6 of the Weirdest Casinos in the World

Are you bored with betting? Has your favorite casino lost its wow factor? Are you looking for some extra sparkle when you hit the tables?

Here at Techopedia, we’ve probed, poked, and explored our way around the globe, to unearth six gaming venues where the betting action is not the only thing to get your adrenaline pumping.

From naked blackjack to slots at sea, here’s our sextet of slightly surreal gambling hot spots.

1. The Big Nude Boat’s Casino

What could possibly be better than a game of blackjack in the buff or some roulette in the raw? You want to double down, hold and split? It takes on a whole new meaning, when you’re in the nip.

Fortunately: it’s a thing.

It took some research, but we found the floating paradise where buff betting is real and a skinny dip comes with a casino chip. Anchors Wahey!

Bare Necessities is a clothing-optional cruise ship travel company, offering nude cruises around the world.

The highlight of the calendar is the annual Big Nude Boat, in February, where more than 2,000 nudists let it all hang out for 11 days; visiting the Bahamas and assorted Caribbean islands, including St Lucia, Dominica and Martinique.

On board the Norwegian Pearl are 16 restaurants, 14 bars and lounges, and a casino; complete with slots and table games.

You want to play high stakes starkers? This is where you can.

Prices for the 2025 Big Nude Boat start at $2,000 per person, up to $33,155 for the three-bedroom garden villa.

You’ll need deep pockets. Well, you’ll need pockets.

Want to stay on land? No problem.

In the UK, you can head to Brocken Hurst, in the North West Kent countryside. The 50-acre site is home to the UK Naturist Foundation and has a lively itinerary of events lined up for 2024.

There’s a naked retro gaming night, naked petanque, a naked 5K run, a naked jazz and blues festival, a naked Oktoberfest, and more. You get the idea: normal stuff – but naked.

But the highlight – obviously – is the naked casino night on September 14. It’s not the Caribbean but – hey: blackjack au naturel ;).

(Note to editor: If you want a detailed review of the Bare Necessities, I’m prepared to do it. Brocken Hurst: not so much)

2. GTA’s Virtual Casino

Believe it or not, it’s been 10 years since Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, and Trevor Phillips set the streets of San Andreas ablaze in GTA V.

Most of us will have played the regular game and moved on, eagerly awaiting GTA 6 in 2025.

However, GTA V never stopped growing. The online game enabled expansion and player mods.

In 2019, Rockstar added the Diamond Casino & Resort to the streets of San Andreas; the virtual venue won a Golden Joystick Award for Best Game Expansion.

The Diamond is a fully functioning casino, where you can spend your hard stolen, robbed and mugged money, playing blackjack, roulette, poker, and slots.

There is also horse racing and a Lucky Wheel that resets every 24 hours; prizes won on the wheel are yours to show off and enjoy.

The games are all beautifully rendered and realistic. You can buy a penthouse, visit the bar, play arcade games, and sign up for VIP membership.

When you are bored with it all, you can whip out the Uzi, rob the place, shoot the croupier, and head off into the sunset.

3. The Casino at Desert Cave Hotel

When the chips are down, so are you at the Desert Cave Hotel in Coober Pedy.

If your idea of a fun night is being trapped underground in a functioning opal mine, where Suffocation, Claustrophobia, and Slow Death aren’t just the names of drinks at the cocktail bar, you could be in for a treat.

Coober Pedy is indigenous Australian for ‘white man in a hole’. At the Desert Cave hotel, for $140 a night, you can channel your inner prairie dog and enjoy one of 19 underground suites; styling earthy, décor muddy, color pallet: clay.

And when you wake up; sweating, screaming, in the midst of an Edgar Allen Poe – Vincent Price – House of Usher nightmare, you can crawl down a few more dark mineshafts and lose some money, as well as your marbles, on the pokies (that’s what the antipodeans call slots, btw).

It’s reputedly the deepest casino on the planet, some 30 meters below ground level.

The average surface temperature is 113 degrees, the locals love a punch-up, and drinking is the only way to stay sane.

Maybe, you are better off underground at the blackjack table. We dig it.

4. Golden Nugget at Cripple Creek

Hats off to the marketing team at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino. They know a high altitude USP when they see one.

Hence the promise of “Vegas-style thrills at The Highest Casino in the World.” Next year: ALL CAPS on the promotional spiel.

Golden Nugget purchased Colorado’s Wildwood Casino in 2022. The casino is located 9,593 feet above sea level, in the historic gold mining town of Cripple Creek.

The altitude is a great sales point, but the most important geographical feature of this casino is that casino betting is legal.

Cripple Creek is old school Wild West territory; a stunning location and tourist attraction. The casinos have boosted the local economy and the Golden Nugget is one of the best.

Table games include Mississippi Stud, baccarat, blackjack, craps, and roulette. You can also take your pick from more than 550 slots.

And it’s pretty High…(with a capital H).

Apart from the brick-and-mortar casinos, there are also online casinos available to play from Colorado for those interested.

5. The Big “M” Casino

Gambling legislation in the US is changing. But, it’s a Sisyphean task getting bills through the myriad of committees.

Betting is a political hot potato; lawmakers love taxing the profits, but gambling has stigma, and stigma is where politics lives.

But, where there’s a will – there’s a wager…

South Carolina is a very conservative state, with no land-based casinos. However, hop on a boat, sail 12 miles out to sea, into international waters, and the ocean is your gaming floor.

The Big “M” is a casino boat cruise company that ships out from Myrtle beach twice a day. Casino-goers can sail from either 11am to 4pm, or 6pm to 11pm.

There are normally two boats in operation. Trips cost either $20 or $30.

For that, you can indulge in 158 slots on Ship I and 249 slots on Ship II. There are also table games, including Let It Ride, 3 card poker, and blackjack.

It will be interesting to see how the roulette wheel copes with the swell. It’s got to be one for the all-aboard bucket list.

Lost at sea? Nope, I reeled in a winner.

6. Casino du Liban

Not so much kooky, as curiosity.

When you talk about the world’s most unusual casinos, the Casino du Liban, 22 km north of Beirut, deserves an honorable mention.

Perched on a rocky hill, overlooking Jounieh Bay, the casino first opened its doors in 1959.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Lebanon was billed as the “Switzerland of the Middle East”. It was rich, affluent, and beautiful.

You could get from the snow-capped mountains of Mzaar Kfardebian to the beach in an hour.

The Casino du Liban is a reminder of happier times for the region.

Duke Ellington, Omar Sharif, Jacques Brel, and Julio Inglesis have all played the tables.

It’s the perfect setting for a James Bond movie; a blend of eastern mysticism and western decadence. Much like Lebanon in its heyday.

Today the Casino du Liban is leading the charge to promote a positive image for the region. It supports the arts and local culture.

It also offers gamblers more than 600 slots and a wealth of table games, including roulette, stud poker, and Bond’s favorite: baccarat.

In a region in crisis, it’s curious – and kinda sad – that a 75-year-old casino ended up being a symbol of stability.

Who would have bet on that?