Birmingham has always been ranked as one of the premier cities of the UK. During the 18th century it became a manufacturing heartland as well as a centre of finance.
Many great inventors and scientists hail from the city, including William Murdoch, James Watt and Matthew Boulton, so it has long been an innovative place. The modern Birmingham still has many industrial revolution landmarks as well as the canals that were used for transportation of goods.
However it is also a new city that was rebuilt after The Blitz. It is home to the Symphony Hall, where the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is based, as well as the O2 Academy and Arena Birmingham for pop music shows.
Birmingham is a sporting hotspot too, with Aston Villa and Birmingham City and the Edgbaston cricket ground. It has everything a contemporary city needs, including a range of gambling venues and options.
The Popularity of Gambling in Birmingham
Gambling has been growing in popularity across the UK in recent years, thanks to the rise of online casino and sports betting options. But it has real historic roots in Birmingham.
The city was, after all, the home of the deadly Peaky Blinders criminal gang during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Running sports betting outfits was one of the ways that they made money and the presence of both cricket and football in the city made it a popular and lucrative business.
It remains so to the present day. Many supporters of its two major football teams, Birmingham City and Aston Villa, like to place bets on the matches.
That is true of the cricket fans that follow local team Warwickshire County Cricket Club too. Of course a key difference now is that most of those bets are placed at online sports betting sites, although there are plenty of land-based bookmakers left in the city.
That shift from land-based to online is the primary story of gambling in Birmingham in recent years. Casino enthusiasts also now largely play over the internet.
It is more convenient to be able to do so in a city where the weather is not always brilliant. Plus online casinos have attractive bonuses and it is easy to find out about the latest free spins offers at casinos.com before choosing a site to play at.
The combination of high quality bonus offers and ultra-convenience is something that land-based Birmingham casinos struggle to compete with. That is not to suggest that the idea of visiting a casino for a night out has died out completely though.
Indeed the opportunity to get dressed up for an evening of card or slots gaming with friends is one of the main things that land-based venues can still offer.
This is true of cities and towns across the country. The promise of a night out and the sense that attending is an ‘event’ is what is keeping the traditional land-based casino afloat in this era of online gambling convenience.
To some degree the popularity of online casino has helped land-based ones, in the same way that online bingo has for bingo halls. That is because the young people who like to play on the internet then find that visiting a venue in the real world makes for a good complement to it.
Casinos are a part of the nightlife fabric of the UK, including Birmingham, and the city has some very impressive venues. Below are some of its fine casinos.
- Grosvenor
This one is located on Broad Street, right in the very centre of Birmingham. That is one reason for its great popularity, but the huge selection of slots, roulette and blackjack games plus the poker room has more to do with it.
It also has a fantastic restaurant that is open round the clock and a big screen TV, so that anyone who has bet on sports matches can keep up to date with the action.
- Genting Resorts World
This casino complex can be found by the side of Pendigo Lake, making for pleasant surroundings. In addition to all of the games on offer within the casino, it also boasts a hotel with spa, cinema and 10-pin bowling, making it Birmingham’s answer to the luxury resorts of Las Vegas.
- Broadway Casino
The Broadway Casino combines the gambling selections with live performances by bands at the weekends. It has a fine restaurant too, making it a one-stop-shop for nightlife fun.
Gambling in Birmingham now is often one part of an overall night on the town. The most successful places compete with the appeal of online casino and sports betting by mixing gaming with dining, music and other activities.
Birmingham has been in love with gambling since the days of the Peaky Blinders and that remains the case.
