Italy is a remarkable contributor to Western culture. Not only is it one of the most significant territories in Europe but it is one of the most influential countries in human history. With ancient attractions, a lengthy Mediterranean coastline and 50 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Italy is a standout amongst the most visited nations on the planet. In fact, many people consider this European nation as a dream destination – and for gamblers Italy also has a lot to offer.

List of Casinos in Italy

Below is a list of all casinos currently operating in the regions of Italy.

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Casino de la Vallée at Saint-Vincent Resort
Casino di Sanremo
Casinò di Venezia: Ca’ Noghera
Casinò di Venezia: Ca’ Vendramin Calergi
Casino Le Palme at Hippodrome Abruzzo
Casinò Municipale di Campione d’Italia
Casino Venice
Casinò Le Palme Civitanova
Casinò di Sanremo
Lido de Venezia
Mariano Comense Casino
Milano Piazzale Corvetto
Milano Santa Rita Casino
Milano Viale Abruzzi
Puegnago del Garda Casino
Queen Bingo Hall
Slottery Las Vegas Casino Bovisio Masciago
Slottery Las Vegas Casino Imperia
Slottery Las Vegas Casino Legnano
Slottery Las Vegas Casino Mariano
Slottery Las Vegas Casino Melzo Casino
Slottery Las Vegas Casino Milano Gran Sasso
Slottery Las Vegas Casino Olgiate Olona
Slottery Las Vegas Casino Palazzolo sull’Oglio Casino
Slottery Las Vegas Casino Parabiago Casino
Slottery Las Vegas Casino Peschiera Borromeo Casino
Slottery Las Vegas Casino Puegnago
Slottery Las Vegas Casino Rescaldina Casino
Venezia Casino
Vincendo Mini Casino Meran
Vincendo Mini Casino Milan

History of Gambling in Italy

Italy is rich in history, and gambling is no exception. Different forms of gambling have existed in Italy for a very long time, probably since the reign of the Roman Empire. Then, Roman emperors and elite citizens played dice (one of the oldest gambling games in history) while soldiers and other citizens gambled on board games.

Although it might have existed before, Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum (“game of twelve lines”) became popular during the 2nd century and was widely played by Roman Legionnaires. Nevertheless, the game was mentioned in a didactic poem book, Ars Amatoria, written between 1 BC and 8 AD by Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso, popularly known as Ovid.

Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum is often credited as the predecessor of the backgammon game played throughout the world today. Soon, the game spread to other regions in Europe. In the 1400s, a local variation of modern baccarat was transported from Italy to France. This means the game has been in Italy before the 1400s.

It is also believed to have been created by an Italian gambler named Felix Flguererein. Therefore, baccarat is of Italian origin. Similarly, in the 1530s, a lottery-like game similar to modern Bingo called ‘Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia’ was widely played by Italians which makes Bingo a product of Italy and this period the start of lotteries in Italy.

In 1638, the Great Council of Venice reconstructed a wing of Palazzo Dandolo in Venice into the first gambling house in history (which can be compared to modern casinos), Ridotto (‘Il Ridotto’). This was to establish an open gambling environment which could be controlled by (and profitable for) the government during the annual carnival period.

The four-story building had numerous rooms with Gerolamo Colonna’s artworks, games – its most famous game, Basetta (a combination of poker, gin rummy, and blackjack), lottery-like Biribi and other card games – and other amenities to entertain the customers to the greatest extent. However, the lower classes could not gamble in Il Ridotto for the stakes were high and the games available had very high house edge as a result of the high probability manipulated by the government.

Even though roulette originated from France in the 1720s, it is believed to have been inspired by an Italian game known as Bibiri. The fact is not clear, but nonetheless, Italy has a thing or two to do with the history of roulette.

Further, the word “casino” came from Italy when the government shut down Il Ridotto in 1774 and, consequently, gaming clubs that were initially closed started gaining more popularity. These clubs were run by the secret criminal society, Mafia, and known as “casinos,” which is how the word “casino” came to be. Il Ridotto later reopened and became Casinò di Venezia, the oldest casino in the world. After some time, Casinò di Venezia cleaved into Ca’ Vendramin Calergi (the 1950s) and Ca’ Noghera (1999).

Modern Gambling in Italy

Meanwhile, in the 1900s, gambling was officially legalized in Italy. The National Lottery was established in 1932 and operated by different Italian companies. Today, SuperEnalotto is the most popular lottery and operated by Sisal.

On December 8th, 1927, an autonomous body called AAMS (Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato) was established in accordance to a royal decree to oversee the production of salts and tobacco and how they are imported and sold.

