The Hippodrome Casino

TL;DR

• Public access, no membership, ID required on entry; baccarat from £25 on the main floor
• Punto Banco only; the Heliot Salon on the upper floors handles larger wagers
• Opened as a casino in 2012 after a £40m refit of Frank Matcham's 1900 variety theatre

Annabel's take

I've sat at the Heliot pit a dozen times, and what strikes me every visit is how much the room contains within its six floors. You take the lift or the stairs from the Leicester Square entrance on Cranbourn Street, pass the poker room, thread past the roulette tables and then find yourself looking at a baccarat layout that's filling up at ten past midnight on a Wednesday. That doesn't happen at many London casinos.

The Hippodrome is not a members' club, it doesn't pretend to be. The crowd ranges from West End tourists who've just come from a show at the nearby theatres, to regulars who know the croupiers by name. I've watched a group of hen-party guests in cocktail dresses watching a hand play out three seats from a man who'd clearly been there since dinner. The floor absorbs all of it without feeling chaotic.

The Heliot Steak House sits on the first floor above the main gaming floor, and it's become the kind of place where you can eat a half-decent fillet, watch the gaming floor below through the glass, and decide whether to go back down. The sight lines from a window table are worth noting if you're thinking about the room's geography.

The squeeze ritual doesn't happen at the Hippodrome, because the cards are reused and the rules don't permit it. The baccarat dealt here is the quick, face-up version: the dealer flips both the player and banker hands efficiently, the road map fills in (Bead Road at a minimum), and the shoe moves at a pace more suited to a busy public floor than a private salon. The minimum is £25 on the main floor, which puts it within reach of a very wide range of players. If you want higher limits, the Heliot Salon operates at the top of the building on a separate arrangement; you'll need to ask the floor manager about current limits and availability.

The dress code is smart casual, enforced at the door but not aggressively. Trainers get through, tracksuit bottoms probably don't. The Leicester Square tube station is sixty seconds from the Cranbourn Street entrance.

What you'll find at the baccarat tables

The Hippodrome runs standard Punto Banco. The commission is 5% on Banker wins, settled at the end of the shoe rather than per hand. The edge on Banker sits at 1.06%, on Player at 1.24%, on Tie at 14.36%; the Hippodrome doesn't run an unusual variant.

The road maps are displayed electronically and update automatically. The main floor tables fill quickly on Friday and Saturday evenings; Tuesday and Wednesday the same tables run with noticeably more space. During peak hours additional baccarat layouts open on the upper floors. The Heliot Salon at the top handles higher-stakes play in a more contained room.

Getting in

The Hippodrome operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except Christmas Day. No membership is required. You'll need photo ID (passport or UK driving licence) to enter. Smart casual dress is the stated standard; the door team use discretion. The Leicester Square Underground station (Northern and Piccadilly lines) is the natural approach, less than a minute's walk. The Cranbourn Street entrance is the main one; Little Newport Street provides step-free access.

There are no source-of-funds checks required at entry for the standard floor. High-limit play in the Heliot Salon may involve an introduction through the floor manager.

The neighbourhood

Leicester Square itself runs late: the Odeon and Vue cinemas, the theatre district immediately to the north on St Martin's Lane, and the restaurant density on Covent Garden's western fringe. Shaftesbury Avenue is two minutes away. For post-session food at three in the morning, Chinatown on Gerrard Street is the most practical option, with several restaurants open well past midnight.

The Garrick Club, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Coliseum are all within a ten-minute walk, which tells you something about the neighbourhood's layering. The Hippodrome sits at the exact point where the West End tourist strip collides with the edge of Covent Garden's restaurant culture.

Sources

Sources: Hippodrome Casino official site, Hippodrome general information page, Hippodrome table games page.