Blackpool casinos

Where to strike it lucky along the Golden Mile

If you’re old enough to remember the 1980s then you might recall an advert in which a horde of Americans rushed towards a sign advertising the entertainment capital of the world. It was only upon they assembled yanks got close up to the sign that they realised that the place in question was a whole ocean away.

Blackpool – for that’s where our American friends were told to head – has long enjoyed a reputation as the UK’s leisure capital. And while Brits might have a hard time thinking of it as the Lancashire equivalent of Las Vegas, the town’s glitz and showbiz heritage is second to none.

Leaf through photos of ye olde Blackpool and you’ll find that anyone who was anyone in the entertainment world spent some time on the Golden Mile. Everyone from Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin to The Beatles and The Jimi Hendrix Experience has played within the shadow of the town’s famous tower. And as it attracted Vegas-style entertainment, so Blackpool also got the gambling bug.

And while the number of casinos is small, Blackpool’s reputation as the north-west’s gambling hub remains intact. Where once there were tatty arcades and fading glamour there now stand casinos that are on a par with any that can be found outside of London.

Of course, Blackpool’s a way’s away from most places, and the idea of rubbing shoulders with tens of thousands of tourists is sure to prove off putting to some. As locations go, however, it’s pretty hard to beat. Sure, it has nothing to rival the deserts of Nevada but the beach has its own expansive charms. And to walk from the foyer of a casino only to be immediately confronted by the Irish Sea is truly something to behold.

Gambling in Blackpool, then – we promise you’ll find the experience illuminating.