Entertainment City Manila Casinos

City of Dreams Manila and the other venues on the bay

Entertainment City is a stretch of reclaimed bayfront in Parañaque City, Metro Manila, built as a cluster of large integrated resorts. The casinos sit along Asean Avenue and Roxas Boulevard in Tambo, Parañaque⁹. If you are coming from the airport, Okada Manila is about 5 km from Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which makes the district one of the easiest casino areas in Asia to reach straight off a flight².

The best-known property is City of Dreams Manila. It is a 6.2 hectare luxury integrated resort at the gateway of Entertainment City, part of the wider Aseana City township development, with the Ayala Malls Manila Bay shopping center across the road⁸. The resort has six hotel towers under three brands, Nüwa Manila, Nobu Hotel Manila and Hyatt Regency Manila, plus the DreamPlay family entertainment center, a bar with live nightly performances, restaurants and bars, and multi-level parking¹¹. Its gaming floor is set up as an aggregated space for both VIP and mass-market play, and there is a separate VIP area¹².

Solaire Resort Entertainment City is the other long-established name on the bay, describing itself as Manila's premier five-star integrated resort³. Okada Manila sits inside Entertainment City as well, and its own directions page treats the district as the landmark to navigate by².

A few practical points about the district:

• The casinos are spread across one bayfront area, so you can move between them by car or shuttle rather than walking long distances.
• City of Dreams Manila is the one with the most non-gaming attractions, including the family entertainment center and the live music bar¹¹.
• Each property runs its own hotel, restaurants and gaming floor, so entry rules and dress codes are set per venue within the regulator's framework.

There is also a Waterfront Manila Hotel & Casino, which lists itself as coming soon rather than open¹⁴. If you are planning a trip around it, treat it as not yet operating.

For a wider look at how Manila's resorts compare with other Asian casino cities, see Macau, Singapore, Manila, Genting and More: Asia's Casino Destinations Compared.

Legal for residents: who can play

This is the question most people get wrong. For years, the rule for PAGCOR casinos was that only tourists and foreigners who were not Philippine residents, plus residents with a net income for the previous year of at least P50,000 certified by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, could play⁵. That restriction shaped who you saw on a Manila casino floor.

Entertainment City was set up differently. When the project was announced, it was reported that local players would be allowed to play in Entertainment City, opening the floors to Filipino residents⁴. So if you live in the Philippines, you can play at these casinos. Foreign visitors can play too, and foreign nationals have long been allowed into Philippine casinos⁹.

Age and status rules still apply, and they are enforced at the door. The minimum age is 21, and students of any school, college or university in the Philippines are not allowed to enter, stay or play⁶. The following groups are also barred from gaming areas:

• Government officials directly connected with the operation of the government or its agencies⁶
• Members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, or the Philippine National Police⁶
• Anyone listed in the National Database of Restricted Persons⁶
• People a licensee has registered as restricted access¹⁷
• Financiers or loan sharks⁶

Gaming employee license holders are a special case. They may enter a casino but cannot loiter, linger or play¹⁷. If you work in the industry, that is the line to remember.

One more thing worth knowing if you gamble online. Players in the Philippines cannot join local online casino sites, though they are allowed to use offshore-based casinos¹⁸. That is a separate world from the physical floors in Entertainment City, and the rules do not carry across.

If you want the full national picture, including what is legal outside the casino districts, see Can I Gamble in the Philippines?.

Opening timeline and what was expected

Entertainment City was announced as a project expected to start operations in 2016⁴. In practice, the district came together earlier than that headline date. City of Dreams Manila opened in early 2015, and the resort has been operating since then as the anchor of the bayfront cluster.

The district has also had interruptions. City of Dreams Manila temporarily closed all of its casino operations effective March 15, 2020, along with its hotel and restaurants¹⁹. That closure is a reminder that these venues can shut at short notice, so it is worth checking before you travel if you are making a special trip.

On the regulatory side, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, PAGCOR, is the state regulator for gaming in the Philippines and licenses the operators²⁰. PAGCOR also sets the entry rules that casinos must enforce, including the list of people who cannot be allowed in⁷.

As for what was expected: the original plan was for Entertainment City to become a multi-resort gaming and entertainment district on the bay, and that is broadly what it became, with City of Dreams Manila, Solaire and Okada Manila as the recognizable names. The Waterfront Manila Hotel & Casino is still listed as coming soon, so the district is not fully built out¹⁴.

What to expect when you visit

The practical details matter more than the marketing. Here is what a first visit looks like.

Getting there. The district is on the Manila Bay shoreline in Parañaque. Okada Manila is about 5 km from the airport². City of Dreams Manila is at Aseana Avenue corner Roxas Boulevard, Entertainment City, Parañaque 1701, Metro Manila²¹. Taxis and ride-hailing apps are the usual way in, and the resorts have parking on site¹¹.

At the door. Expect an ID check. The minimum age is 21, and the barred groups listed above are turned away⁶. If you are a student, bring nothing that suggests you are there for a class trip, because students are not admitted at all⁶.

What to wear. City of Dreams Manila's gaming area dress code is smart casual, and its restaurants run from casual to smart casual⁸. The door rules are specific: men in sleeveless shirts, and guests wearing shorts, slippers, hats, caps, hoodies, sunglasses, masks, veils or anything that conceals facial features, may not enter the casino⁸. If you are coming from a day at the mall in shorts and flip-flops, plan to change first. For a fuller picture of what gets refused across the region, see Casino Dress Codes in Asia: Shorts, Sandals and What Gets Refused.

What you can play. City of Dreams Manila runs both mass-market and VIP gaming, with slot play including grand jackpots, and a dedicated VIP area¹². If you want to know how the table games work before you sit down, the site's guides cover Baccarat Rules: How Punto Banco Works, the Third-Card Rule and Payouts and Sic Bo Rules: Big, Small, Triples and Payouts.

Money. Chips and cashier procedures vary by property. For the general mechanics of buying in and cashing out in the region, see Buying and Cashing Chips: Casino Cages, Currencies and Chip Rules in Asia.

If you need help. City of Dreams Manila publishes responsible gaming information, including the exclusion rules and restricted-person categories⁶. If you want to set limits or ask about self-exclusion, the property's responsible gaming page is the place to start, and the wider region's tools are covered in Responsible Gambling Desks, Visit Limits and Spend Tools Inside Asian Casinos.

A quick reference for the main venues: