To the stockholders and the Board of Directors of Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc and subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 31, 2025 and ⁠2024, the related consolidated statements of income, stockholders' equity, and cash flows, for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2025, and the related notes and the schedules listed in the Index at Item 15 (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2025, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2025, based on criteria established inInternal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated February 23, 2026, expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting.

** Basis for Opinion**

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

** Critical Audit Matter**

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Commitment and Contingencies - Legal Dispute – Refer to Note 11 of the financial statements

Critical Audit Matter Description

As a result of litigation between PCL Construction Services, Inc. (“PCL”) and Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (“Monarch”) surrounding breach of contract, breach of implied warranty, and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, the Company is required to evaluate its exposure to potential loss contingencies arising from such litigation and estimated liability, inclusive of the judgment rendered in February 2025 and subsequent rulings, as well as related interest requiring accrual, which represents the Company’s best estimate of probable losses associated with the litigation as of December 31, 2025.

We identified the loss contingency estimate of $77 million, and the related disclosures as a critical audit matter because of the significant judgments made by management to determine the estimate of the probable loss and the classification of such costs as of December 31, 2025. Auditing the reasonableness of management's judgments, estimates and disclosures related to such loss contingencies required the application of a high degree of auditor judgment and extensive effort.

How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit

Our audit procedures related to management’s PCL Construction Services, Inc legal matter included the following, among others:

/s/Deloitte & Touche LLP

February 23, 2026

We have served as the Company's auditor since 2024.

To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of income, shareholders' equity and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2023 of Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”), and the related notes and the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15(a)(2) (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the results of the Company’s operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2023, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

We served as the Company’s auditor from 2003 to 2024.

February 28, 2024