In the 1980s, the purpose of the body was altered and directed to the supervision of gambling facilities and activities within the country. Gambling, or public gaming as officially known in Italy, was further centralized in 1988. This was when AAMS acquired the many national lotteries, and the Lotto and instant lottery games six years later.

On July 9th, 1998, the functions of AAMS was completely stated and all things related to tobacco and salts were lifted. AAMS received the function to oversee Bingo in 2000. In 2001, Law 383/01 made AAMS a full-fledged gambling body by further receiving the licensing and regulatory control of all gambling activities and facilities within the country.

However, from early 20th century through 2015, the gambling laws of Italy have been modified numerous times through series of acts, decrees, and laws. The legal gambling activities in Italy are gaming machines (1931, 1972, and 2004), lotteries (1948), Bingo (2000), prize competitions (2001), horse racing betting (2004 and 2006), sports betting (2006), card games (2011), fixed-odds games of chance and skill (2011), online poker tournaments and casino games (2011), limited advertising and marketing of gambling services (2012), betting on simulated events (2013), and remote fixed-odds betting (2013).

Lastly, on December 28th, 2015, the Stability Law numbered 208 was passed – which meant new tender for bingo, betting shops and online licenses, pardon for illegal gambling, increased advertising and marketing opportunities for gambling services, and an alteration of taxes.

AAMS was later dissolved and all gambling regulatory authorities were ceded to l’Agenzia delle Dogane on December 1st, 2012. The agency was, simultaneously, renamed to Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM), which is Italy’s customs and monopolies agency under the control of the Ministry of Finance.

Current Gambling Climate in Italy

Gambling is completely legal in Italy. Casino gambling, sports betting, pari-mutuel betting, the lottery and all other forms of gambling are legal in Italy. ADM is the regulatory body responsible for the licensing, regulation, monitoring, and auditing of all gambling activities and facilities within the country.

As of 2018, there are about 38 functional casinos in the country. Nevertheless, most are quite recent while the first five casinos in Italy are the biggest and share the greater percentage of the gambling market. In fact, there were only five casinos in Italy (Casino de la Vallée – Saint-Vincent Resort and Casino, Casino di Sanremo, Casinò di Venezia: Ca’ Noghera,

Casinò di Venezia: Ca’ Vendramin Calergi, and Casino Municipale di Campione d’Italia) until the early 2000s.

While gambling is conscientiously historical in Italy, the number of casinos (or Las Vegas and Macau standard casinos) in Italy is not impressive. Yet, the gambling scene provided by the limited casinos is more than luscious. Luxury and capability are the right words that show how equipped the casinos are, the variety of games – both popular and unpopular – readily available, and other amenities attached to each casino for a fun-filled moment. Considering a figure of about 52.4 million visitors per year, Italy is undoubtedly a place to love.

However, Italy is fairly dangerous although this depends on the region or city in particular. Therefore, travelers should be careful when traveling to Italy so as to enjoy the gambling heaven the country has to offer by sticking to well-known casinos in safe cities or towns – this is highly recommended.

Casinos in Italy

The 37 casinos in Italy are spread throughout 15 cities with most situated in Milan, making the Lombardy metropolis the largest gambling city in Italy. Venice, Brescia, Como, Rome, and Saint-Venice each feature more than one casino (mostly two to four) while Campione d’Italia, Civitanova Marche, Imperia, San Giovanni Teatino, Bologna, San Remo, Savona, Varese, and Merano each feature a single casino.

Casino Municipale di Campione d’Italia is the largest casino in Italy regarding the number of equipment and footage of gaming space. The casino offers 778 gaming machines and 56 table games with a gaming space of about 590,000 square feet. With 610 gaming machines and 20 table games, Casino di Venezia: Ca’ Noghera is the second largest casino.

The second Casino di Venezia, Ca’ Vendramin Calergi, offers 600 gaming machines and 28 table games – which makes it the third largest casino. Casino de la Vallée – Saint-Vincent Resort and Casino is the fourth largest Italian casino, with 512 gaming machines and 95 table games.

Types of Casinos in Italy

With a figure of 37, Italian casinos are typically operated in a hotel or resort (or situated close to one) and offer a wide variety of slot machines and table games including baccarat, blackjack, backgammon, European roulette, French roulette, gin rummy, bridge, Poker Teresina, American roulette, craps, roulette, Punto Banco, Chemin de Fer, 5 Card Stud poker, Caribbean Stud Poker, English roulette, Trente et Quarante, Fair roulette, Saint-Vincent poker (available in Saint Vincent Resort and Casino de la Vallée – St. Vincent), and Texas Hold’em. Tournaments are widely available for gin rummy, backgammon, bridge, and all poker games.

Horse Racing and Sport Betting

In addition to the 38 casinos in Italy, there are seven hippodromes for horseracing and other pari-mutuel betting options. The majority of Italian gamblers do participate in this form of gambling, and the Palio di Siena is the most popular race in the country. It holds on July 2nd and August 16th every year in Siena. Additionally, players can wager on horse racing in the numerous sportsbooks available throughout the country.

Other sports betting are also popular in Italy, especially the world’s favourite sport: football (or soccer). There are, practically, sports betting shops on every popular Italian street. And there are numerous online bookmakers offering their services to players in Italy.

Bingo and Lottery

Considering the fact that bingo originated from Italy, it is only logical that bingo is a nationwide pastime for many Italians and visitors of Italy. The popularity is irrespective of age and region for Italians generally consider bingo as a fun game with a cash prize perk, and many bingo halls and salons are spread throughout all Italian regions.

Moving on, we have the lottery – which, in Italy, is almost as popular as bingo. The lottery is a state monopoly, which is the case in the majority of countries inside and outside Europe. The most popular lottery game is SuperEnalotto, which is operated by Sisal, an Italian gaming, and payment company. The lottery draws are held thrice a week (on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays) and offer cash prizes up to €2 million.

Online Gambling

Lastly, online gambling is flawlessly legal in Italy. Many and well-known gambling websites are licensed in Italy to offer their services to a wide range of audience. Whether lottery, bingo, poker, sports, or casino, gambling online is acceptable under the law.

Facts About Casinos in Italy

– 18 years is the minimum gambling age and a valid ID is required for verification.

– Most Italian casinos require a dress code but each casino defines its own code.

– The legalization of online gambling in Italy started with the European Commission when the institution questioned Italy for the restrictions on online gambling in 2003. In 2006, the first approach occurred but the first effective decree came through in 2007. In 2010, another decree was passed and allows foreign licensed gambling websites to offer their respective services to people in Italy.

– Slot machines are Italians’ favorite as there are over 380,000 slot machines throughout the regions of Italy. Surprisingly, even pharmacies have slot machines.

– Online poker games are only allowed between Italians or residents of Italy.

– Online gambling generates 10 percent of the total revenues. In the United Kingdom, the percentage is double.

– Illegal gambling and gambling addiction are serious problems in Italy.

– Pertaining illegal gambling, more than 4,500 gambling websites have been blacklisted by the ADM (then AAMS) and Italian ISPs (Internet Service Providers) are required to restrict them. (At the same time, approximately 50 websites are added to the whitelist per month). Also, hundreds of slot parlors are run by the Italian Mafia and, according to the Anti-Mafia Commission, the Italian Mafia is profiting even more than the Italian government.

– Pertaining gambling addiction, the government is more than concerned and has proposed abolishing the ever-growing slot machines in the country. Libera reported that almost one million Italians are addicted to at least one form of gambling. Italy is only behind Australia and Singapore as the country with the highest gambling spending per capita.

– There is a high rate of crime in Italy, which can be linked to addicted gamblers stealing and robbing to pay off their gambling debts. Addicted gamblers are mostly poor retirees and unemployed youths.

– Seeing the high rate of illegal gambling, the political party M5S (5-Star-Movement) proposed that land-based and online gambling should be completely abolished in Italy. Reasons were that gambling is an impeccable disguise for organized crimes and a general cause of diverse social problems.

– The founder of Not So Slot, a social psychologist named Simone Feder, complained that 800,000 out of 15 million Italian gamblers are addicted to gambling; stating the fact that these addicts are just hopeful and believe they can get off their low-living by playing slot machines with their scanty wages or money criminally gathered if there are no wages at all.

– SERT is one of the many groups with a purpose to eradicate gambling addiction in Italy.

– One initiative against gambling is the BetOnMath, a school program where three qualified mathematicians break down the idea of gambling and the gambling industry so school students can understand and, therefore, set the students against gambling. More than 250 math teachers have already signed up for the program.

– Contrary to Italy’s 2 percent share of the world’s population, the Italian gambling industry accounts for more than 20 percent of the world’s entire gambling market.

– Despite Vincendo Mini Casino being a mini casino, there are 60 gaming machines in its Meran branch and 100 in its Milan branch.

