Aspers Casino Milton Keynes

So Aspers Casino opened on the 5th September in Milton Keynes. It is officially the 2nd "Super Casino" in UK opened since the Government policy has changed. According to the revised Gambling Laws in UK for 2005, a Super Casino is defined as;

"[A] 'Super Casino' is defined as having a minimum customer area of 5000 square metres and at most 1250 unlimited jackpot slot machines"

The first Super Casino is located in Westfields, in Stratford, London... near the Olympic Stadium. Interestingly enough, it is also Aspers who got the deal, as it seems that they are planning to roll out these Super Casinos maybe one or two a year across the country. Why do I say "Interestingly enough"? Well, Aspers before the opening in Stratford, is and was an unknown Casino company. In fact, it is brand spankingly new. Upon some research, I found out that Aspers is actually a new company formed in collaboration with the Australian Casinos, so some kind of special Government deal must have happened to let them have the go ahead, on what I image must be a very expensive Gambling License.

I have waited a little while before doing this review, as obviously its best to give it a little time to settle down before giving it a fair assessment.

LOCATION

The location of UK's 2nd [Official] Super Casino may come as a surprise to many. However, looking at statistics of Milton Keynes being one of the fastest growing cities in UK, this isn't as bad of a location as one may think.

The Casino is located in a big entertainment complex called Xscape. This was originally the UK's biggest indoor man-made manufactured real snow slope. I don't know if this still stands anymore. Inside this complex there is a Cinema, plenty of Restaurants, Bars, a Nightclub, some X-Games themed shops and soon to be a Bowling Alley as well. There is even a "wind blowing up thingy where it keeps you suspended in air" (official term) machine! Across the street, is also more Bars and Pubs, so there certainly is enough nightlife to enjoy around the area. And what is more typical in a big city then to go to the Casino after a night out and lose some money in a spur of drunken poor decision making! =D

I actually live extremely close to the Xscape building, but my love/hate relationship with Casinos (mostly hate to be honest, I'm a nit and don't really like them) means that I cant really decide whether its a good or bad thing? But what is sure, is that my profession right now means that it is almost illogical for me not to go and play some live poker since its so convenient, whether I like it or not.

GAMES & POLICY

One of the most noticeable things about this Casino as you walk in is the fact that you are not entitled to sign up to their membership in order to play. This was quite surprising to me, as I thought that this would not only come as standard by law, but if it wasn't I would have thought that the Casinos would like to do it anyways, as its a good way to track players win/losses and possibly illegal activities more easier. Without membership, it makes me think at how things like money laundering, using counterfeits, and other dodgy scams might be tracked. Of course, there are cameras everywhere, so maybe it isn't as bad as I thought, but maybe it could be the company's lack of experience in this area to realize the potential of making everyone sign up.

This is also the first time that I've ever seen a Casino have a completely open window for their cashier. No clear plastic panel or anything, just a desk area and the staff counting money in the open. I'm not saying that its prone to robberies or something, since there seems to only be one door, but still the lack of security there surprises me.

The layout is basically one huge room, with a restaurant on the left and a poker room right at the back. All other games are out in the open spread out. As you come in, there are Slots on the right, then some Roulette tables, and Black Jack, 3 Card Poker and more Roulette tables. In the mid right are a few Punto Banco (more commonly known as "War" or High Card), some ribboned off private tables and a Big Wheel. The middle also has the cashier on the left, and middle middle (!) has the bar. Behind the bar is a big TV screen showing Sports, and next to that are some Sports Betting Machines. I dunno if I explained it that well, but here is their promotional video thingy;

SERVICE

One of the things I noticed when I first came in about the service was really at how poor it was. This was quite shocking to me, until I was told that one of the big clauses was that 70% of the jobs given had to come through the Milton Keynes Jobcentre. So totally understandable, it seems that most of the bar staff, and even dealers are new. This might be quite disconcerting to regular casino goers who expect a level of service, but for me actually I don't really mind it at all. After a while dealers will get faster, and the bar/waiting staff will get better... And it has improved so they just need to be given more time.

If you play live poker you can get free lemonade/coke/tea/coffee as a gratuity. I think this is also true if you are playing the other games too, but don't quote me on that because I don't play them.

POKER

So lets get down to the nitty gritty of it. The Poker. The Poker Room is quite nice, at the moment it is way too big for its needs. Tournaments are around but runners are low and prize pools are pretty even so its probably not even worth entering. Their tournament schedule are as such;

So far I've played just a few, the beginner one for a laugh which got about 4 tables worth and prizepool was so low it just wasn't worth it, and the turbo which got about 4-5 tables worth too if you include the late regs.

I've heard that the Wednesday Knockouts have a ridiculously high £10 bounty, making all the Final Tablists already in profit by the time they get there, and that the Saturday Double Chance being pretty decent as well, getting about 50 players.

However, anyone with a bit of common sense would be critical of the lack of Friday tournaments, and Sunday also randomly having a Pineapple (variant of Texas Hold Em in which you start with 3 cards, and discard one after the flop) tournament, considering these are meant to be the days with the most traffic. I mean, I don't think I've ever even seen a live Pineapple tournament anywhere... and to do it on a Sunday is just really strange.

But I've heard that they will be reviewing the tournaments schedule later on and it should be revised. If anything I think this venue will be pretty good to have for more of the major Poker events in UK.

Cash Games are pretty much 50p/£1 (why not £1-£1, so much easier) and £1-£2. During the weekends in peak hours there'd be like 4 x 50/1 tables and maybe 1 to 2 x 1-2 tables going, so nothing huge. Maybe it will go up. It is pretty awesome though on a weekend to see the random drunkards and/or tryouts who sit down at the tables with the regulars... feels like that scene from Rounders;

(Ending is a bit weird lol sorry haha)

Overall I'm actually impressed. I did think that there'd be an upstairs section, but actually I think having one kinda big room is ok. The TV Sports area is pretty cool at the front, and is actually a good place to hang out, have a beer and watch some good games (whatever your into). I think that area impressed me the most, makes it less corperatey as most casinos feel. I have yet to try the restaurant, it looks quite snazzy, but if your cheap there's a Maccy Dee's round the corner! I'm not really a big gambler despite what I do, I usually go to casinos with friends and watch them play. This might be up there, not as good as Vegas I'm sure, but not a bad effort.

Milton Keynes is an interesting place compared to the rest of UK. It looks like a modern American city (was totally designed in that way) with the grid system. Yes, and roundabouts. If you wanna practice roundabouts and driving, MK is your place! But with the big shopping centre and now this, its definitely worth a day out, I've always said that. A day though... probably is enough! =D Now there's more reason to check it out.

As much as the more conservatives think, I think that this will be a good thing for the city. But like all good things, it will come at a price. Yes, there could and probably will be more gambling problems, but on the other side, there are more jobs, more customers, new events, more reasons for tourists to visit and spend money. Whether the popularity of the Casino will increase is another matter. Either way, all we need now is an Airport and then the 4th bid for that [officially useless] official City status cant be denied?