[ English ]

The conclusive number of Kyrgyzstan casinos is a fact in a little doubt. As data from this nation, out in the very remote interior area of Central Asia, often is arduous to acquire, this might not be too astonishing. Whether there are two or three accredited gambling dens is the item at issue, perhaps not in fact the most consequential article of info that we don’t have.

What certainly is true, as it is of the lion’s share of the ex-Russian nations, and definitely accurate of those located in Asia, is that there no doubt will be a great many more not approved and clandestine casinos. The change to approved gambling didn’t energize all the illegal gambling halls to come away from the dark into the light. So, the controversy over the total amount of Kyrgyzstan’s casinos is a minor one at best: how many accredited ones is the item we are seeking to answer here.

We understand that located in Bishkek, the capital metropolis, there is the Casino Las Vegas (a marvelously original title, don’t you think?), which has both gaming tables and slots. We will also see both the Casino Bishkek and the Xanadu Casino. The pair of these offer 26 slots and 11 table games, divided between roulette, blackjack, and poker. Given the amazing likeness in the size and setup of these 2 Kyrgyzstan gambling halls, it might be even more astonishing to find that the casinos share an location. This seems most strange, so we can perhaps determine that the number of Kyrgyzstan’s gambling dens, at least the accredited ones, is limited to two members, one of them having altered their name not long ago.

The nation, in common with the majority of the ex-USSR, has experienced something of a rapid conversion to commercialism. The Wild East, you may say, to reference the chaotic circumstances of the Wild West an aeon and a half back.

Kyrgyzstan’s casinos are almost certainly worth going to, therefore, as a piece of anthropological analysis, to see chips being gambled as a form of collective one-upmanship, the apparent consumption that Thorstein Veblen talked about in nineteeth century America.