CASINOS IN GREECE AND GREEK ISLANDS

Greek night life has taken an upswing with deluxe casinos popping up throughout Greece. On Rhodes, gaming attempts a comeback to the world of glamour with the Rhodes island Casino. The Rhodes Casino is in the former Hotel Rhodon, in the past a highly desirable hotel which is enjoying a new infusion of capital. It's now called the Grande Albergo delle Rose.



In Thessaloniki in Northern Greece, the Hyatt Regency Casino seeks to separate the visitors from their drachmas in an elegant environment. High stakes player? Ask about their "Regency Club", a more exclusive version of the casino.

Also in Northern Greece, Casino Xanthi in Xanthi offers abundant information on this casino, including available games, such as "American" roulettte. They also have a free offer for their magazine on Xanthi and the casino. However, if this is your first time to Greece, Greece is not entirely surrounded by water - their map shows all of Greece as a giant island group.

Like Las Vegas or Atlantic City, most of the Greek casinos are combined with luxurius hotels. The Corfu Holidays Palace, formerly a Hilton hotel, offers relatively low prices (about $113 - 130) for luxurious accommodations moments from the tables. Since Corfu tends to be a jet set destination, the crowd here definitely has a sprinkling of glamour.



For James Bond fans, a casino scene in "For Your Eyes Only" was filmed here.

The Porto Rio Hotel in Patras also has an associated casino, the Casino Rio.

The earliest Greek casino was established in 1928 at Loutraki, a spa and resort town at the gateway to the Peloponnese. Now a glittering new version of the casino awaits visitors. It claims to be the largest casino in Europe, and can be reached from Athens by train or car. In the Cycladic Islands, only Syros is presently hosting a casino, though this will probably change soon. The Ermoupolis-based, British-run Aegean Casino gambling house is worth seeing if you find yourself on Syros. Entrance fee is less than $10. But if slot machines are your thing, they take coins.