Casinos in Italy.Four towns, four sets of rules.

The four casinos at a glance

An amendment tabled in the Italian Senate, a proposal rather than a law in itself, names the four case da gioco authorised to operate in Italy: Campione, Sanremo, Saint-Vincent and Venice. The table sets out what each venue told visitors when we checked its official pages.

Venice: two venues, one on the Grand Canal

The Casinò di Venezia traces its history to 1638 and has been at Ca' Vendramin Calergi, a Renaissance-style palazzo on the Grand Canal, since the 1950s. It also runs Ca' Noghera, opened in 1999 beside Marco Polo airport, which calls itself the first American-style casino in Italy and lists 550 slot machines.

Hotel guests in Venice can get in free, except on 31 December, if their hotel accredits them in writing by 18:00 on the day. Our guide to the casino in Venice compares the two venues, their dress codes, transport and admission cards in full.

Sanremo: free entry on the Riviera

Casinò Sanremo, open since 1905, occupies a Liberty Deco-style building on Corso degli Inglesi in the centre of the town, linked to Piazza Colombo by the shopping street Via Matteotti, where the Ariston Theatre also stands. It is owned by the town: the company's sole shareholder is the Comune di Sanremo.

Entry to both the traditional games room and the slot hall is free, and the casino says it opens every day of the year. Its Italian-language entry page lists the slot hall from 10:00 and the traditional games room from 14:00, both closing at 02:30 or 04:00, with possible changes on public holidays and at certain times of year. The minimum age is 18, and the games list runs from roulette and Fair Roulette to blackjack, punto banco, chemin de fer and poker.

The traditional games room has the stricter dress rules: caps, shorts, tank tops, sandals, slippers and tracksuits are not allowed, while women may dress informally. The slot hall asks only for informal but appropriate clothing. Overcoats, bulky jackets, umbrellas and hats go to the cloakroom in both, and animals are not admitted. The casino's client notice also bars minors, military personnel in uniform and people known to gamble professionally, and says the entry card is personal and cannot be transferred.

Our guide to the Sanremo casino goes through the rooms floor by floor, the theatre and the festival born at the casino, and how to get there by road, rail or air.

Saint-Vincent: the Aosta Valley resort casino

The Casino de la Vallée at Saint-Vincent opened on 29 April 1947, originally in the rooms of the Grand Hotel Billia. Its homepage says it covers 3,500 square metres over two floors, still connected to the hotel complex, with more than 400 electronic gaming positions alongside its tables.

Its entry rule is precise: you must have turned 18 at least a day earlier, and you need a valid identity document to be issued a ticket, because anti-money-laundering rules require every visitor to be identified. Residents of the Aosta Valley may enter but can play only the electronic games and Texas Hold'em poker tournaments. Dress should be decorous throughout, and men need long trousers for the Sala Privè on the first floor.

By car, leave the A5 motorway at the Châtillon–Saint-Vincent exit. The casino lists the most convenient airports as Turin Caselle (86 km), Milan Malpensa (159 km), Geneva (177 km) and Milan Linate (186 km).

Our guide to the Saint-Vincent casino covers its house rules, who they keep out, the games and the routes from France and Switzerland.

Campione d'Italia, on Lake Lugano

Campione d'Italia is an Italian municipality on Lake Lugano, and its own website lists the Casinò di Campione among the town's places of interest. For public transport, the municipality links timetables for connections with the Swiss railway stations at Melide and Lugano, and for boats on Lake Lugano.

We could not verify the casino's current opening hours, entry charges or dress code: its website could not be loaded when we checked, and we do not repeat details from third-party sites. Treat anything you read elsewhere as unconfirmed and check with the casino before you travel.

Not in Rome, Milan, Florence or Naples

None of the four casinos named in the Senate amendment is in Rome, Milan, Florence or Naples. To visit one you would need to travel to Venice, Sanremo, Saint-Vincent or Campione d'Italia.

What to take and what to wear

• Photo ID. Venice accepts an ID card, a driving licence or a passport, and Saint-Vincent needs a valid identity document before it issues a ticket. For a UK visitor, a passport meets every ID requirement we found.
• Age. Sanremo sets the minimum at 18, Saint-Vincent admits only people who turned 18 at least a day earlier, and Venice admits adults only.
• Money. Entry is free at Sanremo and Saint-Vincent; Venice charges €50 at Ca' Vendramin Calergi and €10 or €5 at Ca' Noghera. Venice's pages say that from 1 January 2023 the legal limit on cash transfers in Italy was raised to €4,999.99, and it takes cards including Visa, Mastercard and Maestro.
• Clothes. Tank tops and sandals are barred at both Venice venues, in Sanremo's traditional games room and in Saint-Vincent's first-floor table area. Shorts rules differ: Ca' Noghera allows shorts just above the knee and Saint-Vincent's table area allows Bermuda shorts. Men need long trousers for Saint-Vincent's Sala Privè.
• Luggage. Venice and Sanremo send overcoats, bulky jackets, umbrellas and hats to the cloakroom; Venice also requires suitcases, luggage and holdalls to be left at the coat check.

Italian casinos online, and UK residents

Online gambling in Italy is licensed separately, by the customs and monopolies agency ADM, which publishes the list of authorised remote operators and their websites. We have researched five Italian brands in detail. Each profile starts from the ADM record and then records whether we could establish that the brand may serve consumers in Great Britain.

For none of the five could we establish that a UK resident may open an account. An operator serving consumers in Great Britain needs a Gambling Commission licence, and an Italian concession is not a substitute. Sisal's registration asks for an Italian tax code, StarCasino restricts registration to Italy, and Lottomatica's bonus terms require Italian residence. The profiles are there to explain the brands you may come across in Italy, not to suggest signing up from home.

All five Italian brand profiles

Help in Italy and at home

Each casino handles gambling harm in its own way. The Casinò di Venezia's information page points to “Chiama & Vinci”, the gambling-disorder project of the local health authority, which takes appointments on the toll-free number 800 180 030. Sanremo lets customers apply to exclude themselves from its gaming rooms. Saint-Vincent says it accepts requests from family members to bar a relative in temporary difficulty, a protection it says a state law has included since 1 January 2013. In the UK, GamCare runs the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, and our safer gambling page sets out the other options.