When most people think of Italy, they think of the food, the art museums, or the ancient Roman culture. What most people don't know about Italy is that it can be a great destination for people who want to include some gambling on their vacation. Although Italy doesn't have many casinos, the places they do have are well worth the visit for tourists who want to experience something a little different than what they expected on a trip to Italy.
While there are only a handful of casinos in Italy, visiting one of them is well worth the trip. There are two distinctive sides to gambling in Italy. One is very much like the American version, casual clothes and lots of slot machines. On the other hand, many Italian casinos have what is called the "French Games" section. Even in the more casual Italian casino, the Casino Municipale di Campione d' Italia in Campione d' Italia, part of the casino has a dress code as well as an entrance fee (about $12.50 US). The other Italian casinos, including Casino De La Vallee in Saint Vincent (near Turin), Casino Municipale di Sanremo in San Remo (near Nice, France), and the Casino Municipale di Venezia in Venice, don't allow people in street or casual clothing and all charge some type of entrance fee. Indeed, Italian casinos epitomize the glamorous image of European gambling made famous in James Bond movies.
All of the cities mentioned only have one casino except for Venice. The Venice casino is interesting because it is really one casino split in two, one which is open in the summer and the other that is open in the winter months. Also a little bit different is that the Casino Municipale di Venezia also offers gin rummy tournaments in addition to the gambling.
Besides the dress codes and the entrance fees, there are other things to be aware of before you plan a trip to an Italian casino. The first thing is that in all of Italy's casinos, the language spoken is Italian. If you are planning on spending any time in casinos, you should, at the very least, learn some Italian phrases and other gambling vocabulary. Also, the gambling age in Italy is 18 so students and younger people who may not be allowed to gamble in the USA, where the legal age is 21, are permitted to do so in Italy. In addition to gambling, Italian casinos feature live music and entertainment as well as restaurants and nightclubs. One thing Italian casinos do not have, however, are hotel rooms, so lodging arrangements need to be made separately.
