Gambling is a risky game of chance that lands you on a roller‑coaster of hope and disappointment, yet we can’t seem to get enough of it. Travelers from every corner of the globe pour money into glittering halls hoping Lady Luck will smile, while the owners of those glittering halls gamble on their own fortunes. Sometimes the dice roll in their favor, other times the lights dim and the doors shut forever. Below you’ll find the top 10 abandoned casinos that once shone bright and now sit silent, haunted by the echo of clinking chips.
Why These Top 10 Abandoned Casinos Fascinate Us
There’s something irresistibly spooky about a place built for excitement that now lies empty. Each of these forgotten gambling palaces tells a tale of ambition, mis‑calculation, and history’s fickle hand. From war‑scarred seaside resorts to mountain retreats that never saw a single high‑roller, these sites are a reminder that even the flashiest ventures can go bust.
10 Penthouse Adriatic Club
When Yugoslavia opened its borders in 1967, new legislation finally permitted gambling for foreign visitors, though locals were still barred. Seizing the moment, Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione poured a staggering $45 million into the Haludovo Palace Hotel on Croatia’s island of Krk, envisioning a glamorous casino that would lure jet‑setters from across the globe. The venture, christened the Penthouse Adriatic Club, opened its doors on July 15, 1972, complete with exotic “Penthouse pets” serving as hostesses for the elite clientele.
Unfortunately, the gamble backfired quickly. Because residents could not gamble and the Western market was slow to warm up, the casino ran into financial trouble almost immediately. By early 1973 the operation was bankrupt. A local enterprise later took over, managing to keep the resort afloat until 1990, but the final guests departed in 2001. Since then the once‑lavish buildings have been left to the elements, standing as a decaying reminder of a bold, yet failed, ambition.
9 Constanta Casino
Perched high on the Black Sea’s Romanian coast, the Constanta Casino was the jewel of early‑20th‑century Europe. Its opulent halls drew aristocrats and wealthy tourists from far and wide, making it one of the continent’s most celebrated gambling destinations. The outbreak of World War I turned the casino into a makeshift hospital, and a tragic bombing claimed ten lives, scar‑ifying the grand façade.
After the war, the building was restored, only to be bombed again during World II. Post‑war neglect left the casino deserted, though the communist regime later repurposed it as a House of Culture. In 1960 it transferred to the National Office of Tourism, and despite repair attempts in the 1980s, it fell into abandonment once more. Recent years have seen a revival of renovation efforts, hoping to breathe new life into this historic, yet haunted, edifice.
8 Montgomery Pass Casino
High in Nevada’s rugged terrain, the Montgomery Pass sits at 7,167 feet above sea level, proudly boasting the claim of being the “world’s highest casino.” In its heyday, the modest casino acted as a lively oasis for travelers navigating the winding mountain road, complete with a thriving motel and restaurant that kept the local economy humming.
Gambling’s decline in the 1990s left the establishment deserted, and a devastating fire in 2010 reduced most of the structures to ash. Today, the skeletal remains resemble a ghost town: empty rooms, rusted slot machines, and gambling tables frozen in time, whispering stories of a once‑bustling high‑altitude playground.
7 Casino di Consonno
Just a stone’s throw from Milan, the ghost town of Consonno was the brainchild of entrepreneur Mario Bagno, who bought up the entire village and evicted its residents to build a “City of Toys.” His vision included lavish restaurants, shopping malls, a hotel, and a casino that would echo the glitz of Las Vegas. Construction progressed rapidly, and the casino was nearly complete when a catastrophic wash‑out destroyed the main access road, cutting off any potential visitors.
With no way for guests to arrive, the ambitious project stalled, and the casino, along with the rest of Consonno, fell into decades of neglect. Decaying structures, shattered windows, graffiti, and litter now dominate the once‑bright dreamscape. Though occasional private tours can be arranged, the town remains largely inaccessible and continues to crumble under the weight of its unfulfilled promise.
6 Jubilation Riverboat Casino
The vessel that would become the Jubilation Riverboat Casino began life as the SS Nantucket, a ferry launched in 1957 that shuttled passengers between New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Nantucket Island. Years later, she was renamed SS Naushon, earning the distinction of being the last steam‑powered ship cruising the East Coast before she found a new home on the Mississippi River.
