The Casino Scene in Bucharest

I took a 3 day trip to Bucharest, Romania to experience the casino scene that I have heard so much about, and I must admit that most of it was true.

The plan was to play for 2-2.5 days and go see the city for the remaining 0.5-1 day, where my EV was planned to cover my expenses and hopefully make a profit if the goddess of variance is on my side.

Logistics

Traveling from the airport to the city is relatively easy, and although there is no train, there is a direct bus that costs ~2 euros, takes around 30 min drive and you are there.

Local currency is LEI and 1 euro is equivalent to ~5 LEI

Most of the casinos are located in the area around Piata Romana, which is in the center of the city and have a bus stop when coming from the airport.

Since all casinos are located in the same area, you don’t even need public transportation to get to the different places, its all 15 min walk apart.

After reading stories on casino patrons that sleep in their cars to save expenses, I decided that spending 30 euros per night in an apartment hotel is reasonable and I was able to find one in the area.

There are two types of casinos in Bucharest, Romania: (1) slot only halls and (2) full casinos that offer slots + table games halls. Since my focus was table games and Blackjack in particular, I didn’t enter the slot halls or the slot areas in the full casinos.

I visited 5 different casinos in the 3 day period and The below is based on my own personal impression and experience.

To the best of my understanding, the casinos are a stand-alone business and are not part of a hotel, even if they are on the same premises.

All of the casinos, without exception, looked very neat and respectable. I haven’t noticed any suspicious characters neither in the casino nor the surrounding area.

Games offered

Almost all the casinos are similar in the games and rules they offer, but there are differences in the cashing out conditions.

Upon entering you need to present your passport and have your picture taken.

You need to pay 50 LEI as entrance fee and in most places you get it back as match play chip and only one place didn’t give the match play chip. It doesn’t matter when you enter during the day, the entrance fee is valid till 08:00 the next day.

Entering to the slot halls or slot areas in the full casinos is free. Fees are only required for the table games.

In all places you can find European Roulette (i.e. single zero), different variations of Poker and Blackjack (and of course many slots)

Blackjack game offered is European Blackjack (so no hole card), but other than that, the rules are quite standard : 6D, S17, 3:2, DOA, DAS, LS, 75% Pen, no re-splitting Aces and no hitting split Aces.

This game will give us around HE = 0.44%.
We can live with that.

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Only one place played the game with CSM. All others were shoe games.

When I went to cash out, in two places I was charged 1% tax of my total cashed amount. The cashier didn’t ask me if I won or lost, she just charged me the 1%.

The common practice is LEI tables with a minimum of 20 LEI (~4 euros), but I was offered a euro table if I wanted with 10 euros minimum.

Comps and Promotions

I know you want to ask about comps and promotions, so here it is.

In only one place I saw promotions. The promotions was that for every 20 min of play you get a ticket that participates in a raffle, so the more time you play the more tickets you get, increasing your chance to win the raffle. I didn’t win…

Since I can't tell if the casinos are linked to the hotel on premises I don’t know if comped rooms are offered.

But there is a complementary buffet in all casinos with a variety of dishes that will satisfy all pallets. The buffet is open from around 15:00, but don’t worry because during the morning time there are cocktail staff that will get you all the beverages you desire (and I guess snacks as well if you ask)

The buffet is at the same hall of the tables so you don’t need to go to a food court for that, it is in the next room. BTW, you don’t need any kind of voucher or coupon to go and have lunch/dinner. Just go there and Bon appetite.

During one of my visits I met a guy that told me that the casino provides him with a comped ride to the airport, but he is a regular there.

In one place where I experienced severe negative variance (AKA losing) I tried to negotiate for loss rebate/cashback, free play or something…. Anything, but ended up with nothing. Maybe I needed to lose more (they asked for at least 1,000 euros loss to even start checking what can be done for me)…

For high rollers, private tables are also an option.

Conclusion

Both accommodation and traveling are not expensive and since the casinos offer you all you can eat buffet, overall traveling expenses are reasonable.

It is very reasonable to expect your EV to cover expenses and if you are a red chipper, around 15 hours of play will suffice (15 hours play in 2 days make sense) to generate this EV.

Pic of the trip (apologize for the poor quality)