Casino at Genting Highlands

What is at Genting Highlands

Genting Highlands is a hill resort about an hour from Kuala Lumpur, and it holds a position no other place in Malaysia does: it is the site of the country's only licensed land-based casino. Resorts World Genting operates under a specific license and is the only legal casino in the country⁶. The same operator, Genting Malaysia Berhad, is the only licensed casino gaming services operator in Malaysia⁵.

That single-venue fact shapes everything else. If you want to play table games or slots legally on Malaysian soil, this is the only address. Legal poker is restricted to this mountain resort as well¹. There is no second licensed casino anywhere else in the country, and no plan in the facts for one.

The resort itself is large. It has three casinos in Genting Highlands, and the newest of them, SkyCasino, opened in 2017⁴. SkyCasino sits in the SkyAvenue mall, near the Genting Rewards counters and Skytropolis⁷. If you have been to the resort before and remember a particular floor or entrance, the layout may have changed since the 2024 closures.

Who can go in

The casino is for non-Muslims. For Malaysian citizens, that rule is stated directly: you must be a non-Muslim to enter². The same non-Muslim condition is how the venue is described in operator guidance, which notes that non-Muslims can bet at the land-based casino known as Casino De Genting⁸.

For visitors from outside Malaysia, the practical position is the same: the casino is open to non-Muslims, and there is no separate tourist-only rule at Genting the way there is at some casinos elsewhere in Asia. That is worth knowing because Malaysia's casino is unusual in the region for being open to locals at all. Several Asian jurisdictions restrict their casinos to foreign passport holders, but Genting does not work that way.

One more thing applies to everyone, local or visitor. Resorts World Genting runs a self-exclusion scheme, and a self-exclusion request at Genting Highlands Malaysia casinos is permanent. If you want it revoked, you can only ask after six months, and the request is subject to review and approval by Resorts World Genting⁹. That is a serious step, not a temporary timeout, so treat it as such before you sign anything.

What closed, and when

Two of the resort's three casinos shut with effect from February 28, 2024. Genting Casino 1 (Circus Palace) and Genting Casino 2 (Hollywood) were both closed effective that date³. The same closure was reported as taking effect from February 28, with both venues named⁴.

The reason given was upgrades. The operator described the closure of two of its three casinos in Genting Highlands as temporary and done to upgrade its facilities³. In its own statement, the company framed it as an ongoing effort to improve operational efficiency and enhance the gaming and entertainment experience for guests⁴.

What the operator did not say is when the shuttered casinos will reopen. The statement did not indicate a reopening date⁴. As of the last check, that position had not changed. If you are planning a trip around a specific casino floor, assume the two older venues are still out of action and plan around what is open.

The operator's response to the closure reports

When the closures were reported, the operator pushed back on how they were described. It issued a clarification referring to recent media articles about the closure of Genting Casino, and said its gaming operations continued to operate as usual¹⁰. The same notice said the company was temporarily closing certain sections of its casino to facilitate improvements and facility upgrades¹⁰.

So there are two things being said at once, and both matter to a visitor. Gaming operations continued as usual, and certain sections were closed for upgrades¹⁰. If you read a headline saying the Genting casino had closed, that was not the full picture. The resort's position is that the casino as a whole did not shut, while specific areas did.

The practical takeaway: check before you travel if a particular room or game is the reason for your trip. The resort has not published a reopening date for the two closed casinos, and the clarification did not add one.

The 2021 closure and how it was verified

There is an earlier closure that people still ask about. In May 2021 the casino at Genting Highlands was confirmed fully closed, and the closure was verified by a police inspection at about 11 pm¹¹. A closure order had been issued to Genting management on the previous Friday, after authorities were informed that operations were still running¹¹.

The operator complied with the closure order it was given¹¹. That is the sequence: order issued, operator complied, police inspected and confirmed the shutdown. If you are trying to work out whether a reported closure actually happened, that is the pattern to look for, an official order, the operator's response, and an independent check on the ground.

