Casino Ambergris Caye
Located just a short boat ride north of San Pedro Town on the island of Ambergris Caye, also known as “La Isla Bonita,” Captain Morgan’s Retreat is famous for its cozy thatched-roof beach cabanas, and spacious villas combining comfort with beach paradise. Casino Gambling in San Pedro, Belize Opening November 2007, Island Club Resorts at the Belize Yacht Club is excited to be the first resort to offer a fully equipped Vegas style casino on Ambergris Caye, Belize. Casino Belize will feature a variety of many popular casino tables.
Hours: 6pm - 2am. Closed Wednesdays. I heard that it was closed in September for the rainy season but unable to confirm that. I was there in November 2015, which is considered offseason for tourism.
Drinks are free if you are playing games. When I went there were very few other customers, anywhere from 0-8 others at any given time during my 5 hour session from 7-midnight on a Friday night. So, the drinks were very quick (and strong), I learned the hard way. The red wine was refrigerated, which my wife didn't appreciate, but this seems to be the case in other Belize spots as well. Smoking is allowed and might have been more bothersome if there were more people in the casino.
Games: Slots (maybe 20 machines), 1 roullette wheel, 2 poker tables and 2 blackjack tables.
Poker is ONLY on Thursday nights. 1-2 NL holdem. Min buyin 50 max 200. Not sure about the rake. There are only 2 tables. They need a minimum of 5 people and depending on the time of year they might not reach that. Apparently Antonio Esfandieri showed up once and they had a 2 table tournament that night (he won.)
Roullette: I didn't play (nobody did) so not sure on the particulars, I'm pretty sure it was a double zero wheel.
Blackjack: The rules aren't great but given that this is the only show in town it could have been much worse. I believe the house edge is 0.55% based on the calculator.
You can buy in with USD or Belize currency (which is pegged at 50 cents to the USD), but the chips are in USD denominations. They keep track of the currency you use to buy in and will pay you back in that currency, so you can't use the casino to swap your Belize money back to USD on your way out of town.
Min bet: $5 USD
Max bet: pretty sure it's $100 but there's a small chance it was $200
6 deck shoe, the cut card is placed a full three decks in.
Blackjack pays 3-2.
Dealer stands on all 17s.
Resplit to 3 hands max.
Double down on any two cards
Double after split
Dealer does NOT peak for blackjack (in fact does not deal his second card until after all of the hands have been played) and you will lose all of your bets if dealer has BJ. I drunkenly argued that if you get a 21 when dealer is showing a 10 you should at least push vs a dealer blackjack to make things a little more fair but this was not well received by the dealer.
No surrender
I do not believe re-splitting aces is allowed but it didn't come up so I can't say for sure.
That's pretty much it. 2 of the 3 blackjack dealers were very friendly, the other one not so much. There is a bar and some limited food options, as I said the drinks were very quick and free and plentiful. We were able to order pizza which was frozen but delicious, I think it ran about $11 USD. It was nice to be able to play Blackjack at $5 a hand (in the US $10 is about the lowest I've played) so for a $100 buy-in i was able to hang around for several hours and even turn a small profit.
There are also at least two other casinos in mainland Belize, one in Belize City and one in San Ignacio but I didn't visit either of them so I can't comment. But the country is very small so you could probably hit all three without too much trouble.
The Palace Casino information page: This casino is found in Ambergris Caye, Belize. The Palace Casino has a total of 30 slot machines and 4 table games for your pleasure. World Casino Directory also books casino hotel reservations in Ambergris Caye. You will also find pictures of The Palace Casino or find news about The Palace Casino on our site.
What kind of rum did they serve?
In any event, this is the FIRST time I have ever heard of a casino on the island, or even on the mainland. I can't believe I have not run into this information before. Thanks for posting.
Ambergris Caye Webcam
RaleighCraps and GWAE: I was blissfully unaware of any safety issues on Ambergris Caye before or during my stay there. I definitely heard that Belize City can be dangerous and I was very careful with my vehicle and belongings when I was there (only half a day). But my wife and I felt very safe in the rest of our Belize travels- Belmopan, San Ignacio, Hopkins, and Ambergris Caye. The casino itself felt very safe. The few other patrons were all tourists from what I could tell. It seems to me like an amazing place to retire, my wife and I got jealous every time we met an expat or retiree down there and wondered why we were intentionally committing to the daily slog in the cold northeast US.
They claimed to serve Traveller's One Barrel which is by far the most popular rum in Belize. But, I certainly wouldn't put it past them (or many American casinos or bars) to put something cheaper in the bottles.