– The seven Italian hippodromes are Ippodromo Martini Corridonia in Corridonia, Ippodromo del Casalone in Grosseto, Ippodromo di Maia in Merano, Ippodromo Romanengo in Novi Ligure, Ippodromo Di San Rossore in Pisa, Tor di Valle Harness Raceway in Rome, and Vinovo Ippodromi Di Torino in Vinovo – Torino.

– Italian SuperEnalotto was established in 1997. The operator, Sisal, was founded in 1946. In 2015, the company reported a turnover of a whopping sum of €15.1 billion.

– On October 30th, 2010, a lottery player won a mouth-watering jackpot of €177.7 million in Italy. Till today, this is the highest single-ticket jackpot in the history of SuperEnalotto.

– The Italian government does not support the use of Bitcoin but partially subject the use of electronic currency to banks and financial institutions. Therefore, Bitcoin gambling is technically legal in Italy considering the fact that decentralized financial institutions (and not gambling websites) handle Bitcoin transactions.

– In Italy, only companies can apply for gambling (or gaming) licenses – individuals cannot. And, the company must have a gambling license in a European country prior to an application, a financial guarantee of €1.5 million or more, and an infrastructure suitable for offering at least a legal game.

– Italy is one of the few European Union members who has never been pressured by the EU itself to loosen its gambling laws.

– According to Italian law, the servers of a gambling service must be within the territory of a European Economic Area member.

– Only gambling services with an Italian online gaming license can offer gaming with cash prizes.

– The legal definition of land-based gambling and other gambling-related stipulations are outlined in the 1930s Criminal Code, sections 718 through 723. Online gambling, on the other hand, is outlined in the 2011 ADM Decree, section 1.3(p).

– Legally, gambling is covered by two pieces of legislation: primary (the Civil Code and Criminal Code) and secondary (the regulations issued by Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli).

– The tax rates are 20 percent for fixed-odds betting, 22 percent for online games, 18 percent for land-based games, 20 for skill games, 19 percent for land-based sports betting, and 23 percent for online sports betting. These percentages are of the gross revenues returned to the player as winnings. Poker, both online and land-based, is taxed at just 3 percent.

– The gambling websites available to Italians, residents of Italy and visitors are provided in both Italian and English languages, and use both EUR and USD. Presently, there are more than 185 licensed gambling websites.

– On May 30th, 2013, a Chinese player won approximately €350,000 in Milan playing one-armed bandit. The prize was paid by the largest arcade operator in Central and Eastern Europe, Olympic Entertainment Group.

– According to reports, an average Italian gambler spends €1,000 or more per year. This particular rate is higher than most countries’. Players in Lombardy, one of Italy’s regions, spend more than the nation’s average for they spend €3,000.

– The gambling revenues in Italy grow annually. For one, revenues went up 24 percent in 2014 when compared to the gross revenues in 2013. Second, revenues went up 21 percent from 2015 to 2016. Concurrently, Italy’s gambling industry is worth €80 billion per year as of 2017 and about 10 percent is granted to the national budget.

– In 2006, the Italian government penalized Stanleybet, a British bookmaker, for operating gambling activities without an Italian license using its service Placanica and imposed a number of punishments on the company. The company dragged the government to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and, in 2007, a final judgement was passed. The judgement found Stanleybet not guilty and reinforced the fact that any gambling operator licensed in an EU country can operate freely in the territory of another EU country.

– In 2013, Malta restricted Italian players from playing on Malta-licensed gambling websites and Italian operators from operating in Malta. Accordingly, the CJEU passed a ruling which stated that this was a violation against EU laws for – as stated earlier – any gambling operator licensed in an EU country can operate freely in the territory of another EU country.

– In actual fact, gambling in Italy is older than the Vatican.

– Italians can also play lotteries of other EU countries such as El Gordo of Spain.

– Casinò di Venezia: Ca’ Noghera is often called Italy’s first American-style casino.

– Casinò di Venezia: Ca’ Vendramin Calergi have a restaurant named after Wilhelm Richard Wagner, German composer – famously known for his unique operas (or music dramas) – who once lived in Venice.

– Apart from December 24th and 25th, the two Casinò di Venezia open every day of the year.

– Casino Municipale di Campione d’Italia is the largest casino in the whole continent of Europe. It opened as far back as 1917, closed in 1919, then reopened in 1933.

– On slot machines, the minimum bet is between €0.01 and €10.00 while the maximum is typically €500 a spin.

by Steve Bourie Learn more about the author read more »

In March 2014 my wife and I made a trip to Venice, Italy to visit the Casino di Venezia, which advertises itself as the world's oldest casino, saying that it has been operating since 1638.