That 2021 episode is separate from the 2024 closures. The 2021 closure was an enforcement action tied to a national shutdown. The 2024 closures were the operator's own decision, described as temporary and for upgrades³. Do not mix the two up when you read older coverage.

What you can play

The casino at Genting Highlands is a full land-based casino, not a slots-only hall. Baccarat is a mainstay, and the resort has run large baccarat tournaments². Table games, electronic games and slots are all part of the offer at a venue of this size.

If you are new to the games, the mechanics are the same as anywhere else in Asia. Baccarat is the game most tables are built around, and it is worth understanding the third-card rule before you sit down. Our guide to baccarat rules walks through how Punto Banco works and what the payouts are, and there is a separate page on baccarat variants if you want to know how no-commission and squeeze tables differ.

Beyond baccarat, the usual Asian casino mix applies:

• Blackjack and pontoon rules cover doubling, splitting and insurance as they are played in the region.
• Sic Bo rules explain big, small and triples.
• Dragon Tiger rules cover the fast two-card game.

If you want the wider picture of what each jurisdiction permits, which casino games are allowed in each Asian jurisdiction sets it out.

For the games that are more specific to this part of the world, Fan Tan, Pai Gow, Niu Niu and other Asian table games is the place to start. And if you care about how much the house keeps on each game, house edge of casino games compared puts baccarat, blackjack, roulette, Sic Bo and slots side by side.

Slots players are covered too. Slot machines in Asian casinos explains denominations, jackpots and return to player, and electronic table games and slot halls covers stadium gaming and the machine-based versions of the table games.

Before you go

A few practical points are worth settling before you make the trip up the mountain.

What to bring. Your passport or national ID, since entry is controlled and the non-Muslim rule is enforced at the door². Carry cash or a card for chips; the resort has a cashier and cage system like any large casino, and our page on buying and cashing chips explains how cages, currencies and chip rules work across Asia.

What to wear. Genting is a hill resort and it is cooler up there than in Kuala Lumpur, but the casino still has a dress code. Casino dress codes in Asia covers what gets refused, including shorts and sandals.

Your phone. Photography and phone use inside the gaming floor are restricted in most Asian casinos. Can you take photos or use your phone in a casino? sets out the rules across the region.

Smoking. If you smoke, check the current position before you sit down. Smoking in casinos in Asia covers bans, smoking rooms and lounges.

Opening hours. Casinos in the region are not uniformly 24 hours, and closures for maintenance or events happen. Are Asian casinos open 24 hours? explains the pattern, and our page on closed casinos in Asia tracks venues shut by regulators, licenses or operators, which is where the Genting closures sit.

Getting there and getting around. The resort runs transport and there are cable car options up the mountain. Free casino shuttle buses and transport in Asia covers how these usually work.

Rewards and comps. If you play regularly, the Genting Rewards program has tiers and points. Casino rewards cards in Asia explains how tiers, points and member benefits work, and casino comps covers free drinks, food and rooms.

Table limits. Minimums at a resort like this vary by pit and by time of day. Casino table minimums and maximum bets in Asia gives the range to expect.

If you want to compare. Genting is often weighed against Singapore's resort. Genting Highlands vs Resorts World Sentosa sets the two side by side, and Macau, Singapore, Manila, Genting and more: Asia's casino destinations compared puts the whole region in one view.

Who owns what

Genting Malaysia Berhad owns and operates major properties in several countries¹².

That matters for one practical reason. If you are looking for a Genting casino outside Malaysia, the group runs them, but the rules are different in each country. The Malaysian license covers the Malaysian venue only. Within Malaysia, the company's casino operation is the single licensed one at Genting Highlands⁵.

The group's history in Malaysia goes back a long way. Genting built Malaysia's only licensed casino, and that fact has been reported since at least 2007¹³. The license position has not changed since: one operator, one licensed land-based casino, one location.

What is not allowed

Playing on offshore casino websites is illegal in Malaysia, and the legal position is that only the licensed land-based venue may offer casino gaming⁵. If you are in Malaysia and thinking about an online casino, the safe assumption is that it is not legal, whatever the site says about itself.