The driver said he made pretty decent money but he took a 3 hour bus ride to the port every day. Worked 6 or 7 hours and took a 3 hour bus ride back home. Fun fact that I learned down there. Belize is the only country in central America that has a national language of English.
Was this the place the McAffee guy was hiding out to evade extradition to the US?
It was where he supposedly did the crime. He is back in the US last I heard.
Fun fact that I learned down there. Belize is the only country in central America that has a national language of English.
Not too surprising for a place that was basically a British colony from the 1700s to 1981.For the casino lover Belize has limited facilities, but they can be a welcome break from too much sea and sand, or from the cloistered cruise ship casinos. The biggest is at the Princess Hotel and Casino in Belize City. It’s the nearest you will get to a Las Vegas style casino in this part of Central America. The Princess is located on the waterfront Princess Margaret Drive, just off Barracks Road. The casino is on the right as you enter the lobby. It’s glitzy, well decorated and laid out with faux marble floors.
The property is owned by the Turkey-based Princess Hotels and Casinos Group. It was originally owned and operated by the Ramada Hotel Group. In April 2014 it came full circle around when it was officially announced in Belize that the casino has once again joined the Ramada Group, and is now officially renamed the Ramada Belize City Princess. This is not a change of ownership, but merely a franchise re-branding aimed at attracting more tourists from North America.
This small casino has three table games – American Roulette, Black Jack and Caribbean Stud Poker and three hundred slot machines. Belizeans are fanatics about craps but you will not find these at the Princess. Gamblers know this is the one game where the player stands an even chance against the house. The casino has recently introduced a two-day Poker Tournament, dubbed Texas Hold-em held every March.
The Princes Casino is well maintained, clean, fully air-conditioned and has free drinks to help you get warmed up for a night of gambling. The country has a sizable Chinese community due to lax immigration policies favoring Asians, and this is often reflected in the casino’s main clientele.
The casino opens at noon and the slot machines jingle until 4 in the morning. There is even a small show featuring dancing Russian girls every night (we’re not making this up!). Belizeans are not heavy gamblers – but they are picking up fast. You will find a mixed clientele most days – Chinese, Belizeans, and Central Americans – including some attractive young women idly playing the slot machines. For some unknown reason the few times we ventured into the casino there were almost no tourists. The area around this casino is not safe for walking around – day or night. Due to a proliferation of bars and discotheques in the area, thieves and muggers are common. Taxi drivers have been described as “pushy. If you must go we would suggest you stay elsewhere and catch a cab of your choice to the casino and back, and be very sober.
As a hotel and restaurant this casino is severely lacking. The staff is friendly but the end product is heavily criticized on most traveler’s forums. As for the casino, here is a typical comment:
“Interested in gambling? If you play in the States, get ready for some differences! #1: Checking in with the entrance before entering (including your passport and a photo shot). #2: figuring out which slots take BZ versus U.S. and which cashier to change which currency at #3 figuring out the rules at the Blackjack table….here is a preview: the shoot is loaded with at least 5 decks. Dealer deals everyone 2 cards except him/her self (only 1 card up). You can bet on other players hands #4 you can’t bet an odd number…e.g. I tried to bet my $5 chip and add the $2.50 to the bet and wasn’t allowed to. Not a big deal, but just be ready to make some adjustments. ”
On Wednesday most of the Russian dancers are bused 80 miles away to the small town of San Ignacio where there is a miniature Princess Casino located next to the San Ignacio Hotel up the hill from the Fire Station. There they do a couple of shows to entice locals and tourists in that area.
As for the rest of the country – casino action is steadily downhill from there. You can find “gaming rooms” in almost any city and town throughout Belize. Most of these are aimed at locals. They tend to be run-down and seedy, and are often attached or actually inside local Chinese greasy spoons. They are not recommended for visitors. Most of the slot machines are very old and some locals claim, rigged.
Ambergris Caye has a couple of mini-casinos, mostly a couple dozen slot machines and sometimes games of poker.
Ambergris Caye News
In the north of the country, at the Corozal Free Zone, you will find several casinos aimed at luring Mexicans from the border town of Chetumal, but which are also patronized by some Belizeans in the area. These casinos are basically replicas of the Ramada Belize City Princess with odds heavily loaded in favor of the casino and also featuring Russian, Brazilian and Colombian “dancers”. The largest of these is the Las Vegas Casino, run by a U.S. immigrant family.. A subsidiary of the Ramada Belize City Princess Casino there, was recently shuttered, allegedly to move operations to Chetumal, Mexico to join in the fray of recent legislation allowing the operation of casinos in Quintana Roo, Mexico.