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World's biggest casinos
But now with the economic upturn, casinos are back in business, especially in Macau, the former Portuguese colony on the south China coast, which was hit hard by the financial crisis.
Thanks largely to Chinese gamblers, Macau, home to the world's biggest casino palace, is again witnessing the glitz, the glamour and, of course, non-stop gambling.
But Macau is not the only place where casinos are minting money.
Here is a look at the 20 biggest casinos in the world.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 546,000
Gaming machines: 3,000
Table and poker games: 870
Restaurants and bars: 24
Hotel rooms: 3,000
The Venetian Macau-Resort-Hotel is a gambling paradise throughout the world.
Run by Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands, the Venetian was the first giant casino to open on Macau's Cotai Strip, an area of reclaimed land offshore from downtown Macau.
It not only has all the luxuries, but also an odd combination of amenities and attractions, such as Cirque du Soleil's Zaia show.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 420,000
Gaming machines: 1,350
Table and poker games: 520
Restaurants and bars: 14
Hotel rooms: 1,400
City of Dreams is a $2.1 billion gamble by Melco Crown Entertainment's Lawrence Ho and Australian billionaire James Packer.
The resort, located across the street from the Venetian on the Cotai Strip, went through a tough time after gaming revenues were affected by the global economic crisis.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 340,000
Gaming machines: 7,000
Table and poker games: 400
Restaurants and bars: 29
Hotel rooms: 824
Given Las Vegas' reputation as America's favourite playground, it is somewhat surprising that the gambling hub does not have the biggest casino in the US.
That honour goes to Foxwoods, a complex of six casinos with 17 different types of table games, including 100 for poker.
Opened in 1986 in Connecticut, it is managed by the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe, and benefits due its close proximity to New York and Boston.
In addition to its casino, Foxwoods has one of the world's largest bingo halls.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 270,000
Gaming machines: 320
Table and poker games: 150
Restaurants and bars: 3
Hotel rooms: 423
The Ponte 16 is an integrated casino and entertainment resort built along the Inner Harbor of Macau, in the older part of the city.
Close to some of Macau's traditional colonial buildings, the resort draws inspiration from the former Portuguese enclave's unique East-West cultural pluralism.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 266,330
Gaming machines: 257
Table and poker games: 12
Restaurants and bars: 2
Hotel rooms: 70
The largest casino in the Southern Hemisphere, the Tusk Rio was inspired by the passion, vibe and colour of the Carnival in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro.
The casino is located a few hours from Johannesburg and is among the most popular casinos in South Africa.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 221,952
Gaming machines: 835
Table and poker games: 410
Restaurants and bars: 12
Hotel rooms: 593
This 35-storey casino resort officially opened in 2007 and is owned and operated as a joint venture between MGM Mirage and Pansy Ho Chiu-King, daughter of local casino mogul Stanley Ho.
The resort is located near some of the elder Ho's casinos on the Macau peninsula and plans further expansion.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 229,000
Gaming machines: 750
Table and poker games: 1,000
Restaurants and bars: 7
Hotel rooms: 51
Before Sheldon Adelson opened his giant Venetian hotel and casino on the Cotai Strip, Las Vegas Sands made its first foray into China's gambling hub with the Sands Macau.
The hotel, located in peninsular Macau, was designed by the Paul Steelman Design Group and opened in 2004.
Today, it is a day-trip destination for thousands of visitors, mainly from mainland China and Hong Kong.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 170,000
Gaming machines: 2,300
Table and poker games: 178
Restaurants and bars: 20
Hotel rooms: 5,044
This luxury hotel first opened in 1993 as a Hollywood themed resort and is one of the largest hotels in the world.
Operated by publicly traded MGM Mirage, this 30-floor, 293-foot-high complex has five outdoor pools, rivers and waterfalls.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 165,000
Gaming machines: 1,000
Table and poker games: 26
Restaurants and bars: 7
Hotel rooms: 1,000
Located at Lisbon's Park Of The Nations, Casino Lisboa is a major landmark in Portugal's capital city and the largest casino in Europe.
The Lisboa, which opened to the public in 2006, is owned by Estoril-Sol, whose major stakeholder is Hong Kong-based gambling mogul Stanley Ho, who also operates a Lisboa in Macau.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 161,000
Gaming machines: 4,100
Table and poker games: 285
Restaurants and bars: 17
Hotel rooms: 2,002
It may be called "little village"- as its name means in Italian- but the Borgata is anything but small.
