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The 25 Coolest Casinos in America

There are no finer establishments to relieve you of your life savings.

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Are you up all night to get lucky? Or is it the 17 vodka and Red Bulls you chugged while cranking away at the penny slots? Whatever your poison is, Complex has rounded up the 25 Coolest Casinos In America.

Whether you like old-school glitz and glamour or sleek Italian marble and a spa where you can gamble via mobile phone, rich tycoons across the nation have created the perfect spot for you to come and waste your hard-earned dough. Your wagers are up to you but all of these places are safe bets.

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25. Palazzo

City: Las Vegas
Address: 3325 S Las Vegas Blvd.
Website: palazzo.com


Regarded as one of the most elegant choices in Las Vegas, the Palazzo is attached to the Venetian and emulates that fine-wine-and-fine-art Italian beauty but with a boutique hotel flair at an unrivaled fine-diamond rating. Hips bars like Tao take center stage to give it an even more Euro flair and the Palazzo pool deck has seven pools dripping with classy hotties trying to cool off from their fancy debauchery at TAO Beach. The casino, of course, is everything you'd want from a gambling experience, plus there is the option of mobile gaming if you don't want to leave the luxurious peace of your room.

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24. Aria

City: Las Vegas
Address: 3730 S Las Vegas Blvd.
Website: arialasvegas.com

Just like the gorgeous solo singing style that it was named after, the Aria stands alone in its beauty. Over 4,000 rooms take up the space and 16 restaurants give patrons something to eat while checking a 266-foot-long LED installation. Rooms are tucked away from the casino din, but clubs, restaurants, and a centrally-located spot on the strip combined with decadent design make Aria a go-to destination for those trying not to make Las Vegas into Lost Wages.

Harrah's New Orleans

City: New Orleans
Address: 228 Poydras St.
Website: harrahsneworleans.com

Located a block away from the Mississippi River and near Canal Street, Harrah's New Orleans is in the heard of the action of New Orleans and that vibrant energy translates to the decked out interior of the giant casino. There are restaurants and a masquerade-themed club, but when you're surrounded by all that down the street, the most appealing part of Harrah's New Orleans is its special games including its 3-card poker and blackjack fusion called 21+3 Extreme and the ability to apply points from your winning to getting gas. There are also tons of worthwhile giveaways and prizes.

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22. Mandalay Bay

City: Las Vegas
Address: 3950 S Las Vegas Blvd.
Website: mandalaybay.com

There's no debate. Mandalay Bay is the only place you can see a Michael Jackson retrospective show, chill out while surrounded by the bloodthirsty peace of sharks in a shark reef (You can even dive with them!), or go shopping at premiere boutiques. But if swimming with sharks is less your thing that card sharks, you can still hit up the 135,000-square-foot tropical-themed gaming area that also includes a beachside casino where you can play all your favorite table games while dipping your toes in Mandalay Bay's wave-simulated beach. Sharks not included.

21. Inn of the Mountain Gods

City: Mescalero, N.M.
Address: 87 Carrizo Canyon Road
Website: innofthemountaingods.com

You might need some mescalin to get through a night of losses at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino in Mescalero, New Mexico, or you could just chill out on the beautiful 4-star expanse and watch the waters ripple across the adjoined Mescalero Lake. The hotel has entertainment, like a Brett Michaels show coming up, and the casino offers everything from penny slots to card tables featuring Texas Hold 'Em, Mississippi Stud, and Three Card Poker.

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20. Golden Nugget

City: Las Vegas
Address: 29 Fremont Street Experience
Website: goldennugget.com

Tucked away in Downtown Las Vegas, the Golden Nugget Casino is iconic and includes a pool with a slide that goes through a shark tank. Through the gold-toned glitz of the old-school casino and hotel, there's a hardcore gaming system going on including no-limits play, the World Series of Slots, the Grand Series of Poker, and lots of free beverages of every variety if you join the 24 Karat Club.

19. The Palms

City: Las Vegas, Nev.
Address: 4321 W Flamingo Road
Website: palms.com


Where the pretty young things go to play, the Palms is not your grandfather's favorite haunt and it's probably not even your father's. The Palms is all about lavish penthouses, Playboy bunnies, and trust fund high-rollers that are knocking back apple martinis and Red Bull with rich socialites like Paris Hilton and company. The casino cheekily claims that it's "got game" on its website and although the 95,000-square-foot casino is slightly small for a major hotel in the area, there are slots, poker, betting, and a really cool casino bar in the middle of the action called Social.

