Why there are no casinos, exactly
The Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 is the reason, and it has outlived seven decades of proposals to replace it. It never created a category of licence that a casino could hold, so no operator has ever been able to apply for one. What grew instead was the private members' club: a venue that deals casino games to members, which most people join at the door in under a minute. The distinction sounds like a formality and is not one. A member's rights, and the venue's obligations, are not the same as a licensed casino's in a jurisdiction that licenses casinos.
The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 is the first real reform. It established the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, which was formally set up on 5 March 2025 and began issuing licences on 1 July 2026. Read the phasing carefully before assuming it changes what is on the floor in Dublin: the opening phase licenses remote betting, and casino games, gaming machines and lotteries are handled separately. In-person operators are due to move off their legacy Revenue Commissioners permissions by 1 December 2026.
The club most guides still list closed in 2019
Search for a Dublin casino and the Fitzwilliam Casino & Card Club, near Merrion Square, still appears in directory after directory. It closed in 2019, with the loss of 78 jobs, and the operator attributed the decision to the Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Act 2019. A venue that traded for years leaves a long tail of pages behind it, and a listing that was true when someone wrote it down stays online until somebody checks. Treat any Dublin list you find as a list of places to verify rather than a list of places that are open.
The Sporting Emporium, on Anne's Lane off South Anne Street a minute from Grafton Street, is the venue most often named for poker and table games and is trading. Its own site gives the hours as daily from 8pm and describes membership as required, with the online application process being rebuilt at the time of writing, so it asks prospective members to get in touch directly. Other addresses appear around the city centre on Burgh Quay, Talbot Street, Exchequer Street and Lower Dorset Street; confirm any of them directly before travelling for a specific game.
What the games on that floor cost
The club game menu in Dublin runs to blackjack, roulette, punto banco, sic bo, poker and, in some rooms, brag. Being a members' club changes the licensing and changes nothing about the arithmetic:
- Punto banco is baccarat under another name. The banker bet costs 1.06%, the player bet 1.24%, and the tie bet 14.36%, which is the worst bet a normal casino floor offers.
- Roulette: check whether the wheel has one zero or two. Every bet on a single-zero wheel costs 2.70%; every bet on a double-zero wheel costs 5.26%, for the same game.
- Blackjack: read the payout line before sitting. 3:2 against 6:5 is worth 1.35 percentage points, more than every other rule difference combined.
- Sic bo spreads from about 2.78% on the best bets to 30% on the worst, so the bet you choose matters more here than the table you choose.
Practical notes
- 18+ with photo ID. Membership is generally arranged on arrival, but it is a membership, so allow for the paperwork.
- Ireland uses the euro, and player winnings are not taxed in the player's hands, see the country page for the wider position.
- If your trip is built around a specific game or a tournament, telephone first. Rooms in this category change their schedules more readily than licensed casinos do, and nothing obliges them to publish a calendar.
- For a licensed floor and a fixed schedule within a short flight, London is the nearest alternative.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Are there casinos in Dublin?
- Not licensed casinos. Ireland has never issued a casino licence, because the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 does not provide for one. Dublin's gaming venues operate as private members' clubs, which deal the same games under a different legal arrangement.
- Is gambling legal in Ireland?
- Yes, and it is being licensed for the first time. The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 created the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, which began issuing licences on 1 July 2026. Casino games are not part of that opening phase.
- Do I need to be a member to play in Dublin?
- Yes. Membership is the legal basis on which these venues operate. It is usually arranged at the door with photo ID, and the minimum age is 18.
- Is the Fitzwilliam Card Club still open?
- No. It closed in 2019 with the loss of 78 jobs, and the operator attributed the closure to the Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Act 2019. It is still listed as open by a number of directories.
Venue details, opening hours and the legal position on this page were checked against the operators' own material in August 2026. Casinos change hours, games and even addresses; confirm anything you are travelling for on the venue's own site before you go.