"Dusk till Dawn" Poker Club In Nottingham Diary (by Rob Yong)

[robyong]

Just when I saw a small dim light at the end of the tunnel, after finally getting my Certificate of Consent for the Gambling Commission, these casinos will just not leave DTD alone. I just found out last week that London Clubs International have joined Gala and Stanleys in lodging an offical objection to our poker club in Nottingham. The irony is that Stanley and LCI have not even opened yet...............

With 3 big high profile objectors, I am sure now that Nottinham Magistrates Court will adjourn my case on April 26th, so that they have more time to document and put forward their cases against Dusk Till Dawn, I just hope they adjorn it for weeks......not months. Its all very furstrating, I even wrote a humble letter to Gala giving them my committment that it would be a POKER ONLY venue, but they just wrote back telling me where to stick it. With me being banned from all Grovensors and now this, clearly I am not on top in their xmas card list.

Again, I just feel so bad for all of the people I have employed to work in the club, as they are having to do "desk jobs" for me, when they joined to work in a poker club, but I have tried my best, the legislation and big casino bodies are just too strong to push things forward, they are experts at putting hurdles in place. The costs to me of all these delays are so bad that I dare not even calculate them anymore!

On a positive side, the club looks amazing, its going to be such a fantastic place to play poker and socalise, Nick and Lee have done a great job bearing in mind they had no experience of re-fitting a "casino", every day it gets better and better, as new fixtures and fittings are added, and we get more paint on the walls. We can be proud of what we have done, at the end of the day, when we were all at school together, who would have though us donkeys would do something like this?

Another frustration is the online business, this was set up as a vehicle to run satelittes into the Club, give online players "comps" etc, obviously with no club open, I feel that we are running more of an online poker business, not a live poker club, which was not the main reason for setting up this venture in the first place. I guess all these problems will make it worthwile, and of course, it has crossed my mind that we could open without the local magistrates courts blessing, like so many other poker clubs, but I have given my commitment to the Gambling Commission, and I will stick to that.

I had hoped to go to the Bellagio this week to play the WPT Final, but I just dont feel like playing at the moment..........and someone will probabaly ask me "when is the club opening"! Its amazing how many people know about Dusk Till Dawn, and can't wait for us to open, I hope we don't let them down, and are able to hold the biggest and best tournaments there............I'm sure we will, when all of these extra hurdles are jumped. I don't know what the casinos are frightened of, in fact, I don't think they actually are, I just think that they don't like to think that a small operation like DTD can set something like this up, they enjoy their monoploly.

Let's face it, we wont be taking much business of them, gamblers will always play blackjack and roulette, and I have always said that I was willing to work around their poker schedules, so poker players have the choice and we do not clash events etc. I mean, they are the big boys, they dictate the market, and us "minnows" will do what we are told, I'm a realist, but this does not seem to make any difference, and they are clearly going to fight me and DTD right until our doors open.

How do I feel.......cheesed off. Haha.


Cheers Rob

[Wardonkey]

Good luck Rob,

You've jumped through all the hoops now, and deserve a break.

Tell the magistrate that the 26th is my birthday and that I want good news as a present!

[stoneii]

"The costs to me of all these delays are so bad that I dare not even calculate them anymore!"

Unfortunately this is their primary aim (imo).  It's a classic squeeze play, designed to get the guy playing above his normal stakes to fold.  I sincerely hope you have the funds to absorb these delays and all goes well for you Rob.

Best

stoneii

[boldie]

I reckon it's ridiculous that clubs in another town that haven't even opened yet are able to file an objection to a business somewhere else. the law's an ass sometimes.

Best of luck Rob.

[Div]

UK planning and legal systems are a farce.

I sincerely hope you get the license through 1st time Rob. The casinos are way out of line on this.

[littlemissC]

I reckon it's ridiculous that clubs in another town that haven't even opened yet are able to file an objection to a business somewhere else. the law's an ass sometimes.

Best of luck Rob.

they are in the same town,infact they are within a 1 mile radious of each other.i bet there wasent an objection from gala to them opening.would be intersesting to find out.if they gave no objection to full casinos i.e with gaming tables,then why object to a poker club 3-4 miles out of town

[boldie]

I reckon it's ridiculous that clubs in another town that haven't even opened yet are able to file an objection to a business somewhere else. the law's an ass sometimes.

Best of luck Rob.

they are in the same town,infact they are within a 1 mile radious of each other.i bet there wasent an objection from gala to them opening.would be intersesting to find out.if they gave no objection to full casinos i.e with gaming tables,then why object to a poker club 3-4 miles out of town

I was referring to the London casino's though. I can understand (though I don't like it and don't really understand it ) the objections from the local ones

[Royal Flush]

I reckon it's ridiculous that clubs in another town that haven't even opened yet are able to file an objection to a business somewhere else. the law's an ass sometimes.

