Some of the Most Unusual Casinos in the World
Posted by Harry Kane on Monday, August 22, 2016
Entertainment in 2016 means challenging what is possible and pushing the boundaries. If rock concerts can take place on a plane or in Antarctica and there is a doner kebab boat house on the River Main in Frankfurt, Germany, it’s only natural that we should expect casinos to outdo them. After all, the casino business boasts turning over millions of dollars regularly, so who else would be better suited to redefine lavishness and extremities?
The Underground Casino
It’s not a secret that casinos are intentionally built without windows so you’d lose track of time and gamble your holiday away. But what if windows were not an option in the first place? Imagine an underground casino. A dugout. It might not paint a pretty picture but hear this – in the town of Coober Pedy, Australia, the dugouts are the normal building with 60 per cent of the town being set underground. Naturally, they’d have their hotel, pub, and casino underground as well. The Desert Cave Hotel and Casino in Coober Pedy is quite unique and worth a visit. Beware the scorching heat, though, as temperatures in the summer often reach up to 50℃. That’s actually the reason for moving things down under. By the way, this small town, with a population of 3,500, is the world’s opal capital.
The Daylight Casino
But there’s one casino that defies the windowless tradition. We’re talking about the Revel Atlantic City, which is a resort, hotel, and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. The hotel building is the tallest in Atlantic City but what’s even more impressive is the fact that the casino has walls made of glass windows. It’s not clear whether their challenging the stereotypes helped their bankruptcy and jinxed their reopening earlier this year but the future of this casino is yet uncertain. Nonetheless, their everything-on-display method was quite revolutionary in the casino industry.
The Airport Casino
When you think of Amsterdam, casinos would probably not be the first thing to come to mind. I can think of at least five other things that the Dutch capital is famous for. Yet, it is namely here that there’s a unique airport casino. The Holland Casino at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is part of the shops and cafes that grace this beautiful airport. And what a wonderful idea! If you have a layover, you would not waste time but win some cash instead. The casino is just down the hall, between Gate E and Gate F, right behind Customs. It’s open from 6.30 till 19.45. However, be careful not to miss your flight.
The Largest Casino
There are many casinos that would blind you with their glamour and make your heart pound with excitement with their enormity. Yet, there is one casino that is undoubtedly the largest one in the world – it’s the Venetian Macao. Developed by Las Vegas Sands, it was opened in 2007. It’s quite possible to get lost in this casino. It covers the mind-blowing 550,000 square feet and is housed in a 39-storey building. It goes without saying that there are a tonne of games to try out there, including over 3,000 slots and 800 table and card games. The huge gaming area is divided into four parts – Golden Fish, Imperial House, Phoenix, and Red Dragon. Not surprisingly, the hotel building of this resort is the largest hotel building in Asia. Also, if you were wondering why it’s called Venetian, a gondola ride in the San Luca canal system inside the hotel will give you a clue.
The Most Expensive Casino
Obviously, a casino doesn’t need to be running for the title of the largest one in order to be very expensive. Can you imagine that there’s actually a casino that’s more expensive than the largest casino in the world? The casino we’re talking about is Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. It proudly displays one of the world’s largest Swarovski crystal chandeliers but that’s not all. The relatively new casino – it was built in 2010 – was constructed to appear like a deck of cards. How did they achieve that? There are three leaning tower stacks, connected and crowned by a roof deck. And picture this: on the roof deck you can enjoy the highest and largest infinity pool in the world. The Casino cost $5.7 billion (around £4.4 billion). As far as the casino goes, you’ll need a map to find your way through the three levels of gaming floors with more than 550 table games and 2,500 slots.
The Smallest Casino
Everybody wants to know which the largest and most expensive casino is but, actually, it’s much harder to say which the smallest casino is. No, it’s not a blackjack table in someone’s living room. Nor is it a slot arcade like the one in North County, San Diego. The former wouldn’t classify as a business and the latter only offers slots.
The answer is a London cab. Yeah, you heard right. There’s a taxi in London that offers poker and blackjack, and a ride to wherever you’d like to go in the City. The cab is fully equipped with a gaming table, a dealer, and a bar. There are sport events broadcast on TV and internet gambling facilities, too.
The cab is sponsored by Birmingham’s Grosvenor Casino to promote their ‘playyourway’ campaign.
So, not only is this the world’s smallest casino but it’s a travelling one as well.
The Sky-High Casino
This casino is so high above the competition in their attempt to entertain that they are sky-high. No, really, a skyway is actually your means of transportation into the colourful Resort World in Genting, Malaysia. It looks like a cartoon in the photos but imagine the feeling of seeing it from the air as you travel South East Asia’s longest and fastest cable car. Once you get to the casino, the games will not be your only excitement because the tropical views are stunning. High rollers, is there any better place to indulge your casino game passion but at a 6,000 ft high casino?
There are some pretty striking examples of unique casinos that we’ve looked at today and we’re sure there will be many more to come. I personally would like to see a casino hosted in an ice bar – I imagine sipping ice-cold vodka & cranberry blush while playing blackjack in the bluish, neon-lit bar. How about you? What would your dream unusual casino be like?