Happy Holidays – So let’s get on with the game

By Tim Cullimore

It wasn’t until I spent several Christmases in both Australia and the Caribbean whilst working that I came to realise that in the U.K. Christmas comes totally at the wrong time of year for the casino industry. People are just too busy doing other things to find the time to visit the casino.

In mainland Europe Christmas and New Year are boom times for the gaming industry. Players and non-players alike love to dress up and go for dinner in the best place around, and in spa towns and coastal resorts across the continent that is very often the casino. Special menus and dances are the norm for somewhere like Baden Baden or Montreux, whereas dealers in Britain loved to work on Christmas eve as there where very few players and breaks were plenty. And of course, in the U.K it is enshrined in law that casinos must close on Christmas day.

And because of the legacy of puritanical laws that didn’t allow even the minimum of entertainment or fun in a casino up until the changes brought in by the 2005 Gaming Act, New Year celebrations have always been almost an embarrassing distraction to the business of gambling. As I am sure many casinos still do there used to be a tradition of stopping all the games just before midnight and wishing everyone a Happy New Year. This was greeted joyfully by most of those present, except the players! They were often furious that their game had been interrupted. “Happy New Year and let’s get on with the game!!”.

Of course, casinos wherever they are multi denominational by their very nature, and I have always thought the peaceful interaction between races, faiths and genders has often been overlooked as a very positive outcome of casinos being open to all. And all clients, no matter their background, have an underlying commonality, which is of course their frequent frustration and occasional anger toward the casino itself. It’s great that they all have something to agree on!

For some customers Christmas plays no part in their culture, but because their own businesses or their employers may be closed the casino becomes an even greater attraction. So I have always loved the atmosphere in the casino during the holidays, even if many of the players are not really that interested in the actual traditions, but there is something that adds to the excitement and overall ambience. I especially loved the tradition of visiting the casino when I worked in France. There were still some lovely couples who maintained the tradition of formal evening wear at Christmas and New year, and the gastronomic menu in the restaurants attracted those who love the finer things in life.

Equally when I was running the casino in the ski resort of Crans-Montana, Switzerland, an important segment of the clientele over that period were Italians on vacation, so again the fine clothes would be out in force, and finest Italian sports and leisure wear (this was a ski resort remember) would be put on parade.

As a naïve young dealer arriving in Florida to join a cruise ship just before Christmas 1985 it was an incredible culture shock to experience Christmas in the sun. I also had my eyes opened by the importance of Hanukkah. Never really appreciating this festival I loved the ads and announcements which seamlessly interwound both the festivals which happen at this time of year. And spending Christmas on a beach was absolutely fine by me, no more cold dark nights, and rainy Yuletides.

Now I come to think of it; the end of year holidays are perhaps the best time to learn the most about cultures of foreign countries. This is a time when people cling most fiercely to their traditions, so if you have the opportunity to travel or work in a new country at Christmas, I fully recommend getting involved in all aspects of the festivities. After all, wherever you come from the message is the same.

Great Responsibility
Now that the votes are in I can reveal that I have had the great honour to be asked to be one of the judges of the excellent International Gaming Awards which will be presented at the end of January and will be a fantastic night. With great power comes great responsibility (thank you Spiderman) so I took the task at hand very seriously.
It was a fantastic opportunity to do a deep dive into some companies I knew very little about, a revelation to see the range and variety of products and services on offer in our industry. I was especially impressed by the strength of the social responsibility programmes the games providers have produced. As I have repeatedly said in the past, is there another industry who provides social activities which may deemed harmful to a small minority that does so much to inform and protect its clients. We can always do more to protect players, but as an industry we should be proud of the strides which have been taken over the last several years.

Happy holidays to everyone and let us hope that 2022 will be a better environment for us to prosper.