European Dealer Championships comes to London

Hippodrome Casino London played host to the 2017 European Dealer Championships this week, with participants from 21 countries taking part in a variety of casino-related challenges.

Thirty-three contestants were judged across three main categories: technical skill, game control and hospitality in a knock-out competition over two days on casino staples like Blackjack and American Roulette.

It is the first time the event has been held in the UK, with the 2016 championships being held in Breda, The Netherlands.

Simon Thomas, owner of the Hippodrome Casino said “It’s been great to get people from all over Europe coming here and going wow, I wish we had this in our country.”

Additional non-competitive events included best chipper, best card handler, best cutting/stack pushing of chips and best mathematician.

The UK was represented by Jamie Cummins, casino dealer at the Ritz London who won the UK Dealer championships earlier this year and Stuart McCallum, representing the Les Ambassadeurs casino in Mayfair.

Cummins said “It’s great to be representing The Ritz Club and showcasing to the rest of Europe what high standards we have here in the UK.”

Latvia’s Antra Gaike was eventually crowned champion after a day of furious competition, becoming the fourth female winner of the EDC Challenge Cup since the championships began in 2007.

Gilbert Ho Kang Jou of the Netherlands finished second, with his compatriot David Luijten rounding out the top three in third place.

Tracy Damestani, CEO of the National Casino Forum, which organises the event in tandem with the European Casino Association said: “Once again the European Dealer Championships has successfully brought the casino community together for what was a highly competitive and riveting event at the spectacular Hippodrome Casino. The high calibre of talent on show this year is testament to how sought-after the title is amongst dealers across Europe and the international recognition of the annual competition.”