The city of Cardiff is vibrant and exciting with many recreational activities to enjoy, but among the top venues to visit if you’re looking for a night of thrills in your home city or as a tourist are the casinos. Cardiff boasts three casinos as it stands, with the classic Grosvenor Casino on Atlantic Wharf, the newly renovated Rainbow Casino Cardiff by the UGC Cinema Complex, and Les Croupiers Casino – which recently turned 50 years old – in the Capital Retail Shopping Park.
There’s plenty of casino action to be enjoyed throughout Cardiff, with each of these popular gambling halls offering something a little different to patrons. The Rainbow Casino delivers an awe-inspiring taste of Las Vegas casinos, and its membership program gives back to its players in a big way. Over at Grosvenor Casino, you’ll get more of a classic casino feel, with loads of table games for you to best. The busiest of all three, however, is often Les Croupiers, as it offers a huge range of casino games as well as a bar and top-notch restaurant.
With all of this already in place, it may come as a surprise that the question has been raised of whether or not Cardiff should get a fourth casino. So, let’s look at whether it is time for the city to expand its casino offering.
More competition than ever
In the gambling industry, particularly the UK gambling industry, competition is fierce. UK casinos have to deal with competing gambling venues in their area as well as the nation-spanning online casino scene which continues to grow in popularity. With each passing year, new arrivals will add something to edge ahead of the rest, offering bigger and better games to heat up the competition further. For example, the newest UK online casino, Genesis Casino, features new variants of live casino games, including Lightning Roulette, Exclusive Blackjack and Side Bet City, among a host of other gaming options.
The draw of these platforms is undeniable as they often boast more games than the land-based casinos, regularly update their game libraries and are, of course, far more accessible and easy to enjoy. However, despite early predictions expecting the digital platforms to take over the gambling industry very quickly, the British public appears to have stayed relatively loyal to their local gambling venues no matter whether they also indulge in online gaming.
According to the latest UK Gambling Commission industry report, the Great Britain gambling industry’s total gross gambling yield was £14.5 billion. However, the total gross gambling yield for the remote sector of the gambling industry was only £5.6 billion, making up just 38.6 percent of the industry. Many would expect the remote sector to be the dominant force by this point but, while it did see a 2.9 percent increase year, Brits still enjoy other means of gambling.
One factor that may be holding the remote sector back, somewhat, in the UK is the slow internet speeds. The UK is ranked a shocking 34th in the world for average broadband speed, but many living in more rural areas will know that speeds are much lower than elsewhere in the country. This won’t be a hindrance to too many people as casino websites are often quick and light in their bandwidth requirements, but it’s certainly an argument in favour of those who enjoy the experience of visiting a gambling venue instead of playing at home.
As it stands, there’s probably a good balance between online options and land-based casinos to appease the gambling public of Cardiff. This argument would be a very different one if, back in 2006, Cardiff’s bid for a super-casino had come to fruition. For now, however, three brick-and-mortar venues with new online casinos look to be plenty for Cardiff.
