Casino du Liban Continues Operations in Lebanon

Conflict continues between Israel and Lebanon but "the show must go on" for Casino du Liban. That has long been the motto of the casino located in the Christian heartland north of Beirut on the tip of the bay of Junieh.

Since it's opening in 1959, the casino witnessed and survived the odds of wars and operated more or less normally. Only during the inter-Christian battles in 1989 that it was forced to close due to serious damage, it was renovated and reopened in 1996. In its website the casino boasts the "Legend of Casino du Liban" which astonished and attracted millions of guests around the world.

The Casino normally closes at five in the morning and usually lively and crowded but everything seemed to be turning down since the conflict, opening hours were limited at 1:00 a.m. the modest and with the Latest Israeli air strike at dawn last Friday that gouged craters in a road bridge near the casino.

For blackjack and roulette enthusiasts, only one out of three gaming rooms is operating with guests asked to hire a jacket and tie if they don't turn up in the proper attire. And as the high rollers left the country first, private rooms are closed, as well as the summer show complete with dancing girls was called off.

Seafront cabarets and bars come alive after midnight but many have closed with dozens of their eastern European artistes fleeing the country. Some are operational until 5 in the morning but no stripteases are conducted in respect of the Arab Moral Values.