Review: Grosvenor Victoria Casino
The Grosvenor Victoria Casino (or “The Vic”, as it’s known to the regulars) is the jewel in the Grosvenor crown. The Vic stands out as Grosvenor’s flagship London venue right in the middle of London - situated on Edgware Road halfway between Marble Arch and Edgware Road tube stations. If you plan on visiting The Vic, don't worry about finding the casino, you can't miss it -- it's the building with all the lights.
The Vic is a fairly compact casino with all of the games and amenities you would expect from any London casino. From the free soft drinks and coffee for players, to the fully featured 35 table poker room, to the shisha lounge on the 1st floor - there is something for everyone at The Vic.
Travel & Parking At The Victoria Casino
The Vic offers a valet service in its underground car park. However, it’s worth noting that the car park can fill up quickly, and with the casino’s very close proximity to the congestion zone you are more likely to be using the tube to get to the casino anyway.
The Grosvenor Victoria Casino is a short 5 minute walk from both Marble Arch and Edgware Road tube stations and a 15 minute walk from Paddington station, so you have plenty of options for travel if you’re using the train.
Dress Code at The Victoria Casino
The Grosvenor Victoria Casino’s dress code is ‘smart casual’, so any outfit you’d wear to a nice bar will do you just fine. The following items are expressly banned so don’t wear them unless you fancy being turned away at the door:
Ripped jeans
Tracksuits
Work wear
Clothing with explicity wording or images
Football shirts
Hats and sunglasses
The wearing of hats and sunglasses does also apply to the poker room, although it isn’t as strictly enforced. That being said, I have seen plenty of players forced to remove head coverings while playing poker.
Atmosphere At The Vic
The atmosphere at The Vic varies by floor. The Poker Room (on the second floor) is generally quiet save for the sound of shuffling chips and seating announcements. People are mostly friendly but it can get tense between players (as is usual) in poker cash games. The environment is very friendly in tournaments, where the game often comes second to having fun.
The casino floor (on the first floor) is a much louder environment and often smells quite smoky as the first floor smoking area is on a small terrace by the cash desk. The Vic is not a large casino and can get very crowded at busy times. If you are looking for a quiet game of roulette or blackjack you’ll want to try another casino in London.
In all aspects the staff at The Vic are highly professional and very friendly. They are busy and it can sometimes show but it’s unheard of for a player to have an issue with staff at the Vic. The staff take the time to get to know their regular players and will bend over backwards to help you out if you have a problem.
Food & Drink At The Victoria Casino
Soft drinks are free in the casino area on the 1st floor along with coffee which is available from a self serve coffee machine. Alcoholic drinks aren’t free, but the prices are exceptionally reasonable considering the central London location.
Slots on Offer at the Vic
You will find slots on the second floor in the corner - straight ahead as you come up the stairs. It's the usual cast of novomatic slots found in every other UK and EU casino. Personally, I avoid these as the money pits they are; generally you’ll find the slots area at The Vic quite empty.
Blackjack at The Vic
Blackjack can be found on the first floor and starts at a minimum bet of £5. They offer traditional shoe dealt blackjack and have up to 8 tables running at once.
Roulette at The Vic
You will find Roulette available 24/7 at the Vic with table minimums of £1 during off-peak times, which raises to £2 in the evenings. This is not unusual for London, in fact, most tables will have a minimum of £5. Despite the high minimum bets at the tables, the roulette terminals (which use live feeds from the wheels within the casino) offer stakes as low as 10p at all times. There are a cluster of Roulette terminals located on the first floor near the cash desk.
Be aware that there are both 0 and 00 tables so be sure to stay away from the 00 tables for better odds. (Find out why, here.)
Roulette at The Vic
The Victoria Casino Poker Room
The Vic features an entire floor dedicated to poker. It is one of London's premium poker venues and is even known officially as “The Poker Room”.
The Grand final of the GUKPT is held at The Vic each year, along with other prestigious events such as the Unibet open. The Vic has the most varied poker offering in London and will spread any game you request with enough interest. It is not uncommon to find big games here such as a £75/£150 mix game or a £5/£10/£25 PLO.
The Poker Room at The Vic
Rake is 10% capped at $5 for $1/$1 and 5% capped at $10 for everything else up to $2-$5. Above that it is a half hour charge. This puts the games well in line with others in London and certainly beatable. The lower stakes games can be very splashy but be aware, The Vic attracts a number of OMC style players, more than other London casinos, which can make some games tight and dull. As long as you manage to avoid these players you can have a really great session at The Vic.
The Vic runs nightly tournaments and publishes their full schedule each month on their website.
Rake for the tournaments is in line with other London casinos at a minimum of 10% and for some lower buyins exceeding 20%. If you are able I recommend skipping the Vic in favour of Aspers in Stratford for better tournaments. Their rake is lower and their structures are far better. (Plus there's a Nando’s next door so I'm biased. )
With that said, try to play The London Deepstack. This is a monthly 2 day tournament held at the Vic with a buyin of $200. The prize pools regularly hit $50k+ and first normally walks away with in excess of $20k.
All info on currently running games can be found on their twitter.
