[ English ]

The complete number of Kyrgyzstan gambling halls is something in some dispute. As data from this nation, out in the very remote central part of Central Asia, often is difficult to acquire, this might not be all that astonishing. Whether there are 2 or 3 legal gambling halls is the element at issue, maybe not in reality the most all-important article of data that we do not have.

What will be true, as it is of the lion’s share of the ex-Russian nations, and definitely correct of those in Asia, is that there no doubt will be a great many more illegal and alternative casinos. The switch to approved gaming didn’t drive all the aforestated locations to come out of the illegal into the legal. So, the clash regarding the total amount of Kyrgyzstan’s casinos is a small one at best: how many approved ones is the thing we’re seeking to answer here.

We are aware that in Bishkek, the capital municipality, there is the Casino Las Vegas (a marvelously unique name, don’t you think?), which has both table games and slots. We will also see both the Casino Bishkek and the Xanadu Casino. Each of these offer 26 slot machines and 11 gaming tables, divided amongst roulette, vingt-et-un, and poker. Given the amazing similarity in the square footage and layout of these two Kyrgyzstan gambling dens, it might be even more surprising to determine that they share an address. This seems most difficult to believe, so we can no doubt state that the list of Kyrgyzstan’s casinos, at least the legal ones, ends at two members, one of them having altered their title not long ago.

The state, in common with many of the ex-USSR, has experienced something of a rapid adjustment to capitalism. The Wild East, you could say, to reference the anarchical ways of the Wild West a century and a half back.

Kyrgyzstan’s gambling dens are almost certainly worth going to, therefore, as a bit of social analysis, to see cash being played as a type of civil one-upmanship, the aristocratic consumption that Thorstein Veblen spoke about in 19th century America.