The Empire Casino

TL;DR

• Public access, no membership; largest casino in Leicester Square by gaming area
• Punto Banco on the main floor; 50-plus tables across 55,000 square feet
• Open 24/7; smart casual; Leicester Square tube is two minutes' walk

Annabel's take

The Empire occupies the northern edge of Leicester Square, across the pedestrianised square from the Hippodrome, and the two venues have an odd competitive relationship: both public, both 24 hours, both targeting broadly the same audience, but with very different energies. The Hippodrome leans into its theatrical history and the six-floor layout that takes you up through the building. The Empire leans into volume. Fifty-plus tables across two floors and 55,000 square feet of gaming space. It's the casino for people who want to know that there will always be a seat.

I've played at the Empire on a Friday at midnight and found baccarat tables across the room with perhaps two empty seats total. I've gone back on a Tuesday at six in the evening and sat at a table with the dealer, one other player, and unobstructed sight lines to every corner of the floor. Both experiences are the same casino; it's just that scale accommodates variation.

The room has four bars and lounges, a pan-Asian restaurant that keeps reasonable hours, and a poker room that runs 24 hours. The baccarat area is on the main floor without being segregated into a separate salon; it sits among the blackjack and roulette tables with no sense of hierarchy. If you're looking for the hush of a private room or a velvet rope, you've come to the wrong place. If you want the feeling of a busy, functioning casino where the baccarat tables are accessible and the entry requirements are simply that you're 18 and can produce ID, the Empire delivers it reliably.

Metropolitan Gaming operates the Empire under its Metropolitan Casinos brand. The UKGC licence is current; the operation is long-established.

What you'll find at the baccarat tables

The Empire runs standard Punto Banco. The shoe is dealt face up at the speed a busy public floor demands: efficient, rhythmic, without drama. Five percent commission on Banker wins, settled at end of shoe. Edge on Banker: 1.06%. Edge on Player: 1.24%. Tie: 14.36%. Road maps run electronically.

The volume of tables means that you'll find baccarat operating through most hours without a wait. During peak Friday and Saturday nights, the baccarat section can get congested; the casino's size means that overflow capacity exists. The Empire tends not to advertise its table maximums, which are likely set at the level typical for a Category A UK operator; ask at the table or at the cage for the relevant limit.

Getting in

The Empire operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no membership required. Entry requires valid ID after 9pm. Smart casual dress is required; the standard is applied at the door. The casino is at 5-6 Leicester Square, WC2H 7NA. Leicester Square station (Northern and Piccadilly lines) is a two-minute walk; Piccadilly Circus (Bakerloo and Piccadilly lines) is four minutes.

No charge for entry. Met Card (the venue's loyalty card) can be obtained at the venue.

The neighbourhood

The Empire is on Leicester Square itself, which puts it at the intersection of the theatre district, the Chinatown block on Gerrard Street (five minutes north), and the Covent Garden restaurant district (five to seven minutes east). Post-session eating is straightforward: Chinatown has late kitchens, and there are enough kebab shops and chain restaurants on the surrounding streets to cover anything after 2am.

The Hippodrome is directly across the square; anyone who wants to compare the two floors can do so in under three minutes. The National Portrait Gallery is just north on Charing Cross Road. The Coliseum (English National Opera) is a five-minute walk. None of this is likely to be relevant after midnight, but it frames the location accurately.

Sources

Sources: Empire Casino official page via Metropolitan Gaming, Empire Casino FAQs, Leicester Square listing for Empire Casino.