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

Crockfords (also known as Crockfords Club or Crockfords Casino) is a closed 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.

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. 1 2 3 4 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 "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

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