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Aspers Casino is named after gambling impresario John Aspinall, affectionately known as ‘Aspers’, and opened as a joint venture between his son, Damian, and Australian casino operator Crown Resorts in late 2011. Aspers Casino occupies the top floor of Westfield Stratford City – one of the largest, if not the largest, urban shopping centres in Europe – in Stratford, East London.

Indeed, with 65,000 square feet of gaming space, Aspers Casino was the first of the so-called ‘Las Vegas-style super casinos’ established in the United Kingdom, following the 2005 Gambling Act, and remains the largest casino in the country. Previously, under the anachronous 1968 Gaming Act, the number of high-stakes gambling machines in any gambling establishment was limited to just ten, but Aspers Casinos offers hundreds of slot machines and electronic gaming terminals, allowing gamblers to play for high or low stakes at their discretion.

Of course, the casino floor also hosts numerous traditional gaming tables, including baccarat, blackjack, craps and roulette, while the poker room – a brightly lit, modern space – has capacity for hundreds of players at any time. Naturally enough, Aspers Casino regularly features professional poker tournaments but, overall, the aim is to attract low-stakes, recreational gamblers, rather than their high-stakes, professional counterparts. Two bars, an à la carte restaurant and entertainment, including live music, make Aspers Casino an attractive proposition as a leisure destination, day or night, regardless of fortune.

Dubbed ‘the most beautiful casino in the world’ by Marlene Dietrich, Casino Baden-Baden is situated in the spa town of the same name, on the edge of the Black Forest, in the state of Baden-Württemberg in south-western Germany. Housed in the classically inspired Kurhaus, built between 1821 and 1824, Casino Baden-Baden was taken over by Jacques Bénazet, who had previously run the Palais Royal in Paris, in 1838. Granted his heritage, it is no surprise that Bénazet based the interior design of Casino Baden-Baden on that of stately French palaces, with rich, intricately designed furniture and fittings, including an abundance of chandeliers, mirrors and gold leaf

Even today, although the halcyon days of Casino Baden-Baden are long gone, the large gambling hall still evokes the spirit of the Belle Époque, in terms of opulence and style. At 2,200 square feet, the casino floor is small by usual standards, but – notwithstanding the modern slot machines that occupy much of the floor space – patrons can immerse themselves in an ‘old school’ gambling experience. Time-honoured classics, such as blackjack, poker, punto banco and roulette – American and French – are available in the table games section. The thought of a modern nightclub in such a venerable building may seem a little incongruous but, while trendy and upbeat, Club Bernstein is stylishly decorated and provides an intimate, almost exclusive, setting in which to enjoy playing poker and roulette.