Crockfords (casino)

This article is about the casino. For the historic London Club, see Crockford's (club). For other uses, see Crockford.

Crockfords
Location London, W1
Closing dateOctober 2023
Casino typeLand-based
OwnerGenting Group
Websitewww.crockfords.com

Crockfords (also known as Crockfords Club or Crockfords Casino) was a casino in London located on Curzon Street.[1][2][3] The casino took its name from the former gentlemen's club in London called Crockford's. It closed permanently in October 2023.

History

The modern incarnation of Crockford's was founded in 1928 or 1929 as a bridge club, located at 21 Hertford Street.[4][5] It was founded by dissatisfied members of the Almack's bridge club, led by Colonel Henry Beasley and a Mrs. Bates.[4] The name was chosen after one of the founders read a news item about the original Crockford's club having been established 100 years earlier.[4][6]

The club moved to 16 Carlton House Terrace in 1934.[4][7]

UK gambling laws were loosened by the Betting and Gaming Act 1960, leading to Crockford's evolution into a casino, one of over 300 that opened in London in the following years.[8] Businessman Tim Holland raised £48,000 to buy Crockford's operating company in 1961 and introduced chemin-de-fer (a variety of baccarat) to the club.[5][9][10] By 1963, Crockford's claimed to be the biggest chemin-de-fer parlor in the world, with an annual handle of £25 million.[11]

In 1966, Crockford's was sold to Pakistani businessman Aziz Fancy.[12][13][14] Fancy then sold the club in 1968 to Gilbert Benaim and Joseph Khaida for $2.4 million.[15][16] Authorities denied the renewal of Crockford's gaming license due to undisclosed concerns about Benaim and Khaida, leading to the club's closure in 1970.[16][17][18] Maxwell Joseph then bought the shuttered club for £175,000 through his casino company, Curzon House Investments, with plans to reopen it.[19] Crockford's reopened in October 1972, by which time Curzon House Investments had been acquired by Coral.[20][21] At the time, the casino had seats for 400 gamblers, with games including roulette, blackjack, kaluki, craps, punto banco baccarat, stud poker, and backgammon.[22][23]

In 1981, Coral was facing possible cancellation of its gaming licenses, and sold Crockfords, along with other casinos, to Lonrho.[24][25]

Crockfords moved to its final location, 30 Curzon Street, in 1983.[26][27][28] The building was a Grade I listed historic town home built in 1771 for the Marquess of Bath.[29] Ladbrokes had renovated the building to serve as a casino, but the company's gaming licenses were revoked before it could open, so the leasehold was sold to Lonrho.[26][30][31]

Lonrho sold its casino division, including Crockfords, to leisure company Brent Walker in 1987.[32][33] Brent Walker bought the freehold interest in the building from Daejan Holdings in 1988 for £17.5 million.[34]

Brent Walker then sold the club for £50 million to a management buy-in team financed by Montagu Private Equity in 1989.[35][36][37] In 1993, Crockfords became publicly listed through a reverse merger with TV-am plc, a defunct TV production company, which became Crockfords PLC.[37][38][39] The company changed its name to Capital Corporation in 1995.[40][41] Capital Corporation was then acquired by Stanley Leisure in May 1999.[42][43]

In September 1999, Kerry Packer reportedly lost £11 million ($16.5 million) at Crockfords, overtaking the previous British record loss at the time of £8 million by Greek millionaire Frank Saracakis, which also occurred at Crockfords.[44]

Genting Group acquired Stanley Leisure, including Crockfords, in 2006.[45][46]

In 2012, poker player Phil Ivey, won £7.7 million after beating the casino in a session of punto banco baccarat, but was refused payment due to allegations of edge sorting. Ivey admitted to edge sorting, considering it a legitimate strategy and later sued the casino, but the court ruled in favor of Crockfords, stating Ivey was "cheating under civil law".[47] Ivey appealed this ruling, but lost his appeal in October 2017 in the UK Supreme Court.[48]

