Malaysian Gambling Guide

As a predominately Muslim country, Malaysia is not an obvious gambling destination. But that`s not to say there aren`t gambling opportunites for the non Islamic visitor - Malaysia has two racetracks and a casino.

Casino Gambling in Malaysia

Malaysia`s only casino is the Genting Resort in the Cameron Highlands region of the mainland, some 6,000 metres about sea level. The self-styled `City of Entertainment` is only 51 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia`s Capital, and is about an hour away by coach or taxi. It has five separate casino sections, each with a different theme.

The casino games on offer are fairly standard and include blackjack, roulette, baccarat, mini baccarat, pai gow, tai sai, money wheel, French boule, caribbean stud poker and Casino War, as well as a wide range of slots and keno.

The casino is often packed, especially at weekends or on public holidays. If you consider going on festivals such as Chinese New Year make sure you book several months in advance.

There are more than 10,000 rooms across the five hotels Genting plus a theme park for children to play in during the day, before their parents retire for an evening in the casino.

Genting draws many of its customers from Singapore and it will be interesting to see how much the planned opening of Singapore`s casinos will impact Malaysia`s only resort.

Incidentally, all Malaysians Muslims and people under 21 are banned from the casino areas at Genting.