Landlocked Kazakhstan has remained a mystery to the western traveler for
centuries, unknown save from the pages of Marco Polo or Kipling. Few
outsiders have experienced the charms of this central Asian country,
other than the merchants who plied the Silk Road. Yet since Kazakhstan
gained its independence in 1991 and especially under the farsighted and
benevolent presidency of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the country has
flourished. As the nation flourishes, so do Kazakhstan casinos.
Flushed with oil money, it's boom time in the gambling establishments of
this former soviet republic. There are seven cities that have within
them legal casino facilities of which there are exactly twenty-eight
such places. Indeed if you are hungry for a bet, the tables are the
only game in town, as Kazakhstan casinos are the only gambling
operations permitted there.
Most notable to the dedicated gambler must be the former capital and
largest city in the country, Almaty, that veritable Las Vegas of central
Asia, boasting no less than 18 casinos and counting. With a soaring
nine percent growth per year, the Kazakh economy has expanded enormously
in the last ten years and with it the Kazakh appetite for the gaming
tables. The cosmopolitan, multiethnic, multinational city of Almaty is
unrecognizable from its previous existence as the principal city of a
grey Soviet satellite state. New wealth has brought glamor and
excitement to the place, a fact best embodied by the city's largest
casino, Casino Viva. One of a chain, this fabulous Kazakhstan casino
hotel can claim twenty-six games tables and ninety-three slot machines.
What's more, the craze for Internet poker has not gone unnoticed in
Kazakhstan casinos with the innovation of video poker fast becoming a
favorite. Outside of Almaty, the intrepid gambler is also served; for
example, the capital Astana has five casinos, chief amongst them being
one of the Casino Zodiak chain that enjoys no less than twenty card
tables. If that is not enough for any man, casinos are also to be found
further afield in the cities of Aktobe, Kokshetau, Pavlodar, Shimkent,
and Ust-kamenogorsk. It is clear, however, that the Kazakh fondness for
the green baize and clink of chips is not sated, since the vice-foreign
minister recently visited Macao and Hong Kong. The visit was reported
to be a "short but fruitful" trip designed to study the gambling
industries of these towns and encourage interest in Kazakhstan's nascent
casino business. In fact, a possible direct air link has been touted
between Almaty and Hong Kong or Macao, which should bolster enthusiasm
for this once exotic place soon set to become the choice of the
in-crowd.