The $1.1 billion hotel, casino, and spa is the largest resort in Atlantic City.
This mammoth gambling centre opened in 2003 and is owned by Marina District Development Corp, a subsidiary of Boyd Gaming, which operates casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas as well as Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana and Mississippi.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 155,000
Gaming machines: 2,449
Table and poker games: 207
Restaurants and bars: 20
Hotel rooms: 3,933
Located on the Las Vegas Strip and a member of the Leading Hotels of the World, the Bellagio is a luxury hotel and casino owned by MGM Mirage.
Opened in 1995, the Bellagio is inspired by the Lake Como resort of the same name in Italy.
In addition to its casino, it has more than 200,000 square feet of meeting and convention facilities.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 145,100
Gaming machines: 3,027
Table and poker games: 163
Restaurants and bars: 11
Hotel rooms: 1,140
Caesars Atlantic City is the East Coast flagship of Harrah's Entertainment, which acquired Caesars Entertainment, parent of famed Las Vegas casino-hotel Caesars Palace as well as Caesars Atlantic City, in 2005.
Harrah's now operates or manages casino resorts on four continents.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 140,000
Gaming machines: 500
Table and poker games: 284
Restaurants and bars: 7
Hotel rooms: 507
It may not be one of the larger resorts in Macau, but the Starworld doesn't disappoint.
The resort provides dazzling decor and superior services for its guests, which in part made it win the five-Star Diamond Award granted by the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences in 2008.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 120,000
Gaming info: 3,086
Table and poker games: 309
Restaurants and bars: 18
Hotel rooms: 4,027
The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino, owned by Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands, offers States-side tourists the chance to ride gondolas on a quarter-mile recreation of the city's Grand Canal.
The hotel boasts more than 4,000 suites, an 85,000-square-foot ballroom and 19 restaurants.
It has a Madame Tussaud's wax museum and its theatre is the Vegas home of the Blue Man Group.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 120,000
Gaming machines: 1,245
Table and poker games: 104
Restaurants and bars: 18
Hotel rooms: 2,500
Known as The Rio, this casino is located off the Las Vegas Strip in the unincorporated area of Paradise, Nevada.
It made a splash in 2008 by teaming up with a local gentlemen's club to open what the Rio called a "European style" topless pool.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 110,000
Gaming machines: 1,900
Table and poker games: 167
Restaurants and bars: 22
Hotel rooms: 2,716
This $2.7 billion resort is the flagship property of billionaire Steve Wynn's Wynn Resorts.
It features an 18-hole golf course (co-designed by Wynn himself) complete with a 37-foot waterfall next to the final hole.
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Square feet: 100,000
Gaming machines: 1,270
Table and poker games: 390
Restaurants and bars: 6
Hotel rooms: 600
Following the decision by the local government to end the long-time monopoly of local tycoon Stanley Ho, Steve Wynn was the first to open a Vegas-style resort in the Chinese city.
His Wynn Macau, opened in 2006, features a sound-and-light show on a "Performance Lake" containing 800,000 gallons of water.
Armani, Boss and Chanel are among the designers with shops in the Wynn's arcade.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 100,000
Gaming machines: 2,500
Table and poker games: 95
Restaurants and bars: 8
Hotel rooms: 942
This casino and spa complex was the first to open in Atlantic City after New Jersey legalized casino gambling in 1978.
However, Resorts has suffered from the economic downturn as well as from competition from other casinos.
In 2010, the hotel's owner, Colony Capital, asked the state to approve the transfer of its stake to its lenders, including Credit Suisse.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 91,181
Gaming machines: 2,137
Table and poker games: 105
Restaurants and bars: 12
Hotel rooms: 728
This Donald Trump-branded casino-hotel designed by architect Martin Stern opened in 1984, but Donald lost control of it in 2005 when it emerged from a second stint in Chapter 11.
Trump and his daughter Ivanka are now trying to retake control of the Plaza and two other Atlantic City hotels, vowing to pour money into an effort to spiff them up.
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World's biggest casinos
Square feet: 86,600
Gaming machines: 2,100
Table and poker games: 59
Restaurants and bars: 9
Hotel rooms: 711
Located one mile west of the Las Vegas Strip, this casino is owned and operated by Boyd Gaming, which also operates the Borgata in Atlantic City, among many other casinos.
The Gold Coast was built in 1986 and had a major upgrade in 2002 that added more restaurants, gaming machines and tables and parking spots.