In October 2023, Crockfords closed permanently. Genting Group stated that "there are a combination of factors which have put high-end London casinos at a competitive disadvantage to other global market places and this has led to an unsustainable future for Crockfords in Mayfair".[49]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Evolution Launches Dedicated Live Casino Areas for Genting and Crockfords". Casino News Daily. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  2. ^ Anne Jolis (10 October 2014). "The house wins as Phil Ivey loses High Court battle against Crockfords casino". Coffee House. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  3. ^ William Norman Thompson; Michele Comeau (1992). Casino Customer Service: The Win Win Game. University of Nevada Press. pp. 61–. GGKEY:AC3LKWT974X.
  4. ^ a b c d Charles Graves (1964). Leather Armchairs: The Book of London Clubs. Coward-McCann. p. 161. Crockford's was resurrected as a club in 1928 and was given its name purely because one of the founder-members had noticed a paragraph in the London Evening Standard which was a reprint of a news item exactly a century before about the start of the original Crockford's.
  5. ^ a b Maurice Richardson (7 April 1963). "Round the clock at Crockford's". The Observer – via Newspapers.com. In 1929 the club was restarted by Colonel Beasley, and in 1934 moved to Carlton House Terrace. (Part 2 of article)
  6. ^ "100 Years Ago". Evening Standard. 27 January 1928 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "House-warming at Crockford's". The Daily Telegraph. 8 March 1934 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Joseph M. Kelly (Winter 1986). "British Gaming Act of 1968". NYLS Journal of International and Comparative Law. 8 (1): 33-103 [35]. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  9. ^ Roy Perrott (3 December 1961). "Crockford's takes on a casino air". The Observer. London – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Richard C. Wald (14 December 1961). "Big-time gambling comes to London as club opens". The Birmingham News. Herald Tribune News Service – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ John Crosby (1 May 1963). "High-stakes gaming with casual air". St. Louis Post-Dispatch – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Hard going for Santa Claus". The Guardian. London. 11 June 1966 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "£1M for Isle of Man hotel and casino". The Guardian. London. 7 June 1966 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Eddy Gilmore. "London idea: Gaming room for the young". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. AP – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "French buy casino in London". The Miami Herald. The London Express. 16 January 1968 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ a b "Crockford, famed London club, will lose its gambling license". The New York Times. 14 January 1970. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  17. ^ "New home problem for Crockford's bridge players". The Daily Telegraph. London. 1 April 1970 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Joseph M. Kelly (Winter 1986). "British Gaming Act of 1968". NYLS Journal of International and Comparative Law. 8 (1): 33-103 [50]. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  19. ^ "£175,000 deal may save Crockford's gambling". The Daily Telegraph. London. 5 May 1970 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Peter Harvey (10 October 1972). "Gaming club owner raises the roof". The Guardian. London – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Tom Lambert (22 October 1972). "Crockford's: A plush casino opens again". Los Angeles Times – via Newspapers.com. (Part 2 of article)
  22. ^ John Stevens (9 November 1972). "London gambles in Luxury". The Age. Melbourne – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Mary Blume (8 December 1974). "8 to 5 says there'll always be an England". The Los Angeles Times – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ David Simpson (10 January 1981). "Lonrho buys Coral casinos". The Guardian. London – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "McNee attacks 'backdoor route' to owning casinos". The Guardian. London. 18 February 1981 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ a b "Ladbroke cashes in on casinos". The Daily Telegraph. 10 July 1982 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Gaming Act 1986 (notice)". The Guardian. 16 February 1983 – via Newspapers.com. A license has been granted under the provisions of the Gaming Act 1968 for Crockford's Club, 30, Curzon Street, London W1Y 7AE
  28. ^ "Rowland moves into Playboy". Manchester Evening News. 2 November 1983 – via Newspapers.com. Lonrho is already making £10m a year from two gaming clubs in London — Crockford's round the corner in Curzon Street and the International Sporting Club...
  29. ^ Philip Mellor (28 June 1973). "Sold... for £2,720,000". Daily Mirror. London – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "Ladbrokes to appeal as court defeat sends shares tumbling". Leicester Mercury. 17 July 1979 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Lonrho bets on a better address". The Daily Telegraph. London. 16 January 1982 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ Mark Milner (30 June 1987). "Lonrho cashes in its chips". The Guardian. London – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ "Minister gives bids all-clear". Daily Post. Liverpool. 5 August 1987 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ "Brent Walker snaps up freehold". The Daily Telegraph. London. 20 December 1988 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ "Brent Walker agrees to £50m Crockford's buy-in". The Independent. London. 10 March 1989 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ "Garry's wheel of fortune spins full circle". Evening Standard. London. 2 May 1989 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ a b "Casino comes to market via TV-am". The Herald. Glasgow. 6 August 1993. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  38. ^ "Crockfords joins the game". The Independent. London. 2 September 1993 – via NewsBank.
  39. ^ Full group accounts made up to 31 December 1993 (Report). Crockfords PLC. 24 August 1994. pp. 2–3 – via Companies House.
  40. ^ "UK Company News: Crockfords". Financial Times. London. 2 May 1995 – via NewsBank.
  41. ^ Certificate of incorporation on change of name (Report). Capital Corporation PLC. 21 April 1995 – via Companies House.
  42. ^ Elizabeth Robinson (31 March 1999). "Capital recommends Stanley bid". Financial Times. London – via NewsBank.
  43. ^ Full group accounts made up to 30 April 2000 (Report). Stanley Leisure. 22 September 2000. p. 52 – via Companies House.
  44. ^ Nick Constable (10 May 2011). This Is Gambling. SMT Publishing. pp. 27–. ISBN 978-0-85712-445-6.
  45. ^ "Malaysia's Genting confirms takeover of UK's Stanley Leisure". Agence France-Presse. 9 October 2006 – via NewsBank.
  46. ^ Group of companies' accounts made up to 31 December 2006 (Report). Genting Stanley PLC. 28 July 2007 – via Companies House.
  47. ^ Brett Collson (8 October 2014). "Phil Ivey Loses £7.7 Million "Edge Sorting" Court Battle Against Crockfords Casino". PokerNews Global. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  48. ^ "Poker star loses £7.7m Supreme Court claim". BBC News. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  49. ^ Amy Houghton (27 October 2023). "After 195 years, Britain's oldest casino has closed in Mayfair". TimeOut. Retrieved 5 November 2023.

51°30′23″N 0°08′57″W / 51.5064°N 0.1491°W / 51.5064; -0.1491