Because smoking is allowed and ventilation is lacking, nearly all casinos have a heavy smell of smoke that will quickly permeate your hair, clothes, and lungs. While the minimum age for entry is 18, this rule is only loosely enforced. All big hotels on the High-Rise strip have a casino open to guests and nonguests alike. The Crystal Casino as well as the Seaport Casino in downtown Oranjestad are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The action goes on as long as there's a crowd, usually until 2, 3, or 4am. Bingo, another diversion, starts in the afternoon at some places, in the evening at others. Table games such as baccarat, blackjack, poker, roulette, and craps usually start in the afternoon or early evening slot machines can usually be played in the morning. Today, Aruba boasts a dozen gambling venues, most of them casually elegant. For many years after Aruba's first casino opened in 1959, gambling was the island's major attraction (next to the beaches, of course).