My last visit to Venice was in the summer of 1970 when I had hitchhiked across Europe from London to Istanbul. I saw a lot of cities during that trip and Venice was one of my favorites so I waslooking forward to finally making a return trip.

Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) is the most popular tourist destination in Venice, Italy.

I used my frequent flyer miles on American Airlines to plan our trip, but they had no direct flights to Venice. We live in south Florida and American had recently introduced non-stop servicefrom Miami to Milan (a two-and-a-half-hour train ride from Venice), so that was our best option.
Unfortunately, the best arrangement I could find was an Air Berlin flight from Miami to Dusseldorf, Germany with a one-hour connecting flight to Milan. However, on the way back we were able toget seats on the non-stop flight from Milan to Miami.
We had never heard of Air Berlin before and we were a little apprehensive about what to expect, but we both enjoyed their flights and we would definitely recommend them as a good airline.

Since I wanted to write an article about the casino I started looking for a public relations (PR) contact for the casino about two months before our trip. Usually, the PR director can helpcoordinate the gathering of information, as well as photos, to help make the project go a little more smoothly. I have been dealing with PR directors at casinos for more than 20 years and Inever had a problem, until this trip, but more on that later.
Hotel rooms in Venice tend to be a little pricey, but after booking our flights and checking room rates they seemed to be especially high. After doing a little research I discovered that ourvisit to Venice was occurring at the end of Carnival which is one of the most popular events in the city and it lasts for about three weeks.

During Carnival, many people wear elaborate costumes, or just masks, and walk around the city to participate in different events and balls. You can read more about it here - http://www.carnevale.venezia.it/?slang=en

Carnival is an annual festival held in Venice, Italy when participants get dressed up in elaborate costumes and masks.

Since the room rates were so high I looked at other options and decided to stay at a hotel in Mestre, which is about five miles from Venice, and the room rates were more reasonable. SinceMestre was the last train stop before Venice it was only a 10-minute ride away and it turned out to be a good option.
I knew that I could charge most of our expenses to credit cards and that most of them would charge a foreign transaction fee of around three percent on each transaction. However, I had twocredit cards that didn't charge those fees and I called them in advance of our trip to let them know that I would be using those cards in Italy.

I brought some cash along to cover smaller expenses and once we arrived at the Milan airport the first thing I needed to do was exchange it for some euros. I really should have researched thisoption a little more thoroughly before I left home because it turns out that using a currency exchange is an expensive option.

It seems that using an ATM is the best option for getting money when abroad because the withdrawal is automatically converted into foreign cash at a much more favorable exchange rate. Theoverall fees are also much lower, but it's a good idea to check with your bank before leaving to see what options they offer you when abroad because some ATM's might be part of their networkand offer you lower fees, while other ATM's might be out of their network and charge heftier fees.

At the airport I exchanged $60 for 28.30 euros which turned out to be a terrible rate as my $60 only got me about $39 worth of euros. If the process were transacted at the true conversion rate($1.38 = 1 euro) I would have received about 43.50 euros, which means that I lost about 35% of my money as a processing fee. The currency exchanges will offer you a better rate if you changelarger amounts of money, but you are still paying an exorbitant fee and, as I found out, it's best to avoid them if you can.

After a 45-minute train ride from the airport to the Milan train station I was ready to buy our tickets to Venice, but there was a slight problem. There were plenty of electronic kiosks forbuying tickets and they accepted both cash and credit cards. Of course, I wanted to use my credit card because I didn't have much cash and as I approached the machine I noticed quite a fewsigns saying 'beware of pickpockets.'

As I was trying to figure out how to operate the machine a 'friendly passerby' came up and offered to help. He spoke some broken English and seemed to be pushing the right buttons to help usbuy our tickets to Mestre from the kiosk. I thought it was a little strange that he smelled a bit like a brewery at only one in the afternoon, but hey, it's Italy and they drink a lot of wine.When we finished the process and it was time to pay I found out that the machines required users to enter their pin number when paying with a credit card and I had no idea what my pin numberwas for my credit card.
After several more tries, using different credit cards I never did get it to work and I thanked the guy for his time. As we walked away, my wife reminded me about the 'beware of pickpockets'sign and we both wondered if he was a pickpocket. I wasn't sure if we had indeed encountered one, but he definitely wasn't a random passerby and I was sure he wasn't just being friendly.

