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PAUL SCULPHER
BACK TO THE GRIND Regular Gambling Insider contributor Paul Sculpher assesses the return of land-based casinos in the UK – but asks: is there a step change coming to table gaming pricing?
As I type, UK casinos have finally been given the green light to re-open on a somewhat limited basis, and casinos around the world are creaking into action at varying speeds, with some still completely closed, and some open without restrictions. The initial results are in for UK casinos at least, and seem to be reasonably consistent – pleasing early levels of business, generally with a slightly lower attendance than expected, but higher spend per visit.
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There’s cautious optimism, although in the unique situation we’re in, there is of course plenty of uncertainty as to what happens in the summer. Is the fabled huge pot of new household savings going to be partially diverted into drop boxes, or will it get spent on staycations, longed-for other nights out, or simply stashed in case of future life-changing events? One thing that does seem to have popped up as a bit of a game changer is
consideration of price of play. For many years, UK operators have aspired to divert lower spenders (and, critically, slower spenders) in the direction of electronic gaming, both slots and more importantly (given we’re allowed unlimited numbers) onto electronic table games. Electronic Roulette is particularly key, given Roulette is the dominant table game in the UK. The gaming floor yield specialist’s dream is to get bigger players on the live
