Mar del Plata's Casino Central opens 2025-2026 summer season

Casino Central in Mar del Plata will launch its 2025-2026 summer season on January 10 with the traditional first-ball ceremony, marking the official start of the high season at the Buenos Aires Province venue.

The Provincial Lottery and Casino Institute confirmed that its President, Gonzalo Atanasof, will attend the ceremony in the Casino Central gaming room. The property expects significant tourist and local traffic throughout the season.

Pre-ceremony activities will begin with live bands, DJ performances, wine tastings and product samplings from local distributors. The event will be simultaneously streamed to the gaming rooms at Hermitage Hotel and Hotel Sasso, allowing tables at those venues to participate using the same shared roulette outcome.

The first-ball ceremony is a decades-long tradition across Buenos Aires Province casinos. The season schedule began on January 4 in Miramar and continues in Tandil on January 6, Necochea and Sierra de la Ventana on January 8, Monte Hermoso on January 9, Mar del Plata on January 10 and Pinamar on January 11.

Casino Central operates year-round with extended summer hours from December through February. The venue features more than 630 slot machines and traditional table games including roulette, blackjack and poker, with peak-season daily attendance reaching up to 18,000 visitors.

The Buenos Aires gaming sector has reported stronger performance this season compared to the previous summer. According to Marcos Labrador, President of the Provincial Casino Workers Union, casino activity has remained solid despite lower tourist arrivals, driven by strategic scheduling that concentrates demand on weekends while weekdays show lighter traffic.

Opened on December 22, 1939, Casino Central was designed by architect Alejandro Bustillo as part of the Rambla Bristol urban complex, alongside the Gran Hotel Provincial, which was established to position Mar del Plata as an international tourism destination.