Rebranded as the Cotton Club Riverboat Casino, she set sail in 1993, offering gamblers a moving playground of slot machines and table games. After a brief stint, she relocated again to Lakeshore, Mississippi, adopting the name Jubilation Casino. Despite a $1.5 million renovation, the aging hull could not keep up, and the casino shuttered its doors in 1995. The once‑gleaming decks now sit empty, with decaying interiors and abandoned slot machines serving as silent witnesses to a maritime gamble gone awry.
5 Kings Inn Casino
Reno’s explosive casino boom of the 1970s gave rise to a flurry of new gambling venues, and the Kings Inn Casino was among them. Though the casino initially rode the wave of optimism, it soon discovered that the city’s market could not sustain the influx of new establishments. Insufficient tourist traffic and a lack of local patronage led to its decline.
After closing its doors in the 1980s, the Kings Inn sat boarded up and forgotten for decades. A revival effort in 2014 saw the property purchased with grand plans to transform it into a regal, “fit for a king” residence. Today, the former casino houses upscale apartments across seven floors, with retail spaces occupying the ground level, breathing new life into a once‑deserted gaming hall.
4 Key Largo Casino and Hotel
Originally launched as the Ambassador Inn in Las Vegas in 1974, the property added a casino a year later. Over the next two decades, it changed ownership and names multiple times, eventually emerging in 1997 as the Key Largo Casino and Hotel. A $7 million renovation gave the venue a breezy South‑Florida vibe, featuring 248 slot machines, three table games, and 320 hotel rooms.
Despite the fresh look, the establishment struggled to compete, and cheap rooms and subpar dining eroded its appeal. The casino and hotel finally closed in 2005. Years of neglect followed, punctuated by a small fire in 2008—sparked by a copper‑wire thief—and a larger, likely arson‑related blaze in 2013 that inflicted over $4.5 million in damage. The property was demolished shortly thereafter, erasing the physical trace of its brief, turbulent existence.
3 Asbury Park Casino
South of the iconic New Jersey boardwalk, the Asbury Park Casino and Carousel House formed the heart of a bustling entertainment complex. Alongside the casino, visitors enjoyed an arcade, concessions, and various rides, turning the area into a lively summer hotspot. By the 1980s, however, the district’s popularity waned, and the casino fell silent.
Today, the casino building stands vacant, its façade a stark reminder of a bygone era. While the site retains a haunted aura, the town is slowly staging a comeback. The Carousel House has undergone modest renovations—new gates, a fresh roof, and a vibrant skate park installed by Red Bull—now serving as a venue for local bands and community events, breathing a modest pulse back into the area.
2 Big Easy Casino Boat
The Big Easy Casino Boat, a New Orleans‑themed vessel, boasted a massive 30,000‑square‑foot gaming floor after a $12 million overhaul in Jacksonville, Florida. The ship housed card tables, roulette wheels, dice games, and rows of slot machines, promising a floating slice of Vegas glamour. After arriving at the Port of St. Petersburg, the boat lingered longer than expected due to extensive modifications and a brutal hurricane season.
Financial woes soon followed: the owners filed for bankruptcy, leaving the ship stranded until 2010. A subsequent move to Tampa aimed to remodel the vessel into a fresh casino, but the project stalled again, ultimately culminating in the ship’s demolition and sale for scrap metal—a sobering end to a maritime gambling dream.
1 Bokor Palace Hotel and Casino
Perched atop the mist‑shrouded peaks of Cambodia’s Bokor Mountain, the Bokor Palace Hotel and Casino began its saga in the 1920s as an exclusive retreat for French colonial elites. Construction was a monumental feat, claiming the lives of over 900 laborers who toiled in the remote, treacherous terrain. The First Indochina War repurposed the hotel as a field hospital, halting its leisure ambitions.
Revived in 1962, the resort added a casino, but tragedy struck within two years as several patrons, driven to despair by gambling losses, took their own lives from the mountain’s cliffs. Political instability kept the venue dormant for decades, and by the 1990s it stood abandoned, its ghostly silhouette looming over the forest. Recent private ownership has breathed new life into the site, renovating the hotel into 36 luxurious rooms and introducing modern restaurants, while the old casino remains a haunting relic of a turbulent past.