Since we couldn't buy our tickets from a kiosk, we headed into the main ticketing area to buy our tickets from a clerk because they would accept a credit card without a pin number. There wereonly about five clerk windows open and I thought things wouldn't be too bad because you could grab a number from a machine and wait for it to be called rather than having to stand in line. Theonly problem was that our number was 648 and the number being called was 420. Holy crap! This was going to be a long day!

There was certainly no rush on the part of the clerks to lessen the wait and everything moved at a snail's pace. The only good thing was that many people didn't show up when their number wascalled and after about an hour-and-a-half wait, we finally got our tickets.

As we reached the platform to board our train we were, once again, approached by another 'friendly passerby' who seemed to sense that we looked a little lost. In his broken English he asked ifwe needed help and I showed him the tickets. We then followed him along the platform and as we passed the first-class section of cars I was thinking 'gee, this guy is awfully nice!' When wereached the second-class section where we had our seats, he motioned for us to step up into the train and he followed us with our bags to take us directly to our seats. At this point I realizedhe was just trying to make some money so I gave him a two Euro tip (about $2.75). He acted a bit insulted and asked for more, but I said 'no' and he left.

Our hotel in Mestre was directly across from the train station which was very convenient as we used the train the next day to get into Venice. For almost all train tickets you purchase in Italyyou are supposed to get them time-stamped at the station before your board the train. I think this is done to prevent you from using the ticket more than once and there are fines to pay if youare caught with an unvalidated ticket. On our lengthy trip from Milan to Venice we did see a conductor checking tickets, but we never saw anyone checking tickets on our shorter train rides.

Once you reach Venice you will see that there are no cars because the city is a group of 118 small islands that are connected by bridges. All transportation is by boat and there are three basictypes to choose from: water taxis, gondolas and water buses (vaporetti).

Gondolas are really only used for tourist rides, rather than transportation to get around the city, so it may not be fair to count them as a transportation method. A 40-minute ride costs 80Euros and up to six people can fit in the boat for the same price. A much cheaper option is to take a traghetto, which is a larger, specialized gondola used as a ferry to get from one side ofthe city's Grand Canal to the other. These gondolas are less ornate, riders usually stand, and the price for tourists is two Euros (about $2.75), while locals only pay an amount equal to about60 cents.

A couple enjoys a leisurely gondola ride in Venice, Italy.

Water taxis are private boats that can carry up to 14 passengers and are rather expensive. The initial charge is 13 Euros and then it costs 1.80 Euros per minute of travel. If more than fivepeople are in the boat, then there is an additional charge of 10 Euros per person.

A much cheaper alternative is to use a water bus, called a vaporetto (singular), which is the primary form of public transportation in Venice. They travel on designated routes and you usuallydon't have to wait longer than 10 minutes for one to arrive.

Boat traffic on the Grand Canal in Venice can sometimes be hectic. On the right is a water taxi, in the center is a vaporetto (water bus), and on the left are some gondolas.

The fare is seven Euros per trip, but most people buy passes for 12 to 72 hours of unlimited travel. There is also a seven-day pass available for 50 Euros.
Once again, just like with the trains, users must validate their ticket each time before boarding the boat.

We bought a multi-day pass for the vaporetti and printed on the pass was free admission to the Casino de Venezia. This was useful because normally the casino charges a five Euro entrance fee,or for 10 Euros, you can get free admission, plus a voucher for 10 Euros to be used for play in the casino. I had read that many hotels in Venice also offer free passes for admission to thecasino, but I never asked about them because we didn't need them.

'Normally,' I would get admission to a casino at no charge by contacting the public relations director ahead of time to explain that I was going to write about the casino and asking for help ingathering information. Then, I would meet them, or a different representative, at the casino to take a tour and ask questions. I had no problem doing this at the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco,nor at the Empire and Playboy Casinos in London.

I say 'normally' because that's the way it is supposed to work. However, there seemed to be some problems with that procedure at the Casino de Venezia.
My emails went unanswered for several weeks and when I finally did hear back, I got very little information, plus my requests for photos to use in this article went unanswered. Additionally,although I kept writing to say that I was leaving within 10 days and that I wanted to set up a specific day and time to meet at the casino, I never heard back before I left.

To be fair, on the few occasions when I did hear back, I don't think the representative spoke much English. However, you would think that a casino in a major European city would have amulti-lingual staff, especially if they wanted to cater to English-speaking visitors, which this casino certainly did. Also, if they didn't speak English, then they should have at least made aneffort to find someone in the company who could speak English and correspond with me about writing an article about their property.
When the day of our trip came and I hadn't heard back I figured that I would just visit the casino on my own and ask for the PR rep by name when I got there.

