Boxing Champ Represents Grosvenor Casino, UK Casino Lockdown Drains Million In Revenue

Published: 28/07/2020

Reading Time: 3 Min

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David Haye, the former world cruiserweight and heavyweight boxing champion, was chosen as the new sponsored poker player of Grosvenor casino. The Champ will take the role as the official ambassador of the casino’s poker team.

Meanwhile, casinos in the UK are losing millions in revenue because of the prolonged lockdowns imposed by the government.

The gambling industry in Europe is becoming livelier. More and more casinos are reopening as countries loosen strict restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Poker tournaments started resuming following the events hosted by King’s Casino and the World Poker Tour sponsored tournaments.

World Poker Tour started sponsoring qualifying events for the 2020 World Series of Poker. Games were scheduled in Asia, Europe, and the US in preparations for the big events.

The poker industry is gaining momentum amidst the continuing spread of the deadly novel coronavirus. Casinos around the world, including the UK, saw massive losses in revenue because of the prolonged lockdowns on casinos.

Haye moves from boxing to poker

The documentary David vs Goliath detailed the transformation of the champion from boxing into a professional poker player. After retiring from the physical sport, the Champ studied poker and after a year beat more than 9000 fellow players during the GUKPT £125 buy-in Goliath event held in Coventry.

The boxing legend performed well during the tournament as he finishes at the 40th place with a take-home prize of £2085. He believed that he learned the right way after earning his achievements in his professional poker career.

Grosvenor hoped that the heavyweight boxing champ leads the team in their fightback from the effect of the novel coronavirus on the poker landscape.

The Champ will compete at the online Hayemaker Bounty tournaments launched this week, and he is expected to portray an important role during post-lockdown live poker events.

David Haye trained with the best poker players and coaches in the world during his one-year training. He said his training and abilities contributed to his success in the poker tables.

UK casinos losses millions during the lockdowns

Casinos in the UK remained close since they shut down operations in March because of the novel coronavirus. Casinos in the neighbouring countries welcomed back guests since late May after governments loosened restrictions to boost economic activity.

Government leaders needed to take into consideration their depleting treasuries as they impose novel coronavirus preventive measures.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson allowed business operations, including dining restaurants, hotels, and many others, to operate except the casinos. Betting and Gaming Council CEO Michael Dugher expressed discontent on the move of the government to restrict casinos from reopening.

He noted the thousands lost their jobs during the lockdowns of the casinos and it is stealing away millions in operating expenses. He added that prolonging the lockdown could do more harm to the facilities.

The CEO applauded the government’s decision to cut VAT from 20 per cent to 5 per cent for six months to cushion the impact of the pandemic to the casinos’ operations. He urged the government to casinos must be given the green light to reopen as quickly as possible in July.