Resort Set For £7m 'Casino Royale'
Scarborough is set to welcome the opening of a £7 million UK casino.
And nearly 5,000 people have applied for membership ahead of Opera House Casino opening its doors at its base on St Thomas Street.
The state-of-the-art-casino has been designed and built by a private local company to bring a touch of Las Vegas style glamour to the east coast resort.
The venue will boast 11 gaming tables, 20 electronic gaming terminals and 20 Las Vegas-style slot machines, as well as three bars and an a la carte restaurant over two floors.
It is the first new casino to open since the launch this month of the Gamblng Commission, the new independent regulator for gambling in the UK.
The responsibilities of the new commission are to regulate casinos, bingo, gaming machines and lotteries as well as betting and remote gambling.
Richard Caborn, the Government Minister responsible for gambling regulation, hailed the commission launch as the dawn of a new era.
"The Gambling Commission will work to three key principles laid down in the Gambling Act – keeping out crime, protecting children and the vulnerable, and ensuring gambling is fair. It will do so armed with new powers to investigate, prosecute and levy unlimited fines. I'm confident that the commission will be seen as a model for gambling regulation around the world in the years to come."
Gamblers in Scarborough will be tossing the dice in glee as Leeds' plans for a huge Las Vegas style casino remain up in the air.
Mr Caborn will specify the locations for the 17 new casinos – one regional, eight large and eight small – at the beginning of 2007. Glasgow and Birmingham both announced they will bid for the right to be home to the one regional casino. Blackpool, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and various London boroughs are all among those expected to make formal applications.
