London

Text Box: Playboy’s first casino was actually a Playboy Club and Casino, opened in London on June 29, 1966. It was a new, five-story building located at 45 Park Lane, overlooking Hyde Park. Managed by Victor A. Lownes, a confidant of Hugh Hefners, and boasting 27 tables offering Blackjack, Baccarat, and Roulette, gambling was provided on four floors, as well as rooms, restaurants, and a disco. It was a moneymaker from the start and remained a golden goose until closing in 1982.

In the 1970’s, as Playboy Magazine matured and encountered competition, profits dropped, at the same time gaming profits from the London casino kept rising, making future expansion into gaming very attractive. In the spring of 1972 the Clermont Club in Berkely Square, famous for it's high rollers and celebrity clientele, was purchased. Also added to the organization in 1972 was Stocks House, a 42 room Georgian Mansion located outside Aldbury in Hertfordshire that was used for training new bunny croupiers (as well as Victor Lownes residence). 1973 saw the addition of the Manchester and Portsmouth Casino Clubs. In 1978 the new Bahamas Playboy Casino, located in the Ambassador Beach Hotel in Nassau, was added. Playboy celebrated their 25th successful year in 1979 during which, in Britain, the Victoria Sporting Club was acquired. In addition, work was started on the future Atlantic City Casino building. Bunny croupiers even set out to sea. In 1971-72 Playboy operated the casinos aboard the Caribbean cruise ship, R.H.M.S. Atlantis.

1980 was a banner year for Playboy's Gaming Organization. $31 million of the $32 million in profit reported by Playboy Enterprises that year was from gaming. Unfortunately, it was their last. With the gaming license approval for the Victoria Sporting Club in February 1981, Playboy Enterprises became the largest, and, table for table, one of the most profitable gaming operators in the UK. They had three London casinos, two provincial casinos, interests in two others, 72 off track betting parlors, and six bingo parlors. In these casinos they attracted some of the highest of the high rollers and societies’ upper crust.

The British had always been uneasy with a foreign controlled casino operating in London. Due to a number of administrative snafus, the firing of Victor Lownes and the following appointment of Chicago management, combined with some mud-slinging in London referred to as the "Casino Wars", Playboy lost their operating license in Britain.

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