Patrons are of all nationalities with the place being popular with established Colombo regulars and visiting foreigners. The sense of decorum is noticeable on entering the casino but that hasn’t tamed the sense of fun with occasional whoops of joy from winners. There are lucky draws of members’ numbers throughout the day. The standard games together with Indian Flush and Texas Hold’Em Poker are available. The ground floor is spacious and colourful, with roulette and card tables in the centre and a wall of slot machines to one side. Thus one floor is reserved for VVIPs with no limits, while another is reserved for private sessions and a third for dedicated to tour groups on special pre-paid gaming packages. Since it opened in 2013 in a purpose built building on Marine Drive, Marina Casino has helped raise the standard of casinos in the city by having each of its four floors dedicated to particular players. Players are treated to complimentary drinks of their choice and there are complimentary snacks served to the table while breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets are presented in the restaurant section. Roulette is the traditional kind, with only one zero, not like the American game which has two zeros. All casino games are available and the stakes start from as low as Rs100 for roulette, as long as a stipulated minimum is played each round. The gaming area is spread over a huge space, with private areas for high rollers partitioned from the other players. That’s to maintain the standard of discretion that makes Bally’s a favourite place, even for Colombo housewives, to spend time relaxing.

Smartly uniformed doormen, and plain clothes security detail, are on hand to monitor guests and to ensure only members and genuine players are allowed in. Located close to Colombo’s top hotels and the back entrance to Colombo Fort railway station, Bally’s is a long established casino with a reputation for respectability and warm hospitality.

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