How Many Casinos Are There in the World?
It is impossible to put an exact figure on how many casinos there are. New ones open their doors every so often, some older ones that aren’t making good money close down, and so on. There are also many illegitimate casinos in some grey and black markets that cannot be counted officially. Therefore we thought it would be good to look at some of the top locations for casino gameplay and find out how many establishments exist within these areas. How do these locations differ in terms of the number of casinos they provide to people?
It is obvious that different locations have different laws around casinos. In that respect, a country or area that only has legislation for two or three physical casinos to be constructed on land will likely not have as many as one that does not impose such specific restrictions. Therefore, we have looked at countries with a history of casinos to give us an idea how many casinos there are and who has the most.
Casinos Based in the United Kingdom
The number of land-based casinos found within the United Kingdom hasn’t varied too much over the past 10 years or so, usually being within the 140-160 margin. It was only in the timeframe between April 2020 and September 2020 that the number of active establishments within the country fell below that level, with Statista recording a total of 131 operational casinos. Doubtless, the negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic had a lot to do with the decline experienced.
More than a dozen Las Vegas-style “Super Casinos” had plans drawn up for across the country, with the first one – The Aspers Casino – being built in London and opening in 2011. This serves as the largest casino in the capital city to this day, providing around 70 gaming tables and about 12 poker tables. Accompanying these are about 150 electronic gaming machines, including slots.
Within the United Kingdom, 20 of the active casinos exist within London. As well as the aforementioned Aspers establishment, the capital city plays host to various Grosvenor casinos, the Park Tower Casino, Crockfords Club and the well-known Hippodrome.
Yet just about all counties in the United Kingdom play host to casino establishments, including 12 in Yorkshire and the Humber, 13 in the West Midlands (five of which are within Birmingham), 9 in the East Midlands, 6 in the North East and 8 in the South West. Wales plays host to four casinos of its own, including the Rainbow Casino in Cardiff.
To put things in a simpler way, you would find 42 in the southern part of England, 63 in the northern part and 10 in the western area. Scotland has 15 of its own land-based casinos, but there aren’t any based in Northern Ireland.
Casinos Based in France
France is known as the birthplace of the game of roulette as it is played in modern times. And it is also said that the country is the cultural home of casinos, being known for some of the world’s oldest establishments. Due to this, France plays host to 200 land-based casino venues, with more of these originally being found in the capital of Paris than elsewhere. While there was a total of eight casinos active in this area, five of them have closed down within the past 10 years, leaving just the Association Cercle Central, Casino Barrière d’Enghien-les-Bains, Cercle Anglais, and Cercle Clichy Montmartre in operation.
One casino in the country, the Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (also known as Pasino Saint Armand), found in the area of Nord-Pas-de-Calais area of France, served as the location for a Frenchman’s victory of £2.2 million in January of 2022. The establishment hosts 290 slots machines, electronic roulette, video poker, roulette, blackjack, and much more, including poker tournaments.
Other locations in France that have large numbers of casinos include Lower Normandy, where 12 venues can be found, Bretagne, which hosts 11 establishments, Aquitaine, giving gamers access to 8 casinos, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, which features a set of 21 casino establishments.
Casinos Based in the United States of America
According to statistics provided back in 2020, the United States plays host to a total of at least 462 commercial casinos. That figure has been up and down since 2005, when 455 casinos existed across the country. It was in 2016 that the figure reached its peak, when as many as 524 casinos were recorded as active in the U.S.
The difference with the United States is that it also provides players with access to Native American casinos, of which there are 525, which are licensed and regulated under alternative laws. Back in 2005, the country only had 406 of these establishments, and it hit the 500 mark in 2016. Combining that number with the number of commercial casinos brings the total gaming establishments to 987 as of 2020.
You could also include establishments that serve as smaller casinos in the USA, which would bring the total number of these to 2,157, and this makes the country the top when it comes to number of active casino venues.
It is easy to understand that the state of Nevada serves as the one with the most casino establishments, considering it has had legal gambling within since 1931. Of course, this is where Las Vegas is, which has a host of casinos on The Strip. Take a look below at the top 10 states in terms of the number of casinos they offer:
- Nevada – 334 (including 31 on the Las Vegas Strip)
- Oklahoma – 134
- California – 62
- Colorado – 40
- South Dakota – 39
- Florida – 35
- Mississippi – 35
- Arizona – 34
- Washington – 32
- Michigan – 30
Those figures exist from statistics taken in 2017, and the likelihood is that these states, as well as others, have additional casinos operating within their borders today. Nevada is most likely to have grown considerably on that front.
The largest casino in the United States is the WinStar World Casino & Resort found in Thackerville, Oklahoma, which stands at 400,000 square feet and features around 8,500 slot machines, 100 table games and 55 poker tables. Not only is it the largest in America, but the largest casino in the world!