Best of luck Rob.

they are in the same town,infact they are within a 1 mile radious of each other.i bet there wasent an objection from gala to them opening.would be intersesting to find out.if they gave no objection to full casinos i.e with gaming tables,then why object to a poker club 3-4 miles out of town

I was referring to the London casino's though. I can understand (though I don't like it and don't really understand it ) the objections from the local ones

It wasn't a London casino, it was LCI.

[ripple11]

 adjourn the case !!!!

 .....lets hope they will have the good sense to see the incredible journey you've taken and what you're looking to offer .....and please tell them its NOT A CASINO !!!


 fingers crossed.

[tikay]

I had a meeting at DTD today with Nick Whiten about some stuff, & he gave me another Tour, it's been a month or more since I was last there.

It must be said, the place is astonishingly well fitted-out.

The exposed timber is all hardwood - Canadian Cherry, & the stainless steel hooped handrails are a strong & attractive feature. The celiling grid is complete, & 80% of the ceiling is in place, ditto the lights. The ceiling "spots" are all grouped so at to be above Tables exactly. The "private" (High-Rollers) Room is well advanced.

But the "signature" feature must be the stepped floor, creating a sort of ampitheatre effect. At the bottom, all alone, & visible to everyone in the building, will be a lone table - the Final or Feature Table. Behind that, quarter-circular fashion, are 5 tables in a row. Then up a level, maybe 3 steps, there are two rows of 7 Tables, still mirroring the low-level quarter-circle. Then another level change, & again the quarter circle pttern, are three rows of 8 tables. I guess they will "break" the tables from the top level down. (The Tables are not actually in place yet).

They are also sorting a smoking area in line with the new legislation - in effect, a room outside without a ceiling or roof.

As a dedicated Cardroom, it's the best I've seen in the world. With some to spare.

But it's success or otherwise will depend not on the standard of fit-out, awesome though it is, but the Customer-Care. Rob is a Customer-Satisfaction devotee, so he'll not fail there.

[Redbull]

That sounds superb! 

All the best with the final hurdle Rob.

[robyong]

Thanks for your support, as always.

However, I am almost sure that we will be given a significant adjournment by the court, the power of 3 major casino groups objecting "together" versus a "jockey 1-mand band outfit" is formidable.

The pendulam definatley swung our way after we managed to get the Uk Gambling Commission Consent, but I believe that the momentum has now swung back other way, I am told by very reliable sources that there is an "bottomless pit" of resources to prevent Dusk Till Dawn opening, and that will be used as necessary.

Together will the significant costs of delays that we have already incurred, plus the additional delay costs caused the expected adjournment, these casinos must believe that they can "smoke us out" ie. we run out of money so can't afford to open, I am sure this is their tactic, as I just cannot believe that any rational person (or lawyer) would actually think that they could actually win this case.

Lets look at the evidence:

1. Nottingham Council have granted Casino classification to DTD
2. Nottingham Council have granted DTD a 24 hour alcohol license
3. Nottingham Police have approved DTD policies and procedures
4. Nottingham Council have given DTD Casino planning permission for all the fit-out
5. The UK Gambling Commission has given DTD their UK Certficate of Consent (despite more last minute "dirty tricks" by our casino friends)

The ONLY way we cannot be granted our Magistrates licence is if the Casinos can prove that there is "insufficient demand" for Dusk Till Dawn - this is the only criteria (as all steps above have been passed).........we already have over 3000 registered members, how do they expect to win?

So, what a silly silly situation and how vindictive of these places that we have all supported over the years. Of course, we are enemies now, we could have all got on so nicely. A guy can only bend over with his pants round his ankles for so long - haha

Cheers Rob

[da_poker_monkey]

I was talking to someone connected with Gala in Nottingham a couple of weeks ago and he was adamant that DTD would never open, nothing I said to him could persuade him otherwise?  Seemed odd to me at the time that he was so sure of what he was saying, maybe they have a plan......Lets hope not!  I can't see it all not happening now.

[robyong]

I was talking to someone connected with Gala in Nottingham a couple of weeks ago and he was adamant that DTD would never open, nothing I said to him could persuade him otherwise?  Seemed odd to me at the time that he was so sure of what he was saying, maybe they have a plan......Lets hope not!  I can't see it all not happening now.

Yes, I have heard this from a number of casinos, not just Gala, maybe they have some aces up their sleeves that I am not aware of, I can only do my best, we'll know more after April 26th, but I have not come this far to "fall at the last" and we have beat every obstacle so far, and refused to stoop to the levels that certain casino groups have chosen to lower themsleves to. I just really hope that some poker players wake up and see the casinos for what they really are. Some of the stuff that I have heard they are trying to do is really bad, and I can't see why they would even bother , DTD is just a "mickey mouse" outift compared to them, we will not compete with them, they are the market leaders, we are just a poker club....I mean, I just spend all this money getting the Certificate of Consent............and am refusing to have blackjack and roulette in DTD even though they are so profitable, I'm afraid there efforts and tactics are wasted, again, we are just a poker club.

[maldini32]

Rob ive never ever met u, but u put yourself across as a class act.

Hope everything works out wit the club, ill try and get down during the summer.