History was made today at Nottingham Magistrates Court when Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) was issued with a casino license making it the UK’s first legal poker club and the largest licensed card room in Europe.Rob Yong, Managing Director of DTD, says: “I am absolutely delighted as are all my team at the news. It’s been a lot of hard work these last two years but we’ve cleared the final hurdle and we can look ahead to opening later this year, making DTD the best poker club in Europe.”
It was not all smooth sailing for the club though due to objections from three casino groups, Gala, Stanley’s and London Clubs International on the grounds of "insufficient demand.” These objections led to an adjournment of the original case in April 2007 until September 24th.
Within the first ten minutes of the case opening, London Clubs withdrew their objection but barristers for both Gala and Stanley’s continued to fiercely contest the bid. They argued that there was not enough demand in the local area and the club was not financially viable.
However, after a day’s cross examination of DTD’s witnesses (Rob Yong, Simon Trumper and Mike Wiseman) followed by a visit to the premises on Tuesday and two letters of support from the Gambling Commission, in itself an unprecedented event, the magistrates were swayed in DTD’s favour.A date for the club’s opening is yet to be confirmed but one thing we can guarantee is that it will be the premier poker venue in Europe and the wait will have been worthwhile!