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CASINO
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Location:
69 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1. Important - This location no longer has any pinballs - see update below
I've been going to the Casino arcade for many years now, and in that time the line-up of pins there has pretty much mirrored the fortunes of pinball. At its peak, the Casino had seven pins, but over the last 3 years this has gradually reduced, until there were only 3, the fewest I can recall. Now that number is back up to 5 so things are picking up. In its defence the Casino is one of the few arcades in London that still has any pins, so someone working there still has a yearning for the game. All power to them, and thanks for keeping pinball in the arcade. In fact, the Casino's historical association with pinball went a bit deeper than was usual. They got the very first Sega and Capcom games, sometime sample or even beta games. That seemed to have ended when Sega sold up. Now, however, they're back with the first Stern Rollercoaster Tycoon, Playboy and Monopoly games. Let the good times roll! So then, the current line-up currently consists of a Playboy and new Rollercoaster Tycoon upstairs,
while down below you can find a South Park and The Addams Family Gold. The Monopoly shown here has moved down from upstairs bringing the total up to 5 pins.
If you've ever wanted to see an Addams Gold, this would be a great place. It's good to report that since our last review - and the criticism of their upkeep of this game - things have picked up slightly and the Addams is looking nice and clean, though it has problems with its flippers. The right flipper is very weak while the "Thing Flips" doesn't work. The South Park also looked to be in a good state of repair. It is prone to getting well and truly stuck if you get more than one ball in the Cartman sink hole as it can't kick them out, but that apart it's a fun game if you like the theme and it still has the Cartman doll and warning sign on top. These days we need to be grateful to any site that keeps pins out on the floor, as they can't be making too much money for their keepers. Owners can still improve their returns by simple inexpensive maintenance and it's gratifying to see that the Casino have started looking after their games properly. Keep up the good work, folks.
The line-up has changed since this report was written but they continue to get the newest Stern games. There are only two machines in there at the moment and both are up by the front windows. A new Big Buck Hunter Pro is nearest the street while a Lord Of The Rings stands next to it. Being new, the BBH is in good condition and full working. The LOTR is not is such a good state, having weak flippers which make the ring shot almost impossible. The rest seems to work OK though, so you have a choice and the Casino remains the place to find the newest Stern machines first. Thanks to Richard Lonergan for the update. There has been a change of ownership and the new owners have removed all pinball and video games, leaving only the slot and other gaming machines. © Pinball News 2015 |
