Blackjack Headed to London, Playboy Style

Playboy casino

Playboy party chief Hugh Hefner just announced plans to open an exclusive, high-class casino in the heart of London.

The first time Playboy set up shop in London in the early 60s, the club was a big hit. But the fun didn’t last long, and the club was shut down in 1981 following a police raid. Now, more than three decades later, the bunnies are coming back, and they’re bringing gambling along with them.

A new London Playboy club is now in planning stages. Playboy Entertainment has teamed up with London Clubs International and will open the club in the heart of Mayfair by next spring. It will be an exclusive members-only club with a strict entrance policy, so not everyone will be able to enjoy the fun it promises to offer.

The casino will be staffed by Playboy bunnies, who will run everything from the bars to the blackjack card games. The club intends to hire women who worked in the original London club to train a new generation of temptresses in everything from casino etiquette to serving drinks in a bunny costume without encountering any embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions.

Playboy Entertainment had its hands in the gambling business many years ago, but abandoned it in the 1980s in order to focus on magazine and video production. The group started moving back into the gambling business in 2006 with the opening of a club at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. A recent experiment in online gambling saw the opening of a Playboy online casino, but the site shut down soon after it opened due to disappointing financial returns.

In a recent announcement about the new club, Playboy king Hugh Hefner said “I look forward to our return to London and again sharing the notions that are celebrated in the magazine, the concept of good food and drink, pretty girls, and exciting entertainment.”

Playboy also plans to open clubs in Miami, Cancun, Mexico, and Macau, China.