[ English ]

Landlocked Kazakhstan has lasted as a mystery to the western traveler for centuries, unknown from the pages of Marco Polo or Kipling. Few outsiders have experienced the attraction of this central Asian country, besides the salespersons who plied the Silk Road. Still, considering that Kazakhstan attained its independence in 1991 and above all under the farsighted and noble presidency of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the country has blossomed. As the nation blossoms, so do Kazakhstan casinos. Flushed with oil cash, it’s boom time in the games corporations of this passed soviet republic. There are 7 cities that have amidst them legal casino resources of which there are precisely 28 such spots. Clearly if you are ready for a wager, the tables are the only game in town, as Kazakhstan casinos are the only gambling operations justified there.

Most critical to the inclined gamer will have to be the one-time capital as well as the largest city in the country, Almaty, that apparent Las Vegas of central Asia, exhibiting no less than 18 casinos and counting. With a rising nine per cent enhancement each year, the Kazakh economy has expanded hugely in the last 10 yrs. and with it the Kazakh appetite for the casino tables. The cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic, multinational city of Almaty is not recognizable from its preceding status as the central city of a grey Soviet satellite state. New wealth has brought glamor and of course excitement to the place, a fact best embodied by the city’s greatest casino, Casino Viva. One of a chain, this fantastic Kazakhstan casino hotel can hold twenty-six games tables and ninety-three gaming machines.

What’s more, the fad for cyber poker hasn’t gone unseen in Kazakhstan casinos with the introduction of video poker quickly becoming a crowd pleaser. Outside of Almaty, the intrepid gamer is also served; as a reference, the capital Astana has 5 casinos, the better one among them being one of the Casino Zodiak chain that enjoys not less than 20 card tables. If that is not nearly enough for you, casinos are also located further afield in the cities of Aktobe, Kokshetau, Pavlodar, Shimkent, also Ust-kamenogorsk. It is very obvious, anyway, that the Kazakh fondness for the green baize and clink of chips isn’t stated, since the vice-foreign minister a short while ago visited Macao and also Hong Kong. The visit was certified to be a "short but fruitful" trip constructed to study the casino market of these towns and impel preference in Kazakhstan’s nascent casino business. In fact, a feasible direct air link has been publicized between Almaty and Hong Kong or Macao, which should build eagerness for this once exotic region soon set to become the preference of the elite.