Syria gets its first new casino in 25 years

The Syrian capital of Damascus is the longest-inhabited city on the planet, and is largely Muslim. So it was over the objection of many residents, Muslims who considering gambling shameful, that the casino opened its doors last week.

Gambling in Syria is technically illegal. It was banned in the 1970s when the hospitality mogul Tawfiq Houboubati's three infamous gambling establishments - the Bludan casino, the Airport hotel casino and the Orient club - were closed due to pressure from clerics.

Now, Houboubati's son, Khaled – a prominent restaurateur and owner of the al-Wahda football club – has taken the reins from his father, opening the new casino under the innocuous name the Ocean Club at the site of his father's former establishment at Damascus airport, 15 minutes from the city centre.

Unlike gambling establishments in the past, the new casino offers the full range of games, including blackjack, roulette, slot machines and card tables. Houboubati has not responded to requests for comment, and has kept a low profile as rumours of the new venue circulate in the city. However, a source close to the family and involved in the opening told the Guardian the casino was operating without an official licence. "It's been given the quiet go-ahead," said the source, who did not want to be named.

Security is tight at the new establishment. Photographs are banned and after passing through bag checks and metal detectors, passport details of visitors are carefully recorded.
Despite its location and promotion as a tourist venue, staff, who were given three months' training as croupiers and cocktail mixers, say so far the majority of clientele have been wealthy Syrians, who have filled the casino from 8am to 8pm for the week it has been open.

Historian and editor-in-chief of Forward magazine in Syria, Dr Sami Moubayed, said that in the past the government preferred to acknowledge a practice that had long been operating "under the table. Historically they preferred this industry to operate under the watchful eye of the government in a way that they can legitimately recoup taxes," he said.

Gambling establishments , he said, opened and then succumbed to religious or political pressure several times over the last century, but continued to re-emerge. "I'm sure the religious establishment will not like it, but personally I abide by the idea that if the government can collect taxes from gambling then it's better than sending that money offshore."

Syria is in the middle of a tourism boom and this year has seen several policy attempts to temper religious extremism in the country. The government has fiercely promoted its secular values. Last year saw a ban on the niqab being worn in universities and schools, while alcohol sale permits have also flourished. "Perhaps this falls in line with those policies - but we just don't know yet," said Moubayed.

Some businessmen consider the casino an important marker, emblematic of an economic future that could attract large numbers of rich Arab tourists from the Gulf to Syria and thus develop a service industry in the hard-strapped nation.