R
ichard Noble is the COO of Aspers and is a very busy man. Trying to arrange an appointment was no easy task as he regularly visits
each of Aspers casinos but also has the added responsibility of the new “Aspers Westfield Stratford City” which is due to open next month.
Nevertheless, hot off the train, I spoke to him as he sat in the boardroom at Swansea whilst I camped out in the lobby of the Opera Hotel in Kyiv. After the usual Eurovision / “This is the Ukraine jury” jokes we settled down on a clear Skype line; discussing first his upcoming casino launch to the east of London.
So, Richard, what makes this casino so special?
Aspers Westfield Stratford City – to give it its’ full name – will be the largest casino in the country and is simply located at the right place and at the right time. The 2012 Olympics are going to put London – and notably – East London, on an international stage and Aspers is pleased that we are going to play a part.
So, have you treated this casino any different from your other casinos?
Despite the location, no we haven’t. We have designed it to reflect our core values at all our other venues and considered the customer first.
From our experience, 50% of the people who walk through our doors don’t gamble, but are still keen to sample the atmosphere of our bars and restaurant.
However, it is through high levels of customer service that we are able to attract them back to the casino as gamers – and that is something that will be prevalent at the new casino.
So, in essence, we will continue to do what we do best – provide customers with a relaxed live gaming experience – in this case a mix of slots, gaming tables, poker room, a casual dining restaurant, Sports Bar and a Sky Bar with panoramic views over the Olympic stadium.
All of this adds up to a great venue – offering great choice.
So how wide is this choice? What is the breakdown of equipment?
We believe we have the largest variety of games available in any casino in the UK including 40 gaming tables with classic games such as American Roulette, Blackjack and Punto Banco as well as new games including Casino War and Blackjack Switch.
We also have the latest slot machines - 150 in total (136 x B1, 10 x B3, 4 x B2) including the latest ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘Star Wars’ games.
Finally we have over 90 electronic casino game betting terminals allowing guests to play in privacy if they prefer whilst still being able to enjoy the thrill of the live gaming experience. So – from tables to FOBTs to Bingo we have something for everyone. (see sidebar for full equipment list).
Anyone who has visited any of your other casinos will know that entertainment is a key part of the Aspers offering – what else does the Stratford casino have to keep players entertained?
Well, apart from the traditional tables and slots we also have a great sports bar. We can’t say it competes with the massive Sports Bar layouts most people are familiar with in Las Vegas but with 27 widescreens and betting places for 60 people it’s the only one that is available in the UK offering such a service on such a scale..
Another big plus is the 150-seat dedicated poker room where we plan a daily Texas Hold’em poker tournament as well as a wide range of poker cash games, so no matter what level guests want to play at, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Finally, as mentioned earlier we also have Bingo. It may not be everyone’s first choice for a casino but a lot of people like to play and its good fun and part of the entertainment package.
Take a look at the new machine from Novomatic that picks the numbers and you can see that we are also offering something a little different – more like the National Lottery than what most people think about the traditional game.
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