THE 21st CENTURY CASINO
As you approach the A1006 leading into Nottingham, an elegant former Co-Op building greets you on the main approach, flanked by swanky hotels and new shopping centres. The neon lights and vague swirl of the logo imply a trendy bar or health club, but only on entering and seeing the blackjack tournament schedule pinned up do you realise you’re in a casino.
London Clubs International’s new Alea casino is part of a revolution in UK casinos. Where it was once tucked away from all curiosity, accessible only to a select few and treated with suspicion and a little trepidation by the populous, the casino has now truly come to the high street. So, is Britain the new Las Vegas, and how has life changed for the casino workers now filling the burgeoning terrestrial UK casino business?
Access All Aleas
Alea opened in October of last year, part of LCI’s plans to open a series of regional, high-class but accessible casinos. Manchester 235 is up and running, and new Aleas open soon in Leeds and Glasgow. Anyone who’s visited the flagship Casino at the Empire in London’s Leicester Square will find a familiar feel inside Alea. Funky kitsch design and quality bars and restaurants are as much a part of these new casinos as the gaming. In fact, they’re designed specifically for people to visit who might not be interested in gaming. Indeed, the restaurant at Alea Nottingham is the first thing you come to on entering the casino. You don’t even have to sign in to eat there.
Madeline Hall, Marketing Director at Alea, explains the philosophy:
“It’s about raising the game, raising the standards. We’re trying to bring what we’ve done successfully in London out to the provinces. Our competitors have got quite a long way to go before they catch up.
“People can walk in after work, go up to the bar, have a bite to eat, watch the football on a big screen, or some live entertainment–it’s not all about the gaming. The restaurant is right by the door, so they don’t have to sign in with membership cards to come and eat.
“Everybody’s welcome. It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing jeans, trainers, or suits, everybody can come in. We want people to feel like they can fit in with what we’re offering. With the décor, there’s a luxury feel, but it’s a comfortable feel, it’s casual and not off- putting.”
The key thing here is choice, it seems. There will always be the gritty, grimy joints like LCI’s Golden Nugget Casino–a delightful low-key touristy dive on Shaftesbury Avenue. Tacky and dirty, it’s a million miles away from the glossy endeavours of a new Alea.
With 24-hour drinking a reality in the UK now, casinos like Alea are competing with the late night crowds. Plus with the poker boom in full swing, the casino has opened up a room for poker games depending on demand from customers. Now, players who might not go into a casino to play blackjack or roulette can come in for a few hands of Hold‘em (although with Europe’s largest poker room, Dusk Till Dawn, opening its doors at the same time on the outskirts of Nottingham, poker in the traditional casinos here has taken something of a battering. Nearby, Gala Casino’s poker room has become a ghostly shell).
The Gambling Act reforms were meant to relax the gambling laws, but to the disappointment of the big casinos, they don’t go far enough.
“We’re allowed 20 slots, with a £4,000 maximum limit on those slots” says Madeline. “We were hoping for Las Vegas-style gaming. Perhaps we didn’t really think we’d get it that relaxed, but that was our aim. Going forward, we hope it’ll change, and we think it’ll relax in time.”
So, is the UK the new Vegas?
“In Las Vegas, they’ve obviously had years and years of having casinos as an accepted part of life. It’s socially acceptable and fun. Here, there’s still that stigma. People have the James Bond image of casinos or of smoky places full of East End gangsters.”
Madeline has been working in casinos for 22 years. Starting out as a dealer at the Golden Nugget, she moved to the Hilton Casino, then the Palm Beach, through jobs at head office, dealing on cruise ships, and back to LCI in her present role. But for the born and bred Londoner, coming to Nottingham has been a great move.
“You wouldn’t normally get this kind of opportunity. But it’s great for me. The cost of living here is cheaper than in London, I have a 10-minute commute into work, the Derbyshire Peak District is on our doorstep–how could I miss London?
“Nottingham gets a bad press from outsiders, but it doesn’t have any more problems than any other city. It’s a young city, it’s got a great vibe, and people here are really friendly,” adds Madeline. “There’s a university here, so it has a ‘studenty’ feel. It’s a really lively place to be.”
As part of the new customer service, and part of the ‘Americanisation’ of the UK’s casinos, is the upcoming introduction of reward cards. Players will soon be able to log wins and losses on their cards at the gaming tables, accrue points and use them for promotions, drinks and meals. It’s the next step in gambling in the UK–are casinos the new going out? Time will tell.
Pit Boss Advice
Ever thought of going into the casino business? We hooked up with a few of the various characters who work in LCI’s casinos for the insider’s view on working in the casino business.
Marco Zikic: Pit Boss
35 year-old Marco Zikic is a Pit Boss at the Alea. He’s been working in the business for 16 years, starting at the bottom as a trainee dealer and working his way up.
“I began in another casino in Nottingham, and moved abroad, working in mainland Greece for a couple of years in a similar role to the one that I have now,” says Marco. “Obviously it was a nice perk to have the weather and to see the world at the same time.”
Are there still the opportunities for working abroad?
