Monaco Casinos

Welcome to the jewel of the Côte d’Azur - Monaco.  Monaco is home to Monte-Carlo, an iconic gambling town on the coast.  It has exactly four casino establishments.  Each of these casinos offers something unique from the others.  Of course, the most famous casino and hotel in Monte Carlo is the Le Grand Casino de Monte-Carlo which is rich in history, luxury, and gambling.  The casino itself opened in 1863.  But there are three other casinos as well: Sun Casino, Monaco Bay Resort Casino, and the Casino at the Cafe de Paris.

The gaming industry has been very steady in recent years in Monaco, with the only recent major gambling news being that Galaxy Entertainment, the massive gaming company with major ties to Macau casinos, has taken a stake in Monte-Carlo SBM.

The Casinos of Monaco

Le Casino de Monte-Carlo is the most well-known gaming establishment in Monaco, which makes sense, having been open since 1863. The complex is also home to The Opéra Garnier and has world class opera performances.  In the casino, you will find various styles of gambling available in different rooms and locations and then there is  terrace gaming, in which you can actually gamble in the open air with spectacular views.

The Monte Carlo Bay Resort and Casino is a more contemporary casino and resort, there are plenty of outdoor and open air gaming areas here.   The Casino at Cafe de Paris also has two terrace gaming areas in addition to their well thought out and modern casino located in the hotel. Finally, you'll find luxury and a modern gambling casino when visiting Sun Casino at the Fairmont Monte-Carlo. Each of these locations offers something a little different than the others.

How did Monaco become so well known?  What is the history of Monaco?

Although Monaco has long been considered among the most romantic and magnetic resort destinations in the world, it became known to the American public at large in 1955 by the marriage of actress Grace Kelly to its ruling monarch Prince Rainier.

The James Bond movies, notably Golden Eye where Bond is portrayed in a Monaco casino, and Dr. No, where Bond first uses the name “James Bond”, also brought popular attention to this tiny city-state of allure and adventure. And no wonder, as the history of Monaco resonates with mystery and legend dating back to the 6th century BC when it was founded by the seafaring Phocaeans as an important Mediterranean coastal port.

Greek and Roman mythologies note that Hercules, known for his super-human strength and adventurous exploits, traversed this coastline. The name Monaco stems from the Greek word Monokos meaning “single house” or “single one”, quite possibly a reference to Hercules.  It is claimed that Hercules constructed Monaco's chief port, named Hercule.

Julius Caesar passed through Monaco, “that castled cliff, Monoecus by the sea”, as poetically expressed by Virgil. Following the Gallic Wars, the port came under Roman control until the fall of the Empire in 476. Throughout the Middle Ages, various barbarian tribes vied for the control of the region. But it was not until 1215 that the Genoese established Monaco as a colony and a military fortress.

In time, rivaling ambitions among Genoese ruling families culminated in the seizure of the settlement in 1297 by François Grimaldi, who conquered the fortress with a small contingent and reclaimed it in the name of the pope. François' grandson, Charles I served in the royal court of France and is recognized as the founder of Monaco. As a vital trading route, Monaco not only prospered commercially, it also became strategically important as a naval base. As during the Middle Ages, European countries again vied for control of the Fortress until the beginning of the 17th Century, when Lord Honore II of the House of Grimaldi took the throne as Prince Honore II. Since that time, the Grimaldis have ruled Monaco ever since.

It was not until the French Revolution that Grimaldi sovereignty was temporarily challenged when Napoleon’s France annexed it for an interim period. However, after Napoleon's abdication in 1814, the Grimaldis returned to power. By 1861, however, Monaco was plagued with financial woes and was compelled to cede half of its land to France in order to keep its independence and remain solvent.

Having thus lost valuable mineral resources and revenues, in 1863 Grimaldi Prince Charles III found a solution to the economic crisis: the establishment of Monaco as a center of tourism and gambling. This resulted in the development of a casino, hotels, an opera house, and a theater under the auspices of the Societe des Bains de Mer. It was patterned after the famous German Bad Homburg casino and became the foundation of present-day Monte-Carlo, named after Charles III.