Betting in Frankfurt

With a population of just over 704,000, Frankfurt am Main (aka Frankfurt) is the largest city in the German state of Hessen and the fifth-largest city in all of Germany. As a financial and transport centre, the city attracts plenty of business travelers to its trade shows, stock exchange, banks and manufacturing zones, but it also has a cultured side, with more than 30 museums, one of Europe’s foremost opera houses, numerous festivals and a highly acclaimed local cuisine.

When it comes to recreation, Frankfurt plays just as hard as it works. The metropolis offers a large variety of restaurants, bars, pubs and clubs, especially concentrated in and around the city centre as well as in the Ostend district close to Hanauer Landstraße. This is where techno music grew its European roots in the 1980s~90s, as did the music style known as “trance.” Indeed, Frankfurt nightclubs dominated the Euro-music scene for much of the first decade of the new millennium.

Visitors who like to gamble and arrive by plane are greeted at Terminal 1, Departures B, Level 2 by the Airport Casino Frankfurt. Opened in December 2011, this is a full service gambling facility with 78 gaming machines and three tables for American Roulette and Blackjack. Operating hours are from 7am to 10pm daily, except certain holidays such as Good Friday, May Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Players must be at least 18 years old and provide a valid ID or passport along with a ticket or boarding pass upon entrance.

Inside the city of Frankfurt, two major entertainment conglomerates monopolise casino-style gaming. The larger of the two is Casino Merkur-Spielothek, a division of the Gauselmann Group headquartered in East Westphalia. In 1957, Paul Gauselmann started out by refurbishing used U.S. jukeboxes, and by 1976 the family-owned company had begun manufacturing its own slot machines.

Today, Casino Merkur-Spielothek venues make machine gaming available all around Frankfurt, including properties on Adolf-Hauser-Strasse, Bolongarostrasse, Elbestrasse, Kaiserstrasse, Neue Mainzer Straße and Reineckstrasse. Representative of these is the Casino Merkur-Spielothek Frankfurt-Mainkur on Mainkurstraße. It is open every Monday through Saturday from 10am to 4am, and on Sundays and holidays from noon to 4am.

Competing with Casino Merkur-Spielothek for gamblers’ patronage are the city’s two “Storm Casinos,” one each in Hanauer and Kurt. Owned and operated by Germany’s own Storm International, the interiors of these casinos feature a highly modern style, mixing mirrors and wood, bright carpets and exclusive furniture.

Each of the Frankfurt venues has 50 gaming machines in total, including electronic roulette and poker as well as traditional slots. Popular games such as “Lucky Ladies Charm,” “Dolphin’s Pearl,” “Book of Ra,” “Crazy Fruits” and “Big Blue Bucks” are featured. Also incorporated into each of the two gaming properties is a coffee bar, an Internet-café and a lounge zone.

Those wiling to venture a bit outside the city to its suburb know as Niederrad can take advantage of the area’s foremost horseracing track and its race book. The Frankfurt Racecourse is on Schwarzwaldstrasse, accessible by car via the autobahn Cologne-Wurzburg, exit Frankfurt-Sud in the direction of Stadtmitte, or by taking Public Tram No. 21. The left-handed track is flat and rather tight with a two-furlong straight. The Euro Cup, a Class 3 event for thoroughbreds, is held each September.

Published on: 02/04/2013

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