That being the said, the casinos found in Nevada produce the largest revenue of all, coming in at $7.87 billion (£6.4 billion) in 2020. Just to compare that figure with the second state on the revenue list (New Jersey), which only brings in an annual revenue $2.88 billion (£2.4 billion) as of 2020.
Casinos Based in Macau
If you were to travel to Macau, the special administrative region of China, then you would be able to visit a total of 41 land-based casinos. You’ll find 24 of them located on the Macau Peninsula, while the remaining 17 are in the area of Cotai. The biggest of these exists as The Venetian Macao, and there are three primary casino operators in the area – SJM Holdings, Galaxy Entertainment and Las Vegas Sands.
The majority of the casinos found in Macau are open on a 24/7 basis and also have hotels attached to them for visitors to stay at. As well as the aforementioned Venetian Macao, there are some further prolific establishments there. They include City of Dreams, featuring 550 gaming tables and 1,500 machines, Ponte 16, owned by SJM Holdings and offering 150 tables, 5 VIP halls and 20 rooms, and MGM Macau, owned and operated as a joint venture between MGM Resorts and Pansy Ho (the daughter of Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho).
Poker was first introduced to Macau in August of 2007, starting out in an electronic table format at the Galaxy Starworld casino, before live poker tournaments began being held later on in that year.
Casinos Based in Canada
Official figures today suggest that Canada is home to more than 200 casinos, operating more than 76,000 slots and 2,200 table games for visitors. There are certain Canadian locations which restrict casino-style gambling to government-operated VLTs, functioning in a similar way to slots. Traditional casinos can be found in the provinces of Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia. Meanwhile, those that allow the VLT style of casino gambling include Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Ontario serves as the largest gambling hotspot in Canada, providing 72 gambling establishments for people to visit. It is the Caesars Windsor casino which operates as the most impressive venue in this area, which is owned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. The venue attracts more than 6 million people every year, with the casino section providing its guests with access to 2,600 slots and 95 table games. It also has a hotel attached to it, which features a 23-storey tower built in 1998 and another 27-storey tower constructed in 2008. Caesars Windsor also plays host to music events within its Colosseum venue, with acts like Toto, Alice Cooper, Bare Naked Ladies, Lionel Richie and The Pet Shop Boys having performed there.
Other notable casinos found in Ontario include the Casino Niagara, Casino Rama Resort and Elements Casino Brantford. You can also find popular establishments outside of that province, including the Grey Eagle Resort of Alberta, Hard Rock Casino in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Casino Montreal in Quebec.
Casinos Based in Italy
Like France, Italy has quite the history with gambling and casino games. This dates all the way back to the Roman Empire, when a predecessor to today’s game of baccarat was a popular way for Roman soldiers to entertain themselves. The very first public gambling establishment was opened in Venice in 1638. Yet despite this obvious love for gambling throughout the years, it seems quite surprising that Italy only has five active land-based casinos today! And none of those are found within the capital city of Rome, either.
The country’s largest casino is located in Saint Vincent in the north of the country near to the border with Switzerland, entitled Casino de la Vallee. Almost 100 game tables and around 500 slots can be found within, while additional casinos can be found within Venice (Casino Vendramin Calergi and Casino Noghera), Sanremo (Casino di Sanremo) and Campione d’Italia (Casino di Campione d’Italia).
The latter of those casinos is also a relatively large establishment, offering 650 slot machines inside and a strong series of live games. Classic table games like blackjack and roulette, as well as poker table games and others including baccarat and punto banco, are also on hand.
Casinos Based in Germany
Over 50 casinos can be found in the country of Germany, and they are spread out across the different states. Most of the large German cities have at least one casino for gamers to visit, although most of them are found within resorts and spa towns, with the famous Casino Bad Ems (which dates back to 1720) being one example of such.
Laws across Germany regarding gambling do differ from state to state, although there are certain similarities in them as well. For example, it is common law for all casinos within the country to be non-smoking establishments. In many cases, table games will only be provided after midday, while slots can be made available earlier.
Bavaria plays host to a good selection of land-based casinos in Germany, with nine being accessible, such as the Casino Lindau, Casino Bad Steben and Casino Bad Reichenhall. Berlin, on the other hand, only has three casinos – the Casino Berlin Alexanderplatz, Casino Berlin Potsdamer Platz and Casino Hasenheide. Other areas with large numbers of casinos in Germany including Lower Saxony, offering 9 casinos of its own, Schleswig Holstein, North Rhine Westphalia and Hessen each offering 4 venues, and Rhineland Palatinate featuring five establishments.
Many of the casinos in Germany can be found on the borders close to other countries, including six in close proximity to Poland, three near to Czechia, six in areas close to Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, and eight near to the countries of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
