When most of us think of entering a casino, we imagine walking into a vast plaza filled with slot machines, blackjack tables, roulette wheels, and some secluded poker rooms right at the back. But soon we might need to rethink the traditional form of a land-based casino, as these gambling establishments have plans to set up shop on modes of transport. Sounds crazy? Well, it is, but here are three vehicles where you might be playing a hand of poker sooner than you imagined.
Casino Train, LA to Las Vegas
The idea of an express train route between Los Angeles and Las Vegas has been around for years. While the current Amtrak service takes 12 hours, talks have been underway for a decade to establish a direct train route between the two cities, with the aim of bringing in punters from America’s largest metro area to the world’s favorite gambling destination. Most of these plans involve fitting out a train with its own gaming carriage, allowing passengers to gamble Vegas-style even before they are even in Las Vegas itself.
This concept has been the centerpiece for the X-train as well as the current proposal from Virgin Trains. When will the casino train come to fruition? The latest plans indicate a start in spring 2021, with completion penciled in for the summer of 2023. But this tale has been going on for over two decades, so don’t hold your breath just yet.
Casino Jet Lounge
If casinos can be fitted out on trains, then why not on aircraft? That is the thinking behind Airjet’s Casino Lounge design which seeks to bring the thrills and spills of a casino onto a modern jetliner. Designed to fit the needs of long-haul travelers, the jet lounge features a bar and a blackjack table, allowing passengers to unwind while 30,000 feet up. Right now, the design is just a prototype, although to be fair, we don’t know if some rich person has secretly fitted it onto one of their private jets. What are the chances of this design making it onto an Airbus A380 or Boeing 747?
Well, the US prohibits any kind of gambling action over American airspace, but we see no reason why this kind of setup could not prove successful in Europe or Asia. In fact, Irish carrier Ryanair already sells scratch cards on their flights and is rumored to be interested in the idea of allowing passengers to play in-house casino games on their mobile phones. However, as European air travelers will know, the chances of Ryanair ripping out seating to accommodate a casino lounge are slim to non-existent.
Casino Taxicab
The two previous examples might be pure conjecture at the present moment but playing casino games in an automobile was briefly a reality in Birmingham, England. Customers could hail a cab and be driven around the city, playing blackjack with a dealer, while watching sports events. This arrangement was a publicity stunt by a local casino, and probably wouldn’t be financially viable all year round. But surely a limousine could be decked out with a roulette table and make a fortune ferrying player up and down the Las Vegas strip, or in Macau?
In fact, any travel destination known for its hedonistic lifestyle might be the perfect location for a casino taxicab. I personally would love to play in one while being driven around Los Angeles or New York City. Especially if it’s a limo where can I play a hand of poker against some friends.
Some of these proposals sure sound wacky, and I have a feeling we might need to wait a little while for the train and plane casinos to come to fruition. But who would have thought we would be playing in online casinos 20 years ago? I wouldn’t (I didn’t even have dial-up until 2002), so I have a feeling that I will play casino games on an airplane and on a train one day. And if some bright spark can deck out a limousine to handle casino games (and perhaps a bar) then it would make a lot of people very happy.
