Landlocked Kazakhstan has lasted as a mystery to the western traveler for many hundred years, unknown from the pages of Marco Polo or Kipling. A number of outsiders have experienced the charms of this central Asian country, aside from the merchants who plied the Silk Road. But, seeing that Kazakhstan acquired its independence in 1991 and specifically under the farsighted and benevolent presidency of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the country has developed. As the nation develops, so do Kazakhstan casinos. Flushed with oil capital, it’s boom time in the gambling associations of this one-time soviet republic. There are 7 cities that have within them legal casino accommodations of which there are specifically twenty-eight such locations. Clearly if you are ready for a game, the tables are the only game in town, as Kazakhstan casinos are the only gambling operations allowed there.
Most distinguished to the faithful gamer has to be the former capital and also exorbitant city in the region, Almaty, that believable Las Vegas of central Asia, exhibiting no less than 18 casinos and counting. With a climbing 9 percent boost annually, the Kazakh economy has expanded enormously in the last ten years and with it the Kazakh desire for the wagering tables. The cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic, multinational city of Almaty is masked from its last days as the chief city of a grey Soviet satellite state. New wealth has brought elegance and also fascination to the place, a fact best embodied by the city’s grandest casino, Casino Viva. One of a chain, this amazing Kazakhstan casino hotel can maintain twenty six games tables and ninety-three gaming machines.
What’s more, the craze for cyber poker has not gone neglected in Kazakhstan casinos with the development of video poker hurriedly becoming a leading preference. Outside of Almaty, the invincible casino player is also served; e.g., the capital Astana has 5 casinos, the better one amidst them being one of the Casino Zodiak chain that boasts absolutely no less than twenty card tables. If that is in no way enough for you, casinos are also located further afield in the cities of Aktobe, Kokshetau, Pavlodar, Shimkent, as well as Ust-kamenogorsk. It is very obvious, regardless, that the Kazakh adoration for the green baize and clink of chips isn’t stated, seeing as the vice-foreign minister a short time ago visited Macao as well as Hong Kong. The visit was reported to be a "short but fruitful" trip created to study the gambling industries of these towns and arouse interest in Kazakhstan’s nascent casino business. Indeed, a possible direct air link has been established between Almaty and Hong Kong or Macao, which might bolster appetite for this once charismatic area soon set to become the alternative of the in-crowd.