The conclusive number of Kyrgyzstan gambling halls is something in a little doubt. As information from this country, out in the very remote interior section of Central Asia, often is arduous to achieve, this may not be all that astonishing. Whether there are 2 or three legal casinos is the element at issue, maybe not in fact the most all-important article of information that we do not have.

What certainly is correct, as it is of most of the ex-Russian nations, and certainly true of those in Asia, is that there will be a good many more not allowed and underground gambling dens. The switch to authorized wagering did not encourage all the underground locations to come from the dark into the light. So, the bickering over the total amount of Kyrgyzstan’s gambling dens is a small one at best: how many authorized ones is the element we’re seeking to reconcile here.

We are aware that in Bishkek, the capital municipality, there is the Casino Las Vegas (a stunningly original name, don’t you think?), which has both table games and video slots. We will also find both the Casino Bishkek and the Xanadu Casino. The two of these have 26 one armed bandits and 11 table games, separated amidst roulette, blackjack, and poker. Given the amazing likeness in the size and floor plan of these 2 Kyrgyzstan gambling dens, it might be even more bizarre to see that the casinos are at the same address. This appears most astonishing, so we can clearly state that the list of Kyrgyzstan’s casinos, at least the approved ones, is limited to 2 casinos, one of them having adjusted their title not long ago.

The state, in common with almost all of the ex-USSR, has undergone something of a fast adjustment to capitalistic system. The Wild East, you might say, to reference the lawless circumstances of the Wild West an aeon and a half ago.

Kyrgyzstan’s gambling halls are in fact worth going to, therefore, as a bit of social research, to see chips being played as a form of communal one-upmanship, the aristocratic consumption that Thorstein Veblen spoke about in nineteeth century usa.