Mobile Fun Casino Hire including Roulette, BlackJack and Poker for Corporate Events, Weddings and Private Parties

A review into the UK Fun Casino industry

Casino Hire Review - an independent view

Unfortunately, there is no professional standards association within the Fun Casino industry so we have turned to a well known industry croupier to give his appraisal of the business in an attempt to separate the good suppliers from the not so good.

Richard is a former croupier with a very long and established history in the UK casino industry having spent the majority of his time at the forefront of gaming in London Casinos.

As a freelance croupier working for a variety of fun casino companies, including working with us on occasions, we have asked him to share his experience and knowledge about Fun casinos, and more importantly, give his opinion on the fun casino industry in general.

Fun Casino Hire in the UK

I have worked in the Fun Casino business for about 6 years. Previously I worked in Mayfair attaining the position of assistant floor manager in 2 prominent casinos. I have worked up and down the UK performing at Fun Casinos events for 15 or so fun casino companies.

A quick trawl of the internet reveals there are approximately 150-200 Fun Casino suppliers operating in the UK. The vast majority are based in the southern regions of England where the population is greater, with the rest dotted around in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The internet facilitates the advertising of Fun Casino suppliers. Dependant upon your internet supplier, Google will normally only display the user's nearest suppliers but there are exceptions to this. If you live in Hampshire for instance, and you input 'fun casino' in Google, you should be presented with fun casino suppliers based near your location in the normal or 'organic' listings; but this isn't always 100% accurate.

Professional Fun Casino?

'We are a professional Fun Casino' is a phrase often stated by suppliers but what exactly does this mean? Over the years, I have worked for quite a few Fun Casinos, some good, some not so good, and some very poor; without exception, they all say they are 'professional' on their respective Websites. At times, I have actually been working along side staff who have only been taught the casino games the night before a forthcoming event (Hey, I was just there for the work).

This particular company is still advertising on their website, 'your casino will come with professional croupiers' which is quite naughty and certainly unethical. Clearly, this type of supplier is not a professional fun casino.

A guide on how to separate the professional fun casino from the fake!

I have set out some useful tips to spot the substandard suppliers. Using this information when seeking quotes will ensure your casino hire is from a reputable genuine supplier.

  • When asking for quotes, make sure the chosen supplier provides written references from previous customers. Remember, phrases typed on their website count for nothing, insist on proper recent testimonials, scanned and sent via email or by post. This first tip alone will rumble the majority of dodgy suppliers and it is so easy ask for.

  • Scrutinise their Website images. Many websites (not just Fun Casinos) buy commercial images to impress would be browsers or 'borrow' images from other websites and pass them off as their own. It is perfectly reasonable to ask to view their most recent event images which can be sent via email at no cost.

  • Another tip on the subject of Websites - is it a professional looking Website with lots of content? A genuine casino hire business will have a significant budget set aside for its website with plenty of pages and content, normally explaining the games in some depth. Almost all substandard suppliers treat their website like their fun casino hire and have little or no content with brief explanations of the games and how they work.
    As a general rule of thumb, the more professional the website, the more professional the fun casino.

    • Following the above advice is easy, quick and painless. To the reputable company, the above tests are easy to meet and the customer can take confidence knowing they are dealing with a decent company. Likewise, if the supplier can not meet the tests, simply avoid.

    Fun Casino suppliers - What's the difference?

    Fun Casino services in the UK fall into 3 general types, first there are the larger corporate event companies that offer a variety of different entertainment services like scaletrics or race nights along with a fun casino section. Then we have the dedicated fun casino businesses who are generally ex croupiers who have setup their fun casino hire but offer fun casino services only. Finally, we have the DJ/entertainers who have no casino experience but add casino hire as a service.

    Of the three different types, the ex croupier casino hire business is generally the best, both in terms of authenticity and cost. After that comes the Event companies, who will normally offer a lower standard of casino hire at inflated prices, with the DJ/entertainer coming in last with substandard casino hire and providing staff often without any casino experience.

    My advice is to only consider booking casino hire from a company with ex croupiers at the heart of the business. I know it is not always easy to differentiate but basic website scrutiny using the above guide should help steer customers in the right direction.

    How much should I pay for Fun Casino hire?

    This can be a tricky question but I will try and give some helpful advice. There is no doubt that if you go through a Corporate casino hire company you are going to pay top prices. This is because you are going to be paying for their overheads. For instance, quotes from Corporate casino hire suppliers often include the cost of providing a casino 'manager'. In my experience, standard 2 table casino hire needs little or no management; certainly nothing that the accompanying croupiers should not be able to handle. Therefore ask for a quote minus the casino manager. If they refused to drop the manager, look elsewhere.

    On larger events involving 4 plus tables, a casino manager is probably desirable but it should not adversely increase the cost disproportionately. Note, a casino manager is primarily for the benefit of the supplier, not so much the customer. Obviously, the customer may be grateful to have a person from the casino company to liase with. If that is what the customer requires, that's great but remember, you, the customer pays for that!. Don't be loaded with a casino manager unless it is necessary or preferable.