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18. Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa

City: Atlantic City, N.J.
Address: 1 Borgata Way
Website: theborgata.com


Blow on those dice, Atlantic City. The Borgata is your one-stop shop for elegance and losing your life's savings all thanks to a casino that also includes an eCasino so you can play casino games from the comfort of your Borgata hotel room. You can also get a Borgata rewards card and throw down some cash for football betting, a.k.a. touchdown cash.

17. MGM Grand

City: Las Vegas, Nev.
Address: 3799 S Las Vegas Blvd,
Website: mgmgrand.com


Viva Las...Hollywood? The MGM Grand in Las Vegas is set up to mimic the old-school heydey of Hollywood and even includes a tiger pen for those who like to do stunts and risk their (financial) lives while also risking their (physical) life. The emerald-green hotel and casino has sweeping views of the city and high-end gaming in rooms that are testosterone-chic and swanky in a bro palace kind of way.


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16. The Lodge at Turning Stone

City: Verona, N.Y.
Address: 5218 Patrick Road
Website: turningstone.com


Sitting pretty in the heart of Central New York, Turning Stone Casino might turn your wife into stone when she found out how much you lost at craps, but you can always spoil her at the luxurious spa and some lush East Coast greenery while you try to win it all back. The entertainment-centric casino has golf and sports, but also a game room that gives you an ability to play totally underrated old people games like Bingo and Keno.

15. Red Rock

City: Las Vegas, Nev.
Address: 11011 W Charleston Blvd.
Website: redrock.sclv.com


Surrounded by radiant red rocks in Las Vegas, Red Rock Casino, Resort, & Spa is the real deal; not one of those hotels made to look like they are really in the middle of a vast desert. Sparkling pools help gamblers beat the summer heat (or the heat in the casino after losing), but the actual play room is a sleek affair that has tons of game promotions and rewards that go straight to your mailbox.

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14. Bally's Atlantic City

City: Atlantic City, N.J.
Address: 1900 Pacific Ave.
Website: pballysac.com


Take a time machine back to the past with Bally's Atlantic City, a hotel that has a fa̤cade that mimics the old store fronts of the boardwalk and a water view that would have made Nucky Thompson cream all over his suspenders. The casino has everything you'd desire, from slots to video poker to card tables, but one of the casino's most original features is its dealertainers, dealers who dress like your favorite celebrity (Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, etc.) and also sing and dance for you.

13. Peppermill

City: Reno, Nev.
Address: 2707 S Virginia St.
Website: peppermillreno.com


Reno. Once the place where everyone got divorced, now the place where everyone goes when they want to gamble but not deal with the debauchery that is Vegas. The Peppermill Resort Spa and Casino provides a nice alternative and it was even voted Best Hotel and Casino by Nevada magazine. The property includes "basic" amenities like a waterfall and an arcade, but you also get world-class gaming in a luxurious red-carpeted game room that many publications apparently deem as the "loosest slots."

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12. Trump Taj Mahal

City: Atlantic City, N.J.
Address: 1000 Boardwalk
Website: trumptaj.com


Nothing trumps the audaciousness of a Trump building and the Trump Taj Mahal is no exception. The Atlantic City casino looks like a slightly-modernized mock Taj Mahal and has an opulent red and gold interior that looks like a chintzed up Christmas scenario only with money pouring out of glistening slot machines instead of Christmas trees heavy under the weight of flickering lights.

11. Foxwoods

City: Mashantucket, Conn.
Address: 350 Trolley Line Blvd.
Website: foxwoods.com


The largest casino in the United States, Foxwoods is grand beyond measure and basically looks like something the royal family would live in. Located in Connecticut, the large white palacial structure houses non-stop card game challenges, including Foxwood's World Poker Finals.

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10. Beau Rivage

City: Biloxi, Miss.
Address: 875 Beach Blvd.
Website: beaurivage.com


Don't get the Biloxi blues. Beau Rivage is made for the wild Southern-style party animal in all of us with a crisp green golf resort vibe mixed with a high-limit lounge and a rewards system called the Treasures of the Caribbean that looks like it would star a Johnny Depp facsimile but is just a way to connect with your inner Southern spirit animal who just wants to spend large before losing it all and floating down the river in a barrel.

9. Mohegan Sun

City: Montville, Conn.
Address: 1 Mohegan Sun Blvd.
Website: mohegansun.com


The second largest casino and hotel in the United States, the Mohegan Sun is a pretty Connecticut hotel that just happens to have super high-stakes gambling. The pay-out limit on slots was almost $14 million when we did our research and for those that can't handle the monotony of slot action, there's tables, smoke-free rooms, tournaments, and the unique ability to apply your winnings to your next vacation with a points system that helps you make your jetset dreams come true.

