What most of the world hears about Lebanon isn’t what you’d think of a country where gambling is legal. As a small country in the Middle East with a population of just over 6 million people, it’s funny to envision Lebanon as the one country in the region where gambling is actually acceptable.
What Lebanon Has to Offer in Legal Gambling
As mentioned above, there is one legal brick-and-mortar casino in Lebanon and that looks like all there will be in the foreseeable future. The Casino du Liban is said to be holding up the opening of other land-based casinos because they claim to have petitioned government to deny foreign companies from opening gambling casinos there.
Whether true or another mark for the rumour mill, the fact is that there is still just that one casino, and now imagine a country with a population of six million trying to make room for all the gamers who want to play.
In this casino, at last count, there were 365 gambling machines and just under 60 tables to wage a bet on. These include Blackjack, Roulette tables, and Caribbean stud poker games. The casino does have seven restaurants on location, but even with that number, how many people can possibly be served in the course of an evening of ‘entertainment’?
Lebanese Passion for Online Gaming
What does all of the above say? First, many Lebanese are still shell shocked after so many years of wars, internal and external, terrorist attacks and political coups that they prefer to stay inside and gamble online. Added to that is the fact that there is only one casino to service the entire nation, the Lebanese have simply found that it is more convenient and enjoyable to simply stay at home and game online.
As a side note, the one casino that is in existence has been so since 1959 and has earned a reputation with foreign visitors. On most nights you are likely to see more foreign nationals in the casino than Lebanese patrons because the locals simply prefer to stay at home in relative safety and in the height of comfort.
They also prefer to cook their favourite meals like Kibbeh, Kafta or a quick snack of Hummus while gaming. It isn’t that they want to avoid mingling with foreigners, it’s simply their passion for gaming undisturbed by events which might be going on around them.
