Gambling in Vietnam for Tourists

Who can walk into a casino

If you are a foreign visitor, the door is open. Gambling is straightforward and legal for foreigners at any of the country's 9 licensed casinos, as long as you are old enough and hold the right documents¹. Until December 2017, casinos in Vietnam served only foreigners, and Vietnamese were not permitted to enter at all⁴. That history still shapes the scene today: most venues are built around foreign guests, from the resort settings to the games on the floor.

The age rules differ depending on who you are. Foreigners can enter casinos at 18, while Vietnamese citizens must be 21². Some venues and guides state a flat minimum of 21 years of age at the time of entry for everyone¹, so if you are a young traveler, it is worth checking the specific venue before you go. Corona Resort & Casino, for example, states 18 years with full civil capacity under Vietnamese law for foreign guests in its own terms⁵.

Documents are simple for foreigners. You need a valid passport or international travel document, and you must have entered Vietnam lawfully. You must also not be on any list of people barred from casinos⁶. Crucially, foreigners do not have to prove income: a valid passport with an entry stamp is enough⁷. Vietnamese citizens, by contrast, face a much longer checklist, which we cover under the pilot scheme below.

Overseas Vietnamese, often called Viet Kieu, sit in the foreign column as long as they hold a foreign passport. Most casinos in Vietnam serve foreigners and overseas Vietnamese with valid foreign passports⁸, and Viet Kieu with foreign passports may receive winnings and transfer or carry them abroad in foreign currency under Vietnam's foreign exchange rules⁹.

The licensed casinos and slot clubs

Vietnam currently has 9 licensed land-based casinos plus approximately 60 e-gaming clubs¹. The picture was smaller a decade ago: in 2015 the country had 43 slot machine venues and eight casinos, all meant only for foreigners¹⁰. The growth since then has come mostly in the form of large integrated resorts, and the government has also approved plans to install slot machines at airports, again for foreign passengers only¹⁰.

The e-gaming clubs, sometimes called slot clubs or electronic gaming rooms, are typically found inside 5-star hotels, and the rules there are the same as for the casinos: those games apply only to foreigners¹¹. If you are staying at a major hotel in Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, there is a fair chance a small gaming room with slot machines and electronic table games is on a lower floor, passport check at the door.

For a look at the full venue list and what each one offers, see our guide to casinos in Vietnam, and for the electronic gaming rooms specifically, our page on slot clubs in Vietnam. If you are curious about what has opened recently, our new casino resorts in Vietnam page tracks the latest projects.

No entry fee for foreign visitors

This one is simple: foreigners pay no entry fee at any casino in Vietnam¹. You walk up, show your passport, and walk in. Corona Resort & Casino states it plainly in its rules: no purchase of entry tickets is required for foreign guests¹², and its visitor guide confirms there is no mandatory entrance fee for foreigners¹³.

The entry ticket system exists, but it applies only to Vietnamese citizens playing under the pilot scheme. They pay VND 1,000,000 per 24 continuous hours or VND 25,000,000 per month⁹. As a foreign visitor, you are not in that group and never pay it⁶.

Corona Resort & Casino Phu Quoc

Corona Resort & Casino on Phu Quoc Island holds a special place in Vietnamese gambling. It is the first and, for most of its life, the only casino where Vietnamese citizens could legally play³. It is also the only licensed casino on Phu Quoc permitted to serve both international guests and Vietnamese¹⁴, and it claims the largest casino floor in the country¹⁵.

The venue made history twice. It was the first international-standard casino in Vietnam to allow Vietnamese to play legally when the pilot scheme began, and it was the first venue to welcome Vietnamese customers again from November 26, 2025, under Resolution 08/2025/NQ-CP¹⁶. For foreign visitors, nothing about the local scheme changes the experience: you enter free, with just your passport, and play alongside whoever else is on the floor.

Phu Quoc itself is a beach island off the south coast, and the casino is part of a larger resort complex with a water park and entertainment areas, which makes it one of the few Vietnamese casinos you can visit as part of a family holiday. For the full picture, see our dedicated page on Corona Casino Phu Quoc.

The Grand Ho Tram and other foreigner-focused resorts

The Grand Ho Tram, on the coast about two hours from Ho Chi Minh City, is Vietnam's first international gaming facility and one of the largest casinos in the country, mainly serving foreign customers¹⁷. Its address is Ho Tram Hamlet, Ho Tram Commune, in the area formerly part of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, now administered under Ho Chi Minh City¹⁸.

The casino is available to both international guests and foreign residents living in Vietnam¹⁷, which makes it the natural choice for expats based in or near the city. Like Corona, it has been included in the Government's expanded five-year pilot program allowing eligible Vietnamese citizens to participate in regulated gaming activities¹⁷, and it runs government-mandated entry controls, responsible gaming programs, and on-site Responsible Gaming Information Centers as part of that framework¹⁷.

Other foreigner-focused resorts include Hoiana in central Vietnam, near Hoi An, which runs games like sic bo alongside its golf course, and the smaller hotel gaming rooms in the big cities. For details on the biggest of them, see our page on The Grand Ho Tram and Hoiana Casino.

Ha Tien Vegas: the casino across the border

There is one more venue worth knowing about, and it is technically not in Vietnam at all. Ha Tien Vegas Entertainment Resort is located in Prek Chak, Kampot Province, Cambodia, right next to the Prek Chak International Border Crossing with Vietnam¹⁹. It sits near the Vietnam-Cambodia border, making it a natural destination for players from both countries²⁰.

