Casino Editorial Team: Will we ever see a casino in Milan, Rome or Naples?

Almost all major European cities have one or more live casinos where residents or visitors can spend a few hours a day playing slot machines, roulette or poker. But in Italy the situation is completely different, with only four open casinos, all located in the north and only one in a big city, Venice.

How many live casinos are there in Italy?

Only four live casinos are operational in Italyand they are all located in the north of the country, in a border area, only one structure is inserted in a medium-sized tourist city, Venice.

San Remo Casino: The casino is located in Sanremo, a small town known for the Italian Song Festival, in the province of Imperia in the Liguria region.

La Vallee Casino: The casino is located in Saint Vincent, a small mountain town in the province of Aosta, in the Valle d’Aosta region.

Casino of Campione d’Italia: The casino is located in Campione d’Italia, an Italian enclave in Switzerland, in the province of Como, in the Lombardy region.

Casino Venice: The Venice Casino is located in Venice, the capital of the Veneto region.

Why haven’t casinos opened in the Central South?

In Italy, opening new casinos is not frowned upon by Italian politicians and the Church. Suffice it to say that the four casinos in operation were opened by royal decree willed by the government of Rome at the time of Fascism Benito Mussolini.

Before the 1960s, other casinos operated and closed, such as Taormina in Sicily, Baths of Lucca in Tuscanyor San Pellegino Terme in Lombardy.

Slot Machines

The creation of new casinos has always been a very contentious issue in Italy and that is why national politics decided not to legislate on this matter, but to authorize the opening of hundreds of VLT and bingo rooms, which have actually taken the place of live casinos.

We’ve even witnessed the rise of slot halls in the central southwhich have nothing to do with the slot machines present in physical casinos, but which cannot offer counter games (roulette, blackjack, etc.) that can only be found in live casinos.

Casino Editorial Team: Will we ever see a casino in Milan, Rome or Naples?

I think that with the current gambling legislation it is very difficult for other casinos to open in addition to the four existing and operating in Italy.

This does not mean that this will never happen in the future, but in my opinion two essential conditions would be required to start the creation of new structures.

Firstly, the policy recognizes that the opening of a casino in the main Italian cities, could be a driving force for tourismbecause many tourists are also gamers and being a gamer doesn’t mean ruining yourself with the game, just spending a few hours playing for fun.

blackjack table

Just look at the other European nations, or just the neighboring countries. There are casinos in many cities in France, Slovenia, Switzerland, Austria, without anyone being shocked or thinking that all players go to casinos to ruin themselves.

The second condition is politicalor study a reorganization of the gambling sector in Italy and allow the opening of a live casino by region or in major Italian cities such as Rome, Milan, Naples, Palermomaybe they are trying to limit the opening of new VLT halls.

Let’s see if there’s any news on games and casinos under the centre-right government or if we continue on the path of the previous governments. We will keep you informed.

I am one of the founders of CasinoItaliaweb. I’ve been writing about casino, poker, sports betting and financial trading for over 10 years. In my free time I like to travel, read books and do a lot of sports