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The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed a major victim in the British poker world as Genting is ceasing all live poker activity in the United Kingdom.
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PokerNews was aware of rumours circulating regarding Genting not reopening its live poker operations before an employee reached out to us. The Genting employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, informed PokerNews they work in the Birmingham cardroom and have been told “Genting will cease all live poker in their casinos.”
Our source claims the Genting Resorts World Casino in Birmingham is losing 98 employees with between 20 and 50 jobs lost at every Genting casino around the United Kingdom.
A Cardroom Manager at one of Genting's casinos, posted an update on his Facebook page.
Please note: It was not this manager who told PokerNews of the upcoming redundancies
“Well, it’s been emotional. Thank you to all our poker players, hope you have a great experience. Thoughts to all my colleagues (family) that didn’t deserve this (although in current climate it was kind of expected) you are all superstars and proud to have had you in our team. Onwards and Upwards. PS anyone hiring?”
PokerNews reached out to several Genting sources, including the President and Chief Operating Officer of their UK operations, but none had replied at the time of writing.
Genting To Close Three UK Venues
The cessation of live poker operations comes less than a week after Genting announced it is considering the closing of three of its UK casino.
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GMB, the union for leisure and hospitality workers, revealed Genting casinos in Bristol, Margate, and Torquay are set to permanently close, resulting in significant job losses. GMB also warned of possible job losses across the company’s remaining 29 sites.
Paul Willcock, the President and COO of Genting UK, sent a statement to his employees, which read in part, “The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has caused unprecedented challenges. It has had a huge financial impact on our business and caused significant uncertainty for the foreseeable future. I am therefore forced to contemplate some very difficult options to ensure survival.”
The End of the Genting Poker Series
It looks certain the long-running Genting Poker Series (GPS) has ran its last event. Launched in 2012, the GPS proved extremely popular in its infancy thanks to its solid blind structures, affordable £440 buy-in and substantial guarantees.
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Genting inexplicably closed its online poker arm, which ran on the iPoker Network, a couple of years ago, which had a profound effect on the number of entrants because players could no longer qualify online or play Day 1 online.
Lower attendances and a restructuring of the GPS results in smaller buy-in stops being scheduled. The last GPS event was an £80 buy-in held at Genting Club Stoke on Trent that attracted 397 entrants and awarded £26,966.
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Recent Genting Refurbishments
It’s only a year since Genting spent £750,000 refurbishing its casino in Luton. Part of that refurbishment was the creation of a “more intimate poker room” which will now likely be converted to more gaming floor space.
Eighteen months ago, Genting Casino Westcliff underwent a multi-million pound makeover.
Five years ago, Genting Resorts World Birmingham opened its doors to the public. It cost £150 million and is part of an entertainment and shopping complex at the site of the Genting Arena, formely the NEC. It features 50 shopping outlets, cinema, hotel, and a vast casino.
Pandemic has taken its toll
Live poker has already taken a series of blows to the midsection during the COVID-19 pandemic, but even when more casinos open and poker begins its comeback, it will not fully recover. Genting Casinos has decided to discontinue its live poker operations in the United Kingdom. This is not a minor loss – Genting has 42 casinos in the UK, many of which have poker rooms.
Genting has not made an official announcement, but rumors were swirling on Monday, with some employees of their card rooms tweeting that it was over. On Tuesday, PokerNews.com published a story to confirm the rumors, saying that it had been contacted by a staff member of a Genting poker room who let them know it was true.
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The person, who did not want to be named, said that the employees of the Birmingham location were told, “Genting will cease all live poker in their casinos.”
That same person also said that Genting Resorts World Casino in Birmingham is facing 98 job losses and the rest of the Genting properties in the UK will be letting go from 20 to 50 employees each.
PokerNews also found the Facebook page of the poker room manager at a different location, who wrote:
Well, it’s been emotional. Thank you to all our poker players, hope you have a great experience. Thoughts to all my colleagues (family) that didn’t deserve this (although in current climate it was kind of expected) you are all superstars and proud to have had you in our team. Onwards and Upwards. PS anyone hiring?
Multiple sources saying the same thing certainly makes it sound like the rumors were true.
Casinos at risk of closure
All casinos in England are still closed until July 4, though betting shops were permitted to reopen on Monday. Genting recently announced that it might close its UK properties in Torquay, Bristol, and Margate, so clearly the company is struggling during the pandemic, as all gaming firms are.
GMB, the leisure and hospitality union that represents casino employees warned that this could be “just the start.”
In a letter to staff, Genting UK president and COO Paul Willcock admitted that closures and layoffs are on the table. Stating the obvious, he said that the pandemic has created “unprecedented challenges” for the gambling industry.
He added that the lockdowns have had a “huge financial impact on our business and significant uncertainty for the foreseeable future. I am therefore forced to contemplate some very difficult options to ensure survival.”
In the UK, Genting poker rooms were known as high quality, friendly places for locals to play poker. You weren’t about to find a World Poker Tour stop at any of them, but they did serve as hosts for the Genting Poker Series (GPS) for nearly a decade. The short, inexpensive tour events topped out at £440 buy-ins. The last GPS tournament to run was at Genting Club Stoke in Stoke on Trent. Teodor Celichkov won the £80 tournament on February 26.
There are GPS events scheduled out to November, but it sounds like they won’t happen.