Casino da Póvoa (Póvoa Casino) is a casino located in Póvoa de Varzim, near Porto, in Portugal. Casino da Póvoa had 676 slot machines in 2005. In 2005, it reported the largest growth in profit in traditional games amongst the Portuguese casinos, by 49%.[1] In 2006, it kept its growth at a more modest pace, only suppressed by the opening effect of Casino Lisboa, with 53.825.372 euros of profit in 2006, it became the second largest casino, suppressing Espinho Casino, but with less than 20 thousand euros above Lisbon Casino. it was the third casino with most customers, after Estoril and Lisboa, with 1.2 million customers in 2006.
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Casino da Póvoa is owned by Varzim-Sol (its major shareholder is Estoril-Sol), a company majority-owned by Chinese gambling king Stanley Ho and Amorim group.
Póvoa de Varzim was a Northern Portugal's upper-class beach resort in the 19th century, before the popularization of sea baths and sun baths by the general population, and a prominent site for gambling, with seventeen casinos, frequently in the back-doors of cafés and pubs, the most famous of which was Café Chinês ("Chinese Café"), known in Portugal for its exotic decoration and Spanish dancers. Others were Café Suíço ("Swiss Café"), Café David ("David Café"), Café Universal ("Universal Café"), and Luso-Brasileiro ("Portuguese-Brazilian"). Camilo Castelo Branco recurrently visited Póvoa de Varzim to gamble.
The legalization of gambling in the city arrived in early 20th century, and the construction of Póvoa Casino started on February 28, 1930 when a European neo-classic building started being built. The casino opened the doors four years later and soon started to be seen as the biggest and most famous casino in northern Portugal. The hotel for the casino was built next to it, in Passeio Alegre Square.
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