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8. The Bellagio

City: Las Vegas, Nev.
Address: 600 S Las Vegas Blvd.
Website: bellagio.com


One of the first hotel options to provide classy 5-star luxury in Las Vegas after themed monstrosities like Circus Circus and New York-New York had their time to shine, the Bellagio is a giant Vegas Strip hotel that mimics the natural beauty of Tuscany. There are caviar dreams at Petrossian Bar to go with your high-risk bets and lots of adults-only places to chill, including the Cypress Pool. The casino itself has slots, racing games, and more, including some of Vegas' most high-stake poker rooms.

7. MGM Grand Detroit

City: Detroit
Address: 1777 3rd St.
Website: mgmgranddetroit.com


One of the few places in Detroit that has money, the MGM Grand Detroit gives residents a place to gamble away their poverty and maybe win an extra buck or two to help along Detroit's Depression-era living. Players can sidle up to 4,000 slot machines, attempt to smash at one of the 98 table games, or take advantage of a non-smoking room because they can still smoke inside in Detroit, apparently. If you get bored of wasting your hard-earned cash, there are nightclubs, a sushi bar, and Wolfgang Puck restaurants for the fine-dining freaks.

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6. Ritz-Carlton, San Juan

City: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Address: 6961 Avenue of the Governors
Website: ritzcarlton.com


In case you forgot that Puerto Rico is also a part of the United States, there's the Ritz-Carlton, San Juan Hotel, Spa & Casino to remind you that the tropical commonwealth true island paradise involves gambling. In true Ritz-Carlton style, everything in the hotel is finely appointed, from alabaster white columns to dining on the beach, to a lush wood-paneled hotel room that is less weird-stains-in-the-carpet than it is getting-high-in-an-expensive-humidor.


5. Cosmopolitan

City: Las Vegas, Nev.
Address: 3708 S Las Vegas Blvd.
Website: sevenhotelparis.com


Amidst all the chintz and sparkle of Las Vegas lies a modern beast of monetary potential, a clean-lined freak in a sea of faux marble and gold-plated everything. The Cosmopolitan is exactly what it says it is: sophisticated, urbane, and so totally not Vegas except for the inclusion of a casino. It would easily be a pricey Manhattan joint. Club Marquee provides a well-worn dance floor while a 100,000 foot casino offers up high-end technology with old-school risk taking including the opportunity to apply for an in-house credit line in case you can't pay out-of-pocket for your bad decisions.

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4. Belterra

City: Florence, Ind.
Address: 777 Belterra Drive
Website: belterracasino.com


If you're looking for a near heart attack from the thrills of playing a high-stakes hand, Belterra Casino Resort and Spa brings that experience straight to the Heartland. Located in Indiana, the escape-worthy hotel and casino includes a spa and golfing, but also has slots, tables, games, a poker room, and what they call a casino host team that helps you with all your gambling and/or gambling addiction needs.

3. The Venetian

City: Las Vegas, Nev.
Address: 3355 S Las Vegas Blvd.
Website: venetian.com


How would you like drinks that come at a push of the button and the idea of gaming on your iPad while floating in a gondola? The Venetian can provide all that to you if you have the right credentials, while simultaneously evoking the allure of medieval Venice mixed with posh Italian class. The luxurious resort, made from the green stone of the Italian alps, is a purist feat in mimicking classic architecture including a replica of St. Mark's Square where you can take in the pleasures of Italy before your Grand Dragon Baccarat tournament.

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2. Sandia

City: Albuquerque, N.M.
Address: 30 Rainbow Road
Website: sandiacasino.com


Albuquerque's own Sandia Resort and Casino calls itself far from ordinary and in terms of casinos, that is spot on. Situated near the desert town, Sandia looks like an awe-inspiring adobe, one where chiefs would watch over their people. As well as golf and other resort amenities, Sandia's casino offers a rare view of the gorgeous Sandia mountains while you double down or split the pot.

1. Wynn Las Vegas

City: Las Vegas
Address: 3131 S Las Vegas Blvd.
Website: wynnlasvegas.com


If you're looking for opulence, the Wynn exudes that, starting with its black-and-gold fa̤cade, the colors of mystery and luxury. Gourmet restaurants dot the property, including Mizumi and the retrofied Sinatra, while floor-to-ceiling windows flank the property's rooms to let in all the glitz and glam. But the biggest draw is the light and bright marble-floored casino that looks like something you'd find in a spa. The relaxing environs spare the cheese for something more grand.

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