Monte Carlo Casino
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The Monte Carlo Casino is one of the most famous tourist attractions of Monaco. The casino complex is a gambling facility which also includes the Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo, an opera and ballet house, and the headquarters of the Ballets de Monte Carlo. It is situated in the Monte Carlo quarter, although the citizens of Monaco are forbidden to enter the gaming rooms. It hosts the annual European Poker Tour Grand Final, the most prestigious poker tournament in Europe.
The casino is owned by the Société des Bains de Mer, a private company, in which the government holds a majority interest. This corporation also owns the principal hotels and clubs of the community that serve the tourist trade.
The Circuit de Monaco, the route of the Monaco Grand Prix runs past the casino.
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[edit] Facilities
The casino has facilities to play a variety of games which include:
- Different kinds of Roulette
- Stud poker
- Blackjack
- Trente et Quarante
- Craps
- Baccarat
- Video poker
- Slot machines
There is a special poker room for the very wealthy.
The complex also includes a theatre and a restaurant.
There is also a garden behind the casino with a terrace from which Bordighera in Italy can be seen.
[edit] Architecture
The casino was built by the architect Charles Garnier who also created the Paris opéra. It is designed in a Baroque style.
[edit] History
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In 1854 gambling was legalized by prince Florestan I.
In 1856 the first casino was opened in a villa near the harbour.
Prince Charles the third ordered the construction of a new quarter called Monte Carlo. A new casino was also part of this plan.
The construction of the current building started in 1858. To make the casino more successful a 50-year concession to operate the gaming rooms was granted to a private individual called François Blanc In 1861. In 1863 the new facility was opened.
Since 1898 the concession has been operated by the Société des Bains de Mer.
In 1910 the building was expanded with a theatre.
[edit] The casino in movies
- James Bond, fictional British spy and protagonist of the Bond book and movie series, is often associated with the city's glamorous Belle Époque casino. This was a model for the setting of Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale (1953), 'Royale-Les-Eaux' being a fictional resort in the style of Monte Carlo. The real Monte Carlo and its casino provided one of the glamorous locations for the James Bond movies, Never Say Never Again and GoldenEye.
- The film Once Upon A Crime also takes place in Monte Carlo.
Many famous people have stayed there including 2 queens, a king and many famous actors.
[edit] Breaking the bank
- In 1873, Joseph Jagger gained the casino great publicity by "breaking the bank at Monte Carlo" by discovering and capitalizing on a bias in one of the casino's roulette wheels. Technically, the bank in this sense was the money held on the table by the croupier. According to an article in The Times in the late 19th century, it was thus possible to break the bank several times. The 1892 song The Man that Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo, made famous by Charles Coburns, was probably inspired by the exploits of Charles Wells, who broke the bank on many occasions on the first two of his three trips.
- According to the book Busting Vegas by Ben Mezrich, a team of blackjack players recruited from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by team-leader Victor Cassius attempted to break the bank at Monte Carlo with the assistance of a team-play-based system. The book describes how the management of Monte Carlo responded to the progress of the team, whose members included Semyon Dukach and others mentioned by aliases.
[edit] Trivia
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It is illegal for citizens of the Principality of Monaco, Monégasques, even to enter the casino. You will be asked to show your passport as you pay the entrance fee (€10 when this was inserted). Even the royal family uses a side entrance to attend ballet and opera performances in the formal theater part of the casino building.
Military personnel in uniform are not admitted to the casino. Supposedly this stems from a Russian warship captain having suffered significant gambling losses and then having threatened to turn his ship's guns on the building unless his losses were returned. Like much else about the Principality, this is liable to have been tarted up quite a bit.
The casino building also houses a restaurant, Le Train Bleu, named for the famous all-first-class railroad link that greatly increased the casino's (and thus the Principality's) fortunes.
[edit] Further reading
[edit] External links