The Venice Casino is in a three-story building right on the Grand Canal and a short walk from the San Marcuola vaporetto stop. The first floor houses the slot machines, while the second-floorhouses a poker room and the table games are located on the third floor.

Casino di Venezia entrance from the Grand Canal.

We went on a Monday afternoon around 3:30 because that is the opening time for the table games and I wanted to see that area, as well as the slot machine section which opens daily at 11 a.m.Both areas close at 2:45 a.m., except for Saturday nights when they remain open an extra half-hour.
We walked up to the lone clerk at the admission desk and showed her our vaporetto passes. After presenting our passports we were issued free tickets with our names printed on them and thetickets were also valid for readmission to the casino until it closed later that evening.

I asked at the admission desk for the PR person that I had been dealing with by email, but the clerk spoke limited English and didn't seem to know the person I was asking for, so I decided togive up on that idea and just see what I could find out my own by walking around.

The slots were housed in about five different small rooms that each held about 15-20 machines. There were only four video poker machines in the entire casino and they were housed in one smallroom along with a double-zero wheel electronic roulette game, plus a few slots.

The denomination of all the video poker games was half-a-Euro and they were all multi-play. The jacks or better games had 9/5 pay tables (98.44% payback) which wasn't especially bad. However,there was a problem because the royal flush didn't pay 800-for-1 unless you made a maximum coin bet of 25 Euros. In U.S. casinos you usually only need to make a bet of five coins to increasethe payoff for a royal from 250-for-1 to 800-for-1, so this actually lowered the payback on these machines to only 97.21% unless you made that maximum bet of 25 Euros.

I wanted to play the video poker a bit to test it out, plus I wanted to get some more Euros for the rest of my trip so I went to the cashier cage to change $200 into Euros, but I was told thatthe casinos didn't change money. Actually, the first person I dealt with didn't speak any English, but a second cashier said that I would have to use my credit card in order to get the Euros Iwanted.

The casino's web site said that they accepted U.S. dollars so I was little surprised that they wouldn't take my dollars, but I decided to go ahead and charge 150 Euros on my credit card. When Iasked at the cage if this would be considered a cash advance against my credit card, nobody knew the answer.
Actually, nobody seemed friendly at all and it was a rather complicated process to get information about the various ways the casino worked. I have been going to casinos for more than 40 yearsand if it was a difficult process for me I can just imagine how much more difficult it could be for a novice gambler.
Anyway, getting the 150 Euros turned out to be an excellent deal because it was processed as a sale rather than a cash advance and there were no fees involved. Also, it was processed at thebest possible exchange rate which was an added bonus!

I was given a voucher for 150 Euros and headed back to the machine to play, but when I inserted the voucher the machine kept rejecting it. After trying it in some other machines the ticket wasstill being rejected so I went back to the cage to tell them about the problem. At this point I was told that those machine don't accept vouchers and a manager was called over to discuss myproblem. He told the clerk to give me cash and I was handed three 50 Euro notes for my voucher.

I went back to the machine and it gladly accepted my 50 Euro note. I played about 15-20 hands and was up five Euros so I decided it was time to cash out. However, when I hit the cash out buttona screen popped up saying that I needed a hand-pay. Wow, a hand-pay for 55 Euros? That was weird.
Although there weren't many people playing the machines, there also weren't many employees on the floor and after fruitlessly waiting a few minutes for an attendant to arrive I decided it wastime to go find someone to pay me. I went back to the cage to explain the problem and, once again, a manager was called in to resolve the problem.

He told the clerk to pay me and I was given my 55 Euros. I thought that was a little strange because in the U.S. they would usually follow you back to the machine to see the amount displayed,pay you that amount, and then reset the machine. I guess they had some way to verify the amount I won from the cashier cage and then reset the machine from there?

After my quick play at video poker I was now eager to see the table games and I headed back to the lobby. When I spoke to the ticket checker at the entrance to ask how to get to the table gamesarea I was gruffly told that I couldn't go up there because I wasn't wearing a jacket.

Hmm. That seemed a little strange as it was only four in the afternoon. I had been to the casino in Monte Carlo, which is much more famous, as well as much more popular, and they didn't requiretheir customers to wear a jacket in the afternoon, so I wonder why the Venice Casino was so much more picky about this issue?
I did have a jacket with me, but it was in my hotel room so I decided that we would just have to come back another night to check it out.

Casino di Venezia entrance from the street.

