The Palm Beach Casino is a slight step up from the Empire in Leicester Square – but mainly because its not located in tourist central. You are supposed to register to get in but at the time we came in there were so many people hovering around the front desk that we only had to get our photos taken – translate that to: the girls at the front desk couldn’t be bothered registering people, which turned out to be a ridiculous move as the electronic roulette machines required you to use your membership cards to withdraw your winnings.

The venue is quite small but attractive. There is plenty of seating around the bar area and also what appeared to be quite a nice restaurant surrounding the casino. The clientele seemed a little more well-off and nicely dressed than the types you see hanging out at the Empire. But having said that there were still a large number of foreigners – all carrying around their £50 notes …

The casino wasn’t too crowded for a Friday night but spots at the tables with lower minimums (at least £10) were rare. James, Wongo and I managed to get on to one blackjack table eventually – where it proved to be very entertaining. I was sat next to this 50+ year old Russian guy who was very vocal in what he thought about the players on the table. Whenever someone made a stupid move he would gesture and shout at them. One girl got a bit intimidated by this and was cowering behind her boyfriend. Very funny.

We all had a good night with Wongo, D and I finishing up, James was down but not by much (ironically, the more attractive our dealers got the less luck James ended up having!) Still, an enjoyable night was had by all.