If you hear the term ‘Golden Nugget Casino’ you would absolutely be forgiven for thinking of the venue with the same name that lights up the Las Vegas strip. For some people, though, there was a place with the same name in London that will spring to mind, even though it closed in February 2014. The Golden Nugget Casino was located next to the Trocadero, not far from Leicester Square, offering a much quieter and less ostentatious appearance than its name-twin in Sin City. Even so, it was a place that many people will have frequented, drawn in by its charm and the fact that it was usually much quieter than many other venues in the capital.
A Quieter Casino on Shaftesbury Avenue
The vast majority of the casinos in London are large and bustling places that see a huge number of people enter them on a regular basis. That was not the case with the Golden Nugget Casino, which offered just 21 gaming tables and only a few more slot machines. There were also about 20 electronic roulette machines, which probably helps to explain what sort of place it was. There was an unquestionable buzz about the place, largely on account of the fact that it was much smaller than many of the capital’s other casinos and therefore the punters enjoyed a little bit more attention from the staff and time with the various games on offer.
Several Bars to Choose From
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there were a few bars for guests to choose from. Given the casino’s location in the heart of London, it had to appeal to people in more ways than just thanks to the games that were on offer on the gaming floor. As a result, there were a number of different bars that people could go to to have a drink, plus a restaurant that served decent enough food. It meant that punters would often finish up with their betting and head to a bar for a drink where they would encounter others who hadn’t come to bet but would sometimes be tempted to do so simply on account of the fact that the casino was so readily available to them.
A Long-Term Presence on the London Casino Scene
The Golden Nugget Casino was actually launched as a joint-venture between Mecca and the New Brighton Tower Company Limited. The latter was a company based on the Wirral, Merseyside, where a tower and associated ballroom had hosted concerts by The Beatles before it burnt down in 1969. Four years earlier and it had contributed towards the opening of the Golden Nugget Casino, managing it until 1966 when Craywood took over the role. The decision to close down the casino might well have had as much to do with the fact that there were 52 steps to reach it from street level as anything else, meaning it was always unlikely to get much passing trade.