Two nights later we got dressed up, had a nice dinner and then returned to the casino around 8:30. Once again, we showed our vaporetto passes at the admission desk to get our free admissiontickets, and then headed to the third floor to check out the table games.

The casino wasn't very crowded and as we started to walk around to check out the games my wife pointed out to me that a lot of the men were not wearing jackets. At that point I did a quicksurvey and I would say that about a quarter of the men in the casino weren't wearing jackets! Wow, they wouldn't let me in at four in the afternoon without a jacket, but they had no problemletting all these other people in at night without jackets? That was very annoying because it made me feel like they had purposely singled me out to deny me entrance to the table games area,when it really shouldn't have mattered.

Most of the people were playing roulette and the casino had six tables, although only three were open. There were four French tables and two American tables (which the casino referred to as'fair roulette'). All of the games were single zero and the only difference between them was that on the American table you had to exchange your cash for chips that could then represent anyamount that you wanted and they were only for play at that particular table. For example, you could exchange 100 Euros for chips and tell the dealer you wanted 100 one Euro chips, or 50 twoEuro chips, or 20 five Euro trips, etc. Then, when you were finished you would need to cash those chips in with the dealer to have them exchanged back into regular casino chips.

At the other French tables you could only bet with regular casino chips so there was no need to exchange them. The layout of the French table was also different and slightly larger than theAmerican version, plus there were several croupiers (dealers) at the table, while the American table only had one dealer.

Roulette was definitely the most popular game in the casino as it was the only game that was really having any action and I would guess that there were about 20 people playing. The minimum betwas two Euros which made it an affordable game for some leisurely fun and the single-zero wheels made the casino edge only 2.70% which was much better than the 5.26% edge found on U.S. roulettegames with double-zero wheels.

Located in the same room were about 10 baccarat tables, but they were all empty. That was a disappointment as I was eager to see these tables in action because the casino offered Chemin de Fer,which I have never seen in a U.S. casino. The game is similar to American baccarat, but in this version someone at the table acts as the banker and the house just serves as a middleman to dealthe cards, plus it gets to keep the five percent commission on the winning bank bets. The other difference is that in Chemin de Fer the players can sometimes decide how to play their hands. Inthe American version of baccarat that isn't an option as strict rules need to be followed concerning the drawing of a third card.

If you've ever watched a James Bond movie then you've seen Chemin de Fer in action because Bond always wins his baccarat bets directly from the bad guys rather than the casino, plus the dealerwill ask him whether or not he wants another card. With so many baccarat tables in the casino I assume that the game is popular, but perhaps we needed to be there later in the evening for theplayers to begin arriving? I did notice that there was another room behind the baccarat table section and it contained even more baccarat tables. I am sure this was a private salon for higherlimit players, but it too was empty.

There was only one other room to visit and when we entered we saw three blackjack tables, a Caribbean Stud Poker game and some Punto Banco tables.
The Caribbean Stud Poker table was empty and it seemed to be out of place because it's a dying game. It used to be popular many years ago, but it's now hard to find the game in any U.S. casino.I would tend to think that the casino's management was out of touch with offering this game because Three Card Poker and Let It Ride are much more popular.

Punto Banco is actually the same game as baccarat that is played in U.S. casinos and the Venice Casino offered it at a large table that seated up to 15 players, as well as at smallerblackjack-sized tables that seat seven players and would be referred to as mini-baccarat in the U.S.
The blackjack games all had continuous shuffling machines and the minimum bet was 10 Euros.

According to the printed felt on the table the dealer stood on soft 17, which was good, but I never did find out the complete rules. It seemed that whenever I asked someone a question theyeither didn't speak English, or they seemed indifferent.

From the admissions desk, to the cashiers cage, to the dealers, there seemed to be an attitude of not wanting to be helpful. I thought that maybe it was me asking too many questions, but Ilater looked up reviews of the casino on traveladvisor.com and I found that many people had the same problem. The review titled 'poor hospitality' probably summed up the situation best whenthey wrote 'Unsure what to do when we arrived at the Casino but no one interested in helping us. Staff talking to each other and not interested in welcoming visitors.'

Casino Venise Poker Slots

My thoughts on our visit were pretty similar. I always enjoy going to casinos, but this place really wasn't much fun and nobody seemed to care. If you are heading to Venice and you likecasinos, I would still say it's an interesting place to visit. However, you should be forewarned that visiting the Venice Casino might be about as much fun as visiting your local Department ofMotor Vehicle Office, except nobody speaks much English. Ciao!