Dare to place your bets in these haunted casinos!

Do you like your gambling to come with a side order of mystery and intrigue? A little extra added to your ordinary? Then sit back as we sprinkle some para into your normal with these fascinating tales of the world’s most famous haunted casinos!

Bally’s Resort & Casino
If you’re ever in Bally’s Resort & Casino in Las Vegas and happen to bump into a ghostly figure in the halls, don’t worry – you’re not the first guest to do so and you most likely won’t be the last. According to both guests of the resort and its staff as well, the North Tower of the hotel has been haunted ever since tragedy struck the site on 21 November 1980, in what was then the MGM Grand.

As a result of faulty wiring, fire broke out through the hotel and spread quickly, engulfing the building in deadly smoke and flames. Although firefighters rushed to the scene, they were unable to prevent the deaths of 80 people, some of whom even jumped from the hotel in a desperate bid to escape the fire. After the blaze was contained and the cause of the fire determined, the remains of the building were torn down, and Bally’s Resort & Casino was built in its place. Today the victims of the USA’s second largest hotel fire are said to haunt the upper levels of the resort’s North Tower – so if you’re booked into a room between the 19th and the 24th floor, prepare yourself for a close encounter of the ghostly kind!

Canfield Casino
Don’t believe there’s such a thing as a haunted casino? Then why not book a stay at the Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs, New York, and put your money where your mouth is? Widely known as a historical monument throughout the city of Saratoga Springs, the Canfield is also known for a different reason – being one of the most haunted casinos in the world. Reports of ghostly sightings and occurrences abound, the most frequent of these being encountering a ghostly woman in Victorian dress, being slapped (what the actual?) and smelling cigar smoke – with no cigars or smokers in sight.

In fact, the reports were so convincing that TV’s GhostHunters even made a special trip to the Canfield in 2010 to take a look for themselves. Keep an eye out for the episode ‘Time to Get Touched’ and find out what happened – or simply book a stay for yourself and conduct your own investigation. Carefully…

Flamingo Casino
You can’t think of the Flamingo Casino without thinking of Bugsy Siegel, the mob boss whose history is indelibly woven with that of Las Vegas itself. Not content with establishing Las Vegas as the world’s playground, Siegel developed the Flamingo Casino too, and was apparently so enamoured with it in life that it’s where he chose to spend his death as well. That is, if reports are to be believed. And what reports they are – sightings of Siegel’s ghost in the pool and in the Presidential Suite, terrifying guests and staff to the point where one panicked employee even quit after encountering Siegel’s ghost while on shift. The moral of the story? If you want a peaceful afterlife, don’t join the mafia, get gunned down and then spend your days haunting hotels. Just a thought.

Bullock Hotel and Casino
Deadwood – it’s not just a TV show, it’s an actual place as well, in the state of South Dakota. It’s also home to the Bullock Hotel and Casino, an establishment as famous for its hauntings as its table games and slots.

Built in 1886 and bearing the name of the town’s first sheriff, the Bullock is said to be haunted by the ghost of the lawmaker himself, who died in 1919 from colon cancer. Pay a visit to this renowned gaming venue and you could be on the receiving end of one of the sheriff’s tricks – showers that turn themselves on and off, and items that move from one location to another all by themselves.

If you don’t have any luck on your own, then book one of the town’s ghost tours, and keep your camera handy for any supernatural phenomena that may occur along the way. Who knows, your ghost video could soon propel you to instant viral fame and fortune!

The Tropicana
Back to Las Vegas and this time to the Tropicana, the site of some highly bizarre occurrences – the most inexplicable of which involves a mask, of all things. Not quite the mask of Jim Carrey movie fame, but close enough.

Years ago, if you were a visitor to the Tropicana, you would have seen a large wooden tiki mask at the entrance of the casino. Nothing unusual there. In fact, it became something of a talking point, with visitors stopping to touch the mask, and even take photos with it. Here’s where the crazy starts though – as the mask was said to be home to a trapped spirit. As unlikely as it sounds, the rumours quickly began to spread, fuelled by the fact that those guests who touched the mask started to develop a strange purple rash. The weirdness doesn’t stop there though, as when captured on film, the mask was obscured by an unexplained purple haze that was only evident in photos. Needless to say paranoia struck, and the mask was eventually removed by management for the good of the casino’s reputation. Pity – it would have made a fantastic sequel!

Circus-Circus
Last but certainly not least, Circus-Circus in Las Vegas has the somewhat dubious reputation of being one of the most ghostly casinos in the world – due in no small part to its history with organised crime. After its construction the casino received a $23 million investment from the mafia in order to attract high rollers to its tables, however it was sold soon afterwards and renovated.

Unlike other casinos where the death of a prominent person or people prompted ghostly activities, no one knows exactly why Circus-Circus went from normal to paranormal, but soon occurrences began to be reported, particularly in connection with rooms 203, 123 and 230. Screams and whispers were heard echoing throughout the hotel, bathroom mirrors were scrawled with the words ‘Help me’, and staff and guests reported seeing the ghosts of a mother who killed her son and herself in room 123. Add to that further ghostly sightings of three people who were killed in the kitchen, and you understand how Circus-Circus came about its reputation of scary-scary. Are you brave enough to withstand a night under the big top? Book your stay and see how long you last!

Happy Spinning 🙂