There is a degree of overlap between the place of Grosvenor Casinos in the gambling world and that of the Mecca Bingo chain for the simple reason that they’re both owned by the same parent company, the Rank Group. You can read more about Mecca elsewhere on this site, with this page being dedicated to looking at Grosvenor.
We’ll delve into the company’s history, what they offer customers and where they fit into the world of gambling. Having been established in 1970, it’s fair to say that the Grosvenor Casino enterprise is one that has worked well to gain a reputation as a gambling house over the years.
Who Are Grosvenor?
Grosvenor Casino in Bournemouth (Alwyn Ladell / Flickr.com)
The company was formed in 1970 as County Clubs, eventually becoming known as Grosvenor Clubs, later becoming known as Grosvenor Casinos. The company grew and grew over the years that followed its formation, so that by the April of 2009 they were able to pay £650,000 to buy the casino that was located inside Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.
The growth continued at a pace in 2013 when Grosvenor took over nineteen casinos from its rival business Gala Coral Group. This came on the back of a failed attempt to but twenty-three casinos from them in 2012 after the Competition Commission, as well as the Office of Fair Trading said that competition would be reduced in the casino sector if Grosvenor were allowed to buy that many.
Strong Relationship with Poker
The company has also developed a strong relationship with poker. In 2011, for example, they created a new competition known as the Goliath, which was created to attract as many as fifteen hundred players. It offered a guaranteed prize amount of £100,000 and a quarter of the registration money was given to the Marie Curie Cancer Care Charity.
The competition grew in the years that followed, with more than four thousand poker lovers entering it in 2014. Grosvenor Casinos also raised more money for Marie Curie Cancer Care when their employees played the highest poker tournament on record. They dealt the cards and played the blinds three thousand five hundred feet up Mount Snowden.
Innovative Technology
The Grosvenor brand has always had a close link with the use of technology in the gambling sector. That came to the fore more commonly in the 2010s, with the introduction of software that was designed to spot cheating at the roulette table. Pinball Roulette was a new machine introduced the following year, then in 2013 they joined up with Evolution Gaming to offer live casino features online.
Grosvenor’s Place in the World of Betting
Grosvenor is owned by the Rank Group, which means that it is part of the same family as the Mecca Bingo brand. The Rank Group has switched from being an entertainment and leisure organisation to being exclusively focused on gambling. This happened officially towards the end of 2006 when the Rank Group sold its Hard Rock business, keeping only the casino in London.
The 2013 purchase of the nineteen casinos from the Gala Coral Group, as well as a further three non-operating licences, made the Rank Group the UK’s largest casino operator, with fifty-six casinos to their name. They also have enracha and Rank España as businesses operating in Spain, plus Rank Interactive as the online arm of company.
Grosvenor also have two unbranded casinos in Belgium, meaning that the Rank Group have business interests in Belgium, Spain and in the UK. Grosvenor see around eight million visits to their casinos every year from nearly two million active customers. They are served by more than six thousand staff members and there’s also an active online arm to the business.
What Grosvenor Offers
Unibet Open Poker Tournament (Unibet Open Official / Flickr.com)
The most important thing that punters will want to know is what, exactly, they can expect to receive should they turn up at a Grosvenor Casino and look to get involved with what’s on offer. On that front, the main thing to note is that they are a casino brand first and foremost. In the physical venues there are plenty of traditional table games, as well as more modern slot offerings.
Poker
As mentioned elsewhere in this piece, there’s a strong link between Grosvenor Casinos and poker, so poker rooms are common place in the brick and mortar casino venues. They sit alongside roulette and blackjack tables, as well as other much-loved casino offerings. A trip into a casino will also present you numerous electronic games machines.
Slots
The machines will allow you to play a myriad of slot games that will have jackpots and even, in some cases, links to other machines in different Grosvenor Casinos around the country. These modern slot machines are a popular way of playing games for a long amount of time for little money. They are also available via the company’s online offering.
Casino Games
In many ways the Grosvenor Casino online brand is an attempt to replicate the physical offering. You can play pretty much any game that you would find in an actual casino, with even the slot games being an option. If you want to then you can opt to play a live casino version of the games rather than their computerised alternatives.