The casino serves only foreign passport holders, and staff may request your passport and visa according to Cambodia's gambling regulations²¹. In practice, this means Vietnamese citizens crossing the border with a valid passport can play there, since Cambodia allows foreigners and tourists to gamble at its regulated gaming venues. Visitors come from Ha Tien, Kien Giang, Can Tho, and Cambodia itself²².

The floor focuses on the games popular with border traffic: baccarat is the headline game, with dedicated guides and VIP perks for regular players²⁰, and dragon tiger, one of Asia's most popular card games, is dealt for beginners and high rollers alike²². If you are in the far south of Vietnam, this is often the closest full casino.

The pilot scheme for Vietnamese locals

The story of Vietnamese citizens in casinos began in 2017, when the government allowed locals to gamble at two locations, the first in Van Don in Quang Ninh Province and the other on Phu Quoc Island, as part of a three-year pilot scheme²³. From December 1, 2017, Vietnamese who could show a minimum income of VND 10 million (about US$440) per month became eligible to gamble²⁴.

The pilot was extended, running until December 31, 2024 for the first licensed casino business, after which venues had to stop admitting Vietnamese citizens until the government decided whether to continue³. The answer came on November 26, 2025, when a government resolution allowed eligible Vietnamese citizens to enter casinos at the Phu Quoc, Ho Tram, and Van Don projects²⁵. The Ho Tram and Van Don projects run for five years from that date, or from the date their certificate of eligibility is issued²⁵.

The conditions for Vietnamese players are strict. You must meet the age and civil capacity requirements described earlier, with full civil capacity under Vietnamese law²⁶. You must not be subject to a request from family members to bar you from gambling²⁶. You must buy the entry ticket, VND 1,000,000 per 24 hours or VND 25,000,000 per month⁹. And from January 1, 2025, old paper ID cards are no longer accepted: you need a passport, a citizen identity card, or one of the current valid ID documents²⁷. At Corona, Vietnamese players register for membership at the reception desk with their age and income documents²⁸.

Playing online from Vietnam

Here the picture changes. No online casino is licensed in Vietnam, and playing on offshore sites is treated as illegal gambling²⁷. Vietnam prohibits most forms of gambling, with limited exceptions such as state-run lotteries and licensed casinos for eligible patrons²⁹. That applies to everyone in the country, tourists and expats included, so the practical risk of playing online from Vietnamese soil is real, whatever the site itself claims.

That said, offshore online casinos do accept players based in Vietnam. They offer the full range of games, including slots, instant-win and scratchcard games, table games, and live dealer tables³⁰. The details of what these sites carry fall into a few clear categories.

These sites are typically licensed by regulators such as the UK Gambling Commission, the Curacao and Gibraltar Gaming Commissions, or the Malta Gaming Authority³⁰, none of which changes their status under Vietnamese law.

For a fuller discussion of the landscape, see our page on online gambling in Vietnam.

Money and winnings

Foreigners and overseas Vietnamese with foreign passports may receive winnings and transfer or carry winnings abroad in foreign currency under Vietnam's foreign exchange rules⁹. In practice, you cash out at the cage and can take the money out of the country or wire it home.

Vietnamese citizens playing under the pilot scheme work in the opposite direction: they may only use Vietnamese dong to exchange for chips or convention currency at the casino, and exchange back any unspent amount or winnings when they leave²⁶. For the tax side of things, see our page on tax on gambling winnings in Vietnam, and for how deposits and withdrawals work at the venues, our guide to gambling payments in Vietnam.

Beyond the casino

Casinos are not the whole story. The state-run lottery is legal and open to everyone, and you can read about the Vietnam lottery and its main games, including Mega 6/45 and Power 6/55 and Vietlott Keno, on their own pages.

Sports betting and racing have their own framework. A 2017 decree opened the way for betting on horse and dog racing, with the same minimum age as the casino floor³¹. Our pages on sports betting in Vietnam, horse racing in Vietnam, and esports betting in Vietnam cover what is actually available.

Poker sits in a gray zone, with unlicensed games periodically busted by police in Ho Chi Minh City⁴. Card games are central to Vietnamese social life, though, and games like tien len, xi dach, and bau cua tom ca have long histories and their own pages on this site.

A first visit, step by step

Here is how a first casino visit in Vietnam typically goes:

1. Bring your passport. It is the only document a foreign visitor needs, and the door staff will check it against your entry stamp⁶.
2. Skip the ticket counter. Foreigners pay no entry fee, so there is nothing to buy on the way in¹².
3. Expect a security check. Resorts screen bags at the entrance the same way hotels do.
4. Exchange money at the cage. Buy chips with foreign currency or dong at the cashier desk inside.
5. Pick your game. Baccarat dominates the floors, with sic bo, dragon tiger, roulette, and blackjack alongside slots². Our baccarat in Vietnam and casino table games in Vietnam pages explain the rules.
6. Cash out before you leave. Winnings can be received and carried abroad in foreign currency⁹.

If you are a Vietnamese citizen or a Viet Kieu on a Vietnamese passport, the process is different: register for membership at the reception desk with your ID and income documents, buy the entry ticket, and expect the checks described under the pilot scheme above²⁸.