    As a very general rule the average cost should really be applied on a per table basis. A casino table with croupier for the standard 3 hours is going to cost around £200-£250 per table. Most suppliers offer discounts on multiple table hire, but this doesn't normally kick in until 3+ tables are booked. In preparation of this review I sought quotes from various casino hire companies which are set out below. I asked for quotes on a standard fun casino hire of 1 Blackjack table and 1 Roulette table for 3 hours. As of November 2007 I received the following prices.

    Absolute Fun Casino  2 Tables = £595 (1 Roulette and 1 Blackjack) Includes a casino manager - Website states 2 tables from £495

    Ace Fun Casinos  2 tables x 2 hours = £425 or 2 tables x 3 hours = £485 - No prices on Website

    Acorns Fun Casinos  2 tables = £395, 3 tables = £700 (strange pricing after 2 tables) - No prices on Website

    Cabaret Casinos  Two Tables with staff - £600.00 + Vat - No prices on Website

    Crown Casinos  One roulette & one blackjack table = £500 + vat - No prices on Website

    Funtime Hire  Blackjack and a Roulette table with croupiers and fun money is £450+vat - No prices on Website

    The Funtastic Casino  Blackjack and a Roulette table + Croupiers for 3 hours £390 - Website prices now increased to £420.00

    Jokers Fun Casinos  2 Tables, croupiers, manager = £450.00. Website quotes £395.00 Plus agents commission fee!!

    Knights Templar Events   2 Tables, Croupiers, Bottle of Champagne for winner £590 + Vat - No prices on Website

    The above fun casinos are representative of the industry with some significant variations in prices. Most suppliers do not appear too keen to display their prices on their Websites. Of those that do, some appear to ignore their website price and quote a higher price which isn't a trust earner. Obviously these prices are a little out of date but as a general guide I hope you find them useful.

    Price isn't everything!

    To most customers, the price of hiring a casino is probably the most important factor when deciding which fun casino supplier to book with. This approach is understandable, particularly when the customer has not previously booked a fun casino for an event. The cost of casino hire is always going to be the leading consideration but it should not be the only one. The quality of the hire, including the equipment, staff and customer service should also be taken into account. My advice is to consider the following factors before placing a booking.

  • Most importantly, are they going to turn up? Fun Casino operator's biggest headache is ensuring staff turn up. Obviously misfortune can befall anyone including the more responsible and thoughful fun casinos. To minimise the chances of being let down, keep in touch with your supplier paticularly in the days leading up to the event. Double check the start time and also the time staff are due to attend so there are no misunderstandings. This should go a long way to avoiding any mistakes, so keep in touch.

  • Customer Service - is it any good? This is something you can begin to gauge from the moment you make an enquiry.

  • Are they really supplying experienced professional Croupiers? If you have neither visited a real casino or hired a fun casino previously, how are you going to tell the staff that arrive are actually croupiers? This isn't that easy to the untrained eye. Part of the hire price goes to pay the staff so you have every right to check and recheck that the staff are genuine casino staff. If after the event you feel the staff were not quite the professional croupiers promised remember you do have redress. As a customer you have rights under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 to be protected from companies who make false claims about the products or services that they sell. First of all confront the fun casino supplier and demand a full refund unless the supplier can supply documents confirming their staff are professional croupiers. If this fails or they are being difficult, let them know you intend to involve Trading standards at which point a full refund should be offered shortly after. If they still will not supply the necessary proof, report the company to Trading standards and/or take the matter to the small claims court to recover your money.

  • Another common trait is that very few Fun Casino companies place their prices on their Website. Often, the Client is in the position of having to supply their details before receiving a quote which is frankly nonsense. I have heard several different reasons cited for the lack of prices on display, the most common one is that they don't want the competition under cutting them, others try and say that displaying prices somehow restricts flexibility of their quotes. My advice is to completely avoid any fun casino that does not display its prices. Whatever excuses they give, it is not for the Client's benefit and is untrustworthy.

    Whilst the above scenario is perhaps on the extreme end of things, you wouldn't be happy to hire a supposeably skilled tradesman to do some work for you only to find he had just learned this skill recently and actually had no qualifications and had not previously worked in the trade. Fun Casino hire is no different form hiring or employing a skilled man, be it a bricklayer, carpenter or electrician, it is a skilled specialist trade.

    There are some very good fun casinos for hire in the UK but equally, there are some very dubious ones as well. For the most part, a customer following the advice in this review will avoid the bad ones. Probably the 2 most important tips to remember is:

    No genuine written testimonials NO Hire - No Prices on Website, NO Hire.

    Your Reviewer - Richard Hall - March 2008

    • All images of equipment and croupiers on our website have been taken from various parties, weddings & venues we have supplied our services to.
    Our Service is fully compliant with the Gambling Act 2005.   Copyright© 2008 The Funtastic Casino.Visit our page on the FreeIndex Mobile Casinos directory