Dolce gambling vita
Italy is the place of world-hailed beauties, both natural and artificial. Casinos are not an exception — Bel Paese* can boast of Europe’s most attractive architectural solutions in terms of gambling houses. It’s impossible to enumerate all of them (36 facilities in 15 cities), so we’ve chosen the most remarkable ones.
1. Casinò di Venezia, Venice. The oldest operating casino in the world. Opened in 1638 under the name “Ridotto”, it still welcomes the game of luck fans from all over the world. Poker room, gaming tables and 600 slot machines, all seasoned with unique spirit of city on the water.
2. Casino de la Vallee , St. Vincent. Located in the heart of Italian Alps and surrounded by four highest peaks of Europe, this place, which is the biggest casino in Italy, will warm you up with 90 gaming tables, 2 poker rooms and more than 600 slot machines. Luxurious restaurants and a 5-star hotel provided!
3. Milano Santa Rita Casino, Milan. Actually, Milan is the main “gambling” city in Bel Paese — there are 10 casinos, mainly offering slot and video poker machines. Santa Rita Casino is one of the largest Olympic Casinos in Italy, located on the south end of Milan nearby the highway Milano-Genova.
4. Casinò Municipale di Sanremo, Sanremo. Located right in the heart of the town, the casino offers exciting games that include slot machines (479), video poker, Blackjack, Punto Banco, French Roulette, Fair Roulette, Chemin Der Fer (38 gaming tables) and Poker. Moreover, it offers one of the most elegant theaters in Liguria hosting over 100 concerts per year. Awesome place ‘per festeggiare qualcosa**’!
If we turn to the law, only the state has the right to allow gambling — AAMS (Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato) issues licenses and regulate other gambling matters.
There’s an interesting tax regime based on the profit rather than on the turnover. A flat rate of 20% was to be applied to all newly legalized games except the video lottery games.
Also, it obliges operators to pay back to players at least 90% of the wagered money in the form of winnings. The maximum buy-in for a poker tournament was set at EUR 250 and the maximum initial stake for each gaming session could not exceed EUR 1,000.
*Bel Paese — Beautiful Country; Italians call Italy this way.
**per festeggiare qualcosa — to celebrate something
