October 2019

Not to be confused with the former Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, now Park MGM, on the Las Vegas Strip, Casino de Monte Carlo, or Monte Carlo Casino, is located in the tiny, independent city-state of Monaco on the French Riviera. The Principality of Monaco is actually the second smallest country in the world, after the Vatican City State, but Monte Carlo Casino is one of four gambling establishments owned and operated by the state-controlled Société des Bains de Mer (SBM).

Founded in 1863 by businessman François Blanc, Monte Carlo Casino is magnificent, richly decorated building in the Belle Époque style. It was celebrated in the popular British music hall song, ‘The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo’, made famous by Charles Coborn, in the late nineteenth century and, more recently, has become synonymous with the image of James Bond, the fictional British Secret Service agent created by Ian Fleming in the early Fifties.

Monaco is known as a ‘Billionaires’ Playground’ and almost one in three of its population are millionaires. Paradoxically, Monaco residents are forbidden, by law, from gambling, so the so-called salons privés at Monte Carlo Casino are the preserve of high-rolling tourists and foreign residents. Quite rightly, Monte Carlo Casino has a reputation for class, sophistication and, of course, lavish wealth. However, despite some more exotic offerings, including chemin de fer and punto banco, table games also include blackjack, craps, poker and roulette, while Monte Carlo Casino has nearly 1,000 slot machines, some of which have a minimum stake, per line, of just €0.01.