“These days, on the ships, there are lots of people from other countries doing the same thing as the British croupiers. There are plenty of well-trained dealers abroad now–they don’t rely on British croupiers so much. Also, foreign staff are cheaper!”
On a day to day basis, Marco is responsible for running the gaming floor, ensuring that he meets customers’ needs, making sure enough tables are open, and if requested, opening a higher-stakes table. Then there are the usual day-to-day duties of handling croupiers, taking results from the tables.
“It’s basic accountancy for the gaming floor. We have to find out who’s up, who’s down, who are the big winners coming in, that kind of thing. Nowadays, my job includes a lot of customer service–handling any grievances that they might have for example, making sure everyone’s happy.”
Historically, the casino has always had the hierarchy of croupiers, pit bosses and casino managers, but this new emphasis on customer service is an obvious influence from the partnership with US gaming giant Harrah’s.
“Every day is different,” adds Marco. “Sometimes we can have a big winner in, or perhaps a cheat will be in who we have to weed out. There are a million and one things that can happen. I’ve seen people throw ashtrays and chips all over the tables. A lot less is tolerated these days of course, but I’ve seen a lot in my career. We have a great surveillance team and nothing happens without them seeing.”
Card counters and ‘cheats’ (depending on your point of view) have been a regular occurrence. “I’ve seen cheats more times than I care to remember,” says Marco. “It’s been known for some people we’ve caught to be prosecuted. You look at suspicious behaviour and some typical signs. Card counters are easy to spot–they might hit on strange numbers or bet erratically. You can’t always prove they’re counting, you just have to exclude them. There’s a central database of barred people. Not just cheats, but people who’ve been caught spitting, being offensive or abusive.”
Are the cheats easy to spot?
“With roulette you can spot them a mile away. It’s like looking at a picture. One moment everything’s normal, then something looks odd. The most common trick is pushing on or taking off column bets. It’s the area of the table that’s closest to the customer, so it’s easiest for them to manipulate the chips there. When the dealer’s looking at the wheel to check the winning number, the cheat will quickly take off losing chips or shift chips to the winning number. They’ll usually be picked up by Surveillance though.”
In his time working all over the world, Marco has seen all kinds of wins and losses. “I’ve seen someone win £150,000 or thereabouts, but they’ve put down a lot of money to win that. In London I saw gamblers lose a quarter of a million quite regularly.”
Pit Boss salaries £20,000–£26,000 (Midlands / South); £35,000 (London area).
Sonia: Croupier
Sonia is from the Czech Republic has been working in England for 5 years and is a relative newbie to the casino world. Originally moving to England to improve her English and teach, her first dealing job came at the Alea.
“I saw an advert for dealers. It was something new so I thought I’d give it a try,” says Sonia. “The training lasts 3 months. I was trained to deal blackjack, 3 card poker and roulette first of all. We learn how to count the chips quickly, work out the wins. You don’t have to be a maths genius, but a quick handle of numbers and arithmetic is important.
“Sometimes your mind goes blank and it’s hard to work out exactly what someone’s won, but there’s always a pit boss to sort out any problems. I work full-time hours which are based on 6-day stretches–4 nights on and 2 nights off. I start at 9pm till 7am, then 2 more days at 9.30pm-8.30am, then the last day will be an afternoon shift.
“The general day would consist of taking chips to and from the tables, recording the wins and losses for the casino, ensuring all the playing cards are at the blackjack and poker tables, plus the actual croupier duties.”
Any plans to progress to pit boss or casino manager level?
“I quite like the idea of working on a cruise ship–I just want to build up my experience, but I’d like to get promoted eventually. We’re still not allowed to accept tips from customers, but hopefully that’ll change! But the best part of the job is the hours–it’s nice to get a weekend off sometimes after a long working week!”
Croupier salary: Trainees start at £12,000 (Midlands/South); this can increase in London casinos and with experience.
Martyn Bruver: Group Security Executive
In most UK casinos, CCTV surveillance duties are carried out by the security department. Casino Security Officers are recruited from a variety of different backgrounds such as police, military or gaming and have to be licensed by the Gambling Commission.
Training varies from company to company and in addition to possessing a good knowledge of the games played in their casino, Casino Security Officers will also be trained in First Aid, Fire Procedures and Health and Safety.
The majority of CCTV systems in casinos record digitally and retrieving data is now easier and quicker than it was using video tape. Digital recorders also provide clearer images. One of the main advantages of the digital CCTV systems is that there are no longer any tape changes. In some casinos this could mean changing tapes every three hours for as many as 50 video recorders.
Most of the Security Managers in the industry were at one time Security Officers and staff turnover, especially in London, is low.
Most companies pay between £27,000 and £29,000 per annum for experienced security staff but starting salaries differ between companies and tend to depend upon experience.
The job can be varied and you can never tell when the next major incident will occur. This could be catching a casino cheat in the act or being patient and try to unearth a casino scam, which can sometimes take months.
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Posted by jackee – 20 May 2008, 4:18 AM
That does seem like a great place to be playing at thought I am sure the pricetag to walk in there is a little steep for my wallet right now. There is no doubt about this, the more you read and research on this place/places they have for sure raised the standards.