The biggest single leisure investment in Scarborough for over 30 years is about to open tomorrow, and the following day the Aspers Casino is to be launched in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Scarborough’s Opera House Casino recently announced that nearly 5,000 people have already applied for membership at the £7 million (US$12.4 million) state-of-the-art casino designed and built by a local company. It will be one of only eight privately owned operations in Britain, and the first to open since the Gambling Commission took over from the Gaming Board at the start of the month.

On Thursday Aspers Casino will open for gaming at The Gate complex in Newcastle, but the company has made a series of ‘docusoaps’ available for online viewing. The programmes, named Aspers Casino World, run for 10 minutes and show the development of the entertainment complex, including staff recruitment and training, and have been sponsored by the Aspinalls Online Casino. The programmes can be viewed on aspers.tv.

The Opera House Casino will open with 11 gaming tables, 20 electronic roulette terminals and 20 slots. The former Opera House is in Scarborough town centre and the two-storey building now offers three bars and an a la carte restaurant. Although the new casino should boost tourist and conference business in the town, it is anticipated that up to 95% of its clients will be local.

Aspers Casino is a bigger operation in a bigger city. 45,000 sq ft of entertainment will provide fine dining or casual bistro eating, big-screen sporting events, dancing and shows, as well as three floors of gaming. Apart from gaming tables there will be 150 slot machines at Aspers Casino. A party will launch the new operation at The Gate, starting at 9:30 p.m. In future on Thursdays there will be ‘tribute’ entertainment acts, Saturdays will be for ‘swinging’ and lazy Sunday afternoons for jazz sessions. At the party live music and magicians will be joined by American-style ‘flarers’ – the cocktail shakers who are an integral part of the entertainment.

In a recent interview Damian Aspinall said that casinos in the UK tend not to be ‘user-friendly’ but that Aspers intends to be the best provincial casino, providing the best service and the best facilities. According to him, the major British casino operators suffer from a corporate mentality with no imagination and no flair. From Thursday, 27 October people will be able to judge for themselves whether Aspers can deliver its promise. (E-10.25.05)

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