In the United Kingdom, gambling is well regulated and allowed in virtually every form. In the United States of America, however, gambling is banned in most states and casinos are only located in specific locations. It’s somewhat confusing, therefore, that the British Virgin Islands doesn’t allow any sort of gambling but there is gambling allowed in the United States Virgin Islands.
Formerly known as the Danish West Indies, the islands were sold to the United States in 1916. It is an organised, unincorporated United States territory that is classified by the United Nations as a Non-Self-Governing Territory. Based over around one hundred and thirty square kilometres and with a population of more than one hundred thousand, the islands boast just one real casino.
The Casinos

Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands (StudioBarcelona / Bigstockphoto.com)
Gambling is legal on the United States Virgin Islands, apart from sports betting. The Virgin Islands Casino and Resort Control Act of 1995 is responsible for the regulation of gambling as well as the issuing of licences for land-based casinos and establishments that allow gambling.
Whilst many bars and casinos have spaces with slot machines, there’s only one casino proper.
Here we’ll tell you about the main casino as well as some of the bigger hotels and areas that offer a decent selection of slot machines and video poker areas.
Divi Carina Bay Resort & Casino
5025 Turner Hole Rd, Christiansted, St Croix 00820, US Virgin Islands
The casino at Divi Carina Bay Resort opened in 1999. It is the only casino in the United States Virgin Islands that fits into the bracket of being something that people would truly understand as being a casino. That’s because it offers both table games and electronic gaming machines, promising two hundred and fifty of the latter and seventeen of the former.
The casino also has two dedicated poker tables, so if you like Texas Hold’em or other variations of it then you’ll be in for a treat. On the tables you’ll be playing the likes of blackjack, roulette and that old American favourite of Craps. Three-card poker and Caribbean Stud Poker is also popular. The electronic machines, meanwhile, offer plenty of different slot and video poker games.
The casino is open from six in the evening Monday to Friday and then from two in the afternoon on a Saturday. It opens even earlier on a Sunday, welcoming guests from noon. As the resort is all-inclusive, there are a number of bars and restaurants where you can get a drink or a bite to eat when you’re ready to step away from the gaming tables.
Caravelle Hotel & Casino
44A Queen Cross Street , Christiansted, US Virgin Islands
After undergoing a renovation, Caravelle Hotel & Casino reopened and received a licence from the Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission to open what it’s referring to as a casino in February of 2016. The gaming floor covers two thousand square metres and that leaves enough room for seventy-five electronic gaming machines.
As well as slots you’ll also be able to play electronic versions of some of your favourite casino games. Video poker is always popular in American casinos, for example. Electronic roulette can be found on some machines, though it is the slot games that remain the most played. There is also a banqueting hall on site, should you wish to use it.
The Parrot Club at Wharfside Village Hotel
Wharfside Village, Cruz Bay, St John 00830, US Virgin Islands
Operated by Southland Gaming of the Virgin Islands, Inc., The Parrot Club can be found on the beach front near to the Ferry Dock in Wharfside Village, Cruz Bay. In fact, it is the only gaming and entertainment venue in the area, so it’s popular both with locals and tourists staying in hotels on the island.
It opened in 2008 and since then the games on offer have improved year-on-year. Guests can expect to be able to play video versions of poker, keno and blackjack, whilst the multiplayer roulette machines are always popular. In addition, machines around the venue will give people a chance to play their favourite slot games whenever they want to.
Upcoming Venues

Christiansted, Saint Croix in the US Virgin Islands (Jpheym / Wikipedia.org)
Because of the open nature of casino licensing in the United State Virgin Islands, it’s likely that more and more companies will look to open such a venue in the near future. There is a desire for the gambling industry to take off more readily on the islands, with two projects in particular having been granted a licence to operate.
St. Croix Golf Resort and Casino
The St. Croix Golf Resort and Casino sells itself as being ‘a resort like no other’ that is poised to ‘take the world by storm’. We’re not quite sure what that’s based on, but the company behind it wants it to be a destination resort, with a scheduled opening planned for March 2019. It wasn’t officially open by April of 2020, so that’s one to watch.
When it eventually does open it promises a gaming floor of around twenty-five thousand square feet in size, with those responsible for the resort believing that it will be able to offer both electronic gaming machines and table games. The latter will include, craps, baccarat, roulette and short-form poker, in addition to a Caribbean favourite of roulette.
Seven Hills Golf Resort & Casino
Another venue that is likely to be given a licence is based on the waterfront close to Robin Bay. St. Croix was initially to be given six licences and one of them was reserved for this property as long ago as 2001. The hotel plans to have three hundred guest rooms, one hundred condominiums that will back onto the golf course and room to expand both.
The eighteen hole golf course will compliment the forty-thousand square foot of space set aside for the casino floor. As with St. Croix Golf Resort, the hope is that there will be table games as well as those of an electronic variation available for guests, with craps, blackjack and roulette likely to be the dominant ones. The electronic machines will offer slots, video poker and more.