A World Travel Guide For Gamblers? Yes Please!!

 

 

TravelZork readers are a special and savvy bunch. They know travel and they know gambling. They also know that they can never know enough…. about travel and gambling. If you called me up, sent me an email or a text saying, “Let’s go gamble. You pick the spot.”, I’d come up with maybe 10 choices, and they’d be the usual suspects – Vegas, Connecticut, Atlantic City, Biloxi, The Bahamas, Monaco, Macau, Singapore and then I’d start running out of steam. What the folks over at Eleventy Traveller have done is very cool. Their new e-book, World Travel Guide For Gamblers, is a collaborative effort that combines the work of six different writers who have “used their own personal travel experiences coupled with extensive research to find the absolute best gambling destinations in the world.“

I’ve just finished reading a pre-publication copy of the e-book. There are thirty different countries featured in the book and it includes some destinations that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. Greece? Nope wasn’t on my list. Croatia, Malta, Cyprus, Poland? That’s four “Nopes” right there. This does look promising. Imagine me, SteveHacksTravel, sending postcards from Croatia with pictures of my stacks of large denomination chips and extolling the virtues of all the comps I’ve earned. (Hey, it could happen.)

The approach they’ve taken for each featured country and city is:

• Provide a general overview of the destination
• List specific casinos and describe their gambling offerings including:
  • Background and History
  • Specific games of chance featured at the casino
  • Hours of operation
  • If located at a hotel, # of rooms, restaurants and bars
  • If applicable, access to VIP / high roller gambling
  • Rating on a 1-10 scale
• Local laws and regulations that affect gambling (e.g. In Ireland all gambling must be done at private clubs but becoming a member is a simple process.)

Let’s take a look at a couple of the featured Countries / Cities / Casinos.

Croatia

They list fourteen different casinos all across the country. The country is given a 6 / 10 rating and the gambling climate is described as follows: “If you are looking for a vibrant nightlife, then Croatia is one of the best places to visit; they have tons of clubs and casinos. In fact, Croatia has more than a dozen casinos for visitors to see and they all offer their own vibe and environment. You have smaller more intimate casinos, large casinos, and casinos that offer different styles and designs.”

I was intrigued by The Casino Royal(e) in Zagreb. James Bond did visit this city back in From Russia With Love. If this one doesn’t suit you Zagreb has four casinos in which you’ll find more than 325 slots and gaming machines. There are a total of 21 table games. Small and intimate is the best way to describe the gambling scene here.

Singapore

Singapore is one of my favorite places to visit on the planet Earth. I love the mix of cultures and attractions, their no nonsense approach to building a safe and thriving society, and the excellent hotels and restaurants. The casino at the Marina Bay Sands in featured in the book and it rates it as a 9 / 10  with 24 hour gambling, 160,000 square feet of space, 2,500 gaming machines and 700 gaming tables. I’ve been here. It’s H U G E !!

Bottomline / TL;DR – This is not a book on gambling strategy. This is a book, a directory, that lists gambling destinations that many of us might not have considered before. It will get your mind going on where you might like to visit the next time the gambling bug hits.

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