The Ritz Club Casino (Closed)

Ritz Club London
Ritz Club London (Flickr.com, RubyGoes)
ADDRESS:
150 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9BS

Once a common casino to feature on the list of the most luxurious of such venues in London, the Ritz Club Casino closed its doors in 2020 due to the global health crisis of the time and then never re-opened them. The casino was based underneath the famous Ritz, opening its doors for the first time in 1977 and quickly being established as a venue for the rich and famous to head to. Featuring in a number of different films and TV shows, the Ritz Club Casino was one of the most exciting places that you could head to in the capital if you were hoping to place a bet, with many being disappointed to hear of its closure.

A Celebrity Haunt

If you are the sort of person that likes to do a bit of celebrity spotting, you would do a lot worse than to have headed to the Ritz Club back in the day. It was somewhere that billionaires, millionaires and Hollywood stars rubbed shoulders, all whilst trying to take on the House in a bid to win some money. It was originally opened in the 1970s but then re-opened in 1998, having re-branded itself as somewhere that people wanted to be seen. With the likes of Al Pacino, Bill Clinton and Johnny Depp all turning up there at point or another, it is fair to say that it very much achieved its goal of being somewhere to be seen.

A Loss-Making Venue

The reality of life at the Ritz, at least as far as the casino was concerned, was that it was actually a loss-making venue. In the January 2020, for example, the then-owners of the Ritz Club, Sir Frederick and Sir David Barclay, injected around £8 million into it as they were looking for someone to buy it. A combination of increased legislation and fewer wealthy gamblers flying in from the Middle East meant that the casino hadn’t made a profit since 2016 by the time that it closed its doors for good. In the year to December 31st 2018, for example, the casino posted a loss of £8.9 million before tax, so it wasn’t particularly lucrative.

Hard Rock Casinos

When the Ritz Club closed its doors for the final time, it did so with the gamblers who placed bets there reportedly being owed in excess of £780,000. The likelihood of the physical venue ever re-opening is therefore extremely slim, even under new owners. One thing we do know, though, is that Hard Rock International acquired the casino licence that had been in place for the Ritz Club. There are only a finite number of casino licences available in London at any given time, so Hard Rock’s move to get hold of it was suggestive of a company that was planning on opening a casino of its own in the capital at some point in the future.

Casino Reviews

Mark D

I believe the casino at the Ritz is members only, and I’m guessing the membership cost is going to be high!! But I bet that you can get some kind of room/dinner/casino package if you look on the Ritz website.

So I’ve never been… But I have been to the ritz for afternoon tea (took the missus for her birthday one year) – not really my cup of tea (ho ho ho) but I was impressed with how grand everything looked.

It’s made me want to check out the ritz casino – play a little poker with some aristocrats. Except I’m guessing they won’t want to play my little £1-£1 NLHE games :-/

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