According to the latest news from Guyana, the Princess Casino is scheduled to open within the next three weeks. Located in the Princess Hotel, formerly Buddy’s International Hotel, the casino will offer blackjack, roulette and poker as well as gaming machines. Last May it was announced that the company of controversial Turkish businessman Sudi Ozkan, who’s Princess Group owns hotels and casinos in Eastern Europe and Latin America, had been granted a casino licence for the property.

The hotel, originally constructed in Providence for the 2007 Cricket World Cup in Guyana, was purchased for a reported sum of US$15 million. The expected casino gambling legislation failed to materialize before the World Cup, although the National Assembly approved the Gambling Prevention (Amendment) Bill 2006 in January 2007, and the hotel was later sold to the Princess Group. In July 2009 the Princess Operations Director, Oguz Tayanc, said US$2 million would be invested in an upgrade and that the casino should be operational within months.

As the law in Guyana states that only workers and guests of the hotels and resorts may enter the casinos, the hotel will have to rely on filling its rooms. Intended to protect local Guyanese, the penalties for breaking the law include heavy fines and imprisonment between 6 months and two years. Tayanc confirmed that junkets would be run in cooperation with local and foreign tour operators, bringing gamblers to the hotel on a weekly basis. Measures will be in place to ensure that the law is adhered to in respect of limiting gambling to hotel guests and complying with international anti money laundering procedures.

Future plans for Guyana’s Princess Hotel include an entertainment centre with bowling alley, movie theatre and a luxury lounge-bar. The hotel already has a Conference and Banqueting Hall to accommodate up to 850 people, the largest swimming pool in the country, a mall and three restaurants. It remains to be seen if Guyana’s first casino will open its doors later this month or if another delay will occur. The World of Princess website merely says George Town Princess Casino Coming Soon – Providence is around 3 kilometres south of Guyana’s capital Georgetown. (E-02.15.10)

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