Casino Lisboa, Portugal

Casino Lisboa is a casino located at Parque das Nações (Park of the Nations) in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It was inaugurated and opened to the public on April 19, 2006.The casino, at the time of opening, had around 700 slot machines (expandable to 1,000), 22 gaming tables, 4 bars, 3 restaurants and a theater seating 600.Casino Lisboa is owned by Estoril-Sol, a company majority-owned by Chinese gambling king Stanley Ho, with a minority shareholder with 33%, Amorim. Stanley Ho also owns the same-name Casino Lisboa in Macau. Amorim is a Portuguese conglomerate, with two other casino concessions in Portugal (Figueira da Foz and Tróia).The CEO of Estoril-Sol is Mário Assis Ferreira.ControversiesLocationThe casino has been plagued by controversy since it was green-lighted around 2001-2002 by Pedro Santana Lopes, the Lisbon Mayor. The casino was conceived as a way to fund the rebuilding of Parque Mayer, Lisbon's decadent theater district. The fact that it was to be the first casino in the country inside a major urban center (instead of a tourist area) stirred up many negative reactions claiming the casino would create gambling problems, as it would facilitate access of a younger population to games of chance by bringing the games closer to the people.The projected location within the city itself was publicly changed several times after "definitive" announcements by the Mayor. Withdrawn locations, in succession, were Parque Mayer itself (a project by Frank Gehry that was already underway was suspended), Cais do Sodré, Jardim do Tobacco, and Feira Popular, before finally settling on Parque das Nações.