First UK Supercasino Opens in London

The largest casino in the UK opened on Thursday, creating both excitement and apprehension in London. The Aspers casino, which is located at Westfield Stratford City, officially opened for business just after noon local time on December 1.

The casino is the first so called “supercasino” in the UK, a classification of gambling facility that was first allowed thanks to the 2005 Gambling Act. The facility will be open 24 hours a day, and features 40 table games, a 150-seat poker room, and 150 slot machines along with restaurants and bars.

The casino is located inside the largest shopping center in Europe, putting it in a prime location for casual gambling – exactly the type of play casino operators are looking to attract.

"We call what we do 'entertainment betting', rather than particularly aiming for high-stakes, professional betting,” said COO Richard Noble. “We class this as a space for fun entertainment, that's all."

Of course, Aspers won’t be turning away big spenders, and a report in the Guardian suggested that some of the 120 players who lined up to be the first ones in brought more than a few pounds with them to take advantage of the casino’s first day. However, the casino expects the average stake to be somewhere in the range of £15-20 per person.

However, while the location and the philosophy of the casino are likely to limit the amount of problem gambling caused by the Aspers, the facility has still been a great source of controversy. When the license for the casino was first awarded in 2007, anti-casino campaigners argued that it would increase gambling habits mostly among those living in Stratford, a very poor area of London. In addition, while the casino might attract people to the area – a boon to local businesses – that factor would be minimized by the location of the casino. Since the casino was inside a large shopping mall, and ext to the Olympic park, the area was already a popular spot for visitors, and it was unclear how much the casino would increase traffic there.

Overall, though, impressions of the new casino were generally positive, with most reactions quoted in the Guardian citing the ability to stop in for a small bet while shopping and the beautiful aesthetics as popular features of the Aspers.