Given Las Vegas’ world famous status as the premier holiday destination for gamblers it comes as no surprise that North America takes the prize for being home to the most casinos in the world. It secures the title by a wide margin, with recent estimates running to more than 1,500 casinos involved in online slot games.
It stands to reason that the state of Nevada has the most casinos, home to an estimated 334 venues, over 100 of which are in Las Vegas with a further 70 in Clark County, surrounding the city. There is an additional cluster of 20 in Reno. Nevada has had legalised gambling since 1931, far sooner than much of the rest of the world, giving the state a head start on establishing an attractive gaming destination.
The runner up is a relative newcomer, Oklahoma. Gambling was only approved there in 2004, less than 20 years ago, yet the state already boasts over 130 casinos, many of which are Native American owned.
California, with its liberal attitude to gaming, is in third place with over 60 casinos.
Fun fact: there are no casinos at all in Alaska, Hawaii and Utah.
2nd place – Canada
The USA’s neighbour has around 216 casinos, earning it second place in the world rankings. The oldest casino in the country is Diamond Tooth Gertie's Gambling Hall in Dawson City, Yukon, which was established in 1971. The most recent addition is Century Casino St. Albert in Alberta, which opened its doors in 2016.
3rd place – Mexico
Another neighbour of the states gets third ranking in the list. Mexico is snapping at Canada’s heels for the silver position, with 206 casinos according to recent estimates. This is quite remarkable when we consider that the laws prohibiting gambling were only relaxed in 2004. The numbers of casinos look set to increase rapidly in the country over the coming years.
Honourable mention: France
It’s worth noting that the fourth ranking casino country is actually in Europe, well away from the US. France has over 180 casinos. It’s biggest,Lyon Vert Casino, contains over 300 slot machines.As well as being home to some of the world’s oldest casinos, France has an important place in casino history being where the famous game Roulette originated back in the 18th century. In fact ‘Roulette’ derives from the French for ‘little wheel’.
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Article written by Lucy
(Photo by thomashawk via Flickr)