Interesting debate, from a competition prospective the UK gaming industry does need a kick up the backside. The big operators enjoy local monopolies treat the customers and staff badly and put the minimum amount of investment into their properties. The only reason I would ever set foot in a UK casino is to play poker.  That said if there is to be liberalization of the gaming rules then the existing operators should be allowed to compete on an equal footing.

With regard to the Super Casino's I think some of the thinking is a little muddled here. Essentially the style is based on the US resort casino which is holiday destination. This works in the States because while gaming is spreading outside of Las Vegas and Atlantic City there are still vast tracts of Middle America were there are no Casinos or pretty much any form of legalized gambling. Compare this to the UK were about 90% of the population lives no more than an hour away from an existing Casino and there are plenty of alternative opportunities to gamble. Unless the operators are careful in locating their properties they could end up with 8 very expensive and very empty white elephants. It doesnt matter what games or machines a Casino installs it will go broke if it is empty.

How will this impact poker? Difficult to say if the regional casinos wake up to the fact that Poker is growing and that tournaments are a very effective (and cheap) way of getting people into the property  then maybe we will get  more rather than less card rooms.

Personally, I would rather play in dedicated Poker clubs like the Gutshot where I am paying more to play poker rather being subsidized by those players who cannot resist the lure of the Craps, Roulette and Black Jack tables. There are drawbacks and while growing the player pool does not readily sustain the Capital investment to fund decent playing facilities in all but a few locations.

Unfortunately this leaves me supporting the short sighted and mean spirited UK gaming industry.