London’s The Vic casino reopens after £15m refurb
Grosvenor Casinos has taken advantage of new UK rules allowing more gaming machines at land-based casinos.
UK.- The landmark London casino The Vic has fully reopened follwing a £15m refurbishment. The flagship venue of Rank Group’s Grosvenor Casinos brand had closed some areas during renovations, which included work on the venue’s two casino floors, gaming terrace and poker room.
The revamp was partly due to a change in the regulations for land-based casinos, which include a more relaxed machine-to-table games ratio of 5 to 1, replacing the former ratio of 2 to 1. The new regulations introduced last month also allow debit card payments for gaming machines, and land-based casinos can now also offer sports betting.
Rank Group said it had moved to immediately take advantage of the flexibilisations. It has doubled the number of gaming machines at The Vic to 80 units.
Mark Harper, managing director at Grosvenor Casinos, said: “This £15m renovation marks our boldest investment ever in a single site and is a statement of intent to modernise Grosvenor’s presence in London and across other casinos in England and Wales in line with the opportunities provided to us by the new legislation.
“To celebrate six decades of gaming history at The Victoria, we’ve transformed this iconic spot into a contemporary destination. This is about reimagining what a flagship venue can be and doubles down on our commitment to elevate the player and gaming experience while also embracing the legacy of one of the world’s most respected casinos in the UK.”
Rank Group had said that it expected to almost immediately roll out 882 new gaming machines across its Grosvenor Casino venues following the change in the gaming machine ratio. That would take its total number of machines to 2,249.
