The Republic of Haiti is located on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. The island itself is divided into two different countries, with Haiti being on one side and the Dominican Republic being on the other. The Dominican Republic side is the one with the most casinos, but that’s not to say that you won’t be able to find any in Haiti if you visit there.
The fact that the Dominican Republic is much larger than Haiti helps it have room for more casinos, of course. Haiti takes up the western-most three-eights of Hispaniola and boasts a population of more than eleven million, making it the second-most populous in the Caribbean after Cuba. Whereas the Dominican Republic is predominantly Spanish speaking, it’s mainly French in Haiti.
Haiti Casino List
Haiti
As mentioned, the small size of Haiti combined with the excess of casinos in the Dominican Republic on the other side of the island of Hispaniola means that Haiti appears to offer fewer casinos in comparison. There is an extent to which that is because it is the poorest island in the Caribbean, with some sixty percent of those living there being in poverty.
Gambling has been legal in the country since 1960, when the then-President François Duvalier legalised it for hotels with more than two hundred rooms. Not that that mattered, given no venue in the country had that many rooms. The majority of gambling in the country nowadays is done over cockfighting, but there are still some casinos to be found.
In 2010 island of Hispaniola was struck by a large earthquake, which destroyed most of the modern buildings located in the country’s capital city of Port-au-Prince. The earthquake also resulting in the closing of many casinos in the country, meaning that only the capital city and areas close to it boast casinos at the time of writing. Here’s a look at them:
El Rancho Hotel & Casino
When many of the smaller and lesser-known casinos in Haiti were shutting down in the wake of the 2010 earthquake, the owners behind El Rancho Hotel & Casino decided to double down on their operation. Having been opened by Americans during the 1980s, it was taken over by a group of Haitians in 1992 and they felt improving facilities was the way forward.
As a result, the amenities were upgraded and the venue given an all-encompassing renovation in 2013. There are now more than one hundred gaming machines that promise slot games, video poker and electronic roulette. There are also as many as thirteen table games, giving customers the chance to play the likes of blackjack, craps and roulette.
There’s also a poker room at the casino that offers two tables. Being a hotel as well as a casino, El Rancho also has a couple of restaurants available for punters to use in between hands of cards or pushes of slot buttons. Haiti El Rancho Restaurant and Fusion Restaurant offer guests two different but equally tasty options.
Four Aces in Port-au-Prince
Located at Sunrise Market in Port-au-Prince is the Four Aces Casino. As you might expect, it offers a mix of electronic gaming machines and table games, with blackjack and roulette being the most popular of the latter. There are also video versions of poker available on the gaming machines, as well as regularly slot tournaments.
Whilst the casino isn’t the biggest on the island, it’s big enough to promise a VIP room for guests that wish to play high stakes roulette. There’s also a poker room on site offering No Limit Texas Hold’em games when it’s open, which is usually after two in the afternoon. Cocktails, other drinks and food selections are available when you’re in the casino.
Royal Haitian Hotel & Casino
Based over a gaming floor of around five hundred square foot, the Royal Haitian Hotel & Casino is more hotel and less casino. That’s not to say that there’s nothing there, just that it’s somewhat slim pickings if you’re a fan of lesser-known games. There are thirty video slots machines on the gaming floor, for example.
Away from the slots you’ll find six table games offered, hand of which are blackjack tables. There’s also Caribbean stud poker and roulette tables, so there is at least a little bit of choice. There are good food options on site as well as restaurants nearby, so you’re not likely to go hungry if you try to grab a bite to eat whilst you’re there.