Aruba Casino Update 2016

Aruba is a major gaming attraction in the Caribbean. It's located 27 km north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela, and it forms a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Aruba’s first casino, Aruba Caribbean Casino, was opened July 18, 1959 by Jake Kozloff.  It operated without competition for eleven years.

Since then Aruba has seen its share of casinos come and go with the last four years being exceptionally exciting for the Aruban gaming industry.  Many new casinos have opened and a few have shut their doors.  It looked likely that the expansion of casinos in Aruba was to continue in 2016 and 2017 with at least three more casinos in the cards, but that seems to have changed.

Currently there are 13 casinos in Aruba:  The Glitz, Cool Casino, Orchid Casino, Excelsior, Stellaris, Crystal Casino, Seaport Casino, Trop Club Casino, Casino at the Ritz-Carlton, Alhambra, Casino Aruba, plus the casinos at the Hyatt and the Hilton.

The drama over whether Hard Rock Resort & Casino would open has pretty much ended.  It had been rumored to be coming to the former iconic Bushiri Hotel ruins for many years now, Hard Rock had even obtained a full casino license in late 2013, but in the end, this will not manifest. Grupo Piñero was to expand its chain of hotels in Aruba with the announcement of the new luxury Bahia Principe Baby Beach Don Pablo Collection to open in 2016, but this project has also been shelved.

Like sister island Curacao it is often clamed there is an oversupply of casinos in Aruba.  Despite the apparent glut of casinos on this island, the Orchid Casino opened its doors officially in the Hotel Riu Palace Antillas on Palm Beach in 2015 (soft opening October 11^th 2014).  Orchid and Riu replaced the Westin Aruba Resort & Palm Beach Casino.   The Ritz Carlton Group continued its casino resort expansion in the Caribbean by opening The Ritz-Carlton Aruba just prior to that.

Basics for gamblers:

First of all, to gamble in Aruban casinos you need to be at least 18 years old, with identification, either local ID or a passport.  All gambling is transacted in U.S. dollars.  The casinos usually open pretty early (11:00am or so) and close in the very wee hours of the morning.  The bigger casinos in Aruba are actually 24/7.   Some slot halls are also open 24/7 with table games opening a little later.  Most of the poker rooms don't open until evening.

Games in Aruban casinos:

You will find the following table games in Aruba, slot machines, video poker, blackjack, craps, roulette, Let it Ride, Caribbean Stud Poker, three card poker and sometimes baccarat. Table minimums vary depending on the casino, the craps tables, for example are $5 at some casinos and $10 at others. Aruba has penny and nickle slots in every casino.  Slot pay outs may not be as cool as it is in Nevada or New Jersey because the slot machines in this corner of the world are pretty tight.  Video poker is also available.  Some casinos have sports betting kiosks and a few have simulcasting.  Poker rooms usually run Texas Hold'em and Omaha.

Aruba is also famous for being the origin of the Caribbean Stud Poker game.  It was an Aruban brainchild invented in the country in 1988. Caribbean Stud Poker is one of the most popular and tremendously adulated variant of Poker in the world over and can be found in most every casino in Aruba.