Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex
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| Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex | |
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| Facts and statistics | |
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| Address | Yarra Promenade, Southbank, Melbourne, Australia |
| Opening date | 1997 |
| Casino type | Land |
| Owner | Crown Limited |
| Website | www.crowncasino.com.au |
Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex is a casino and entertainment precinct on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia attracting on average 16 million visitors yearly, making it the largest casino in Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited.
The complex was designed by multiple architects including award winning Daryl Jackson and opened in 1997. The complex is one of the central features of the Southbank area in the central business district and the Crown Promenade fronts onto the waterfront as part of Southbank Promenade. Children under 18 are permitted into the entertainment section of Crown but not into the gaming area or areas serving alcohol.
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[edit] Casino
Crown Casino opened in 1994 at the World Trade Centre on the north bank of the Yarra River, moving to the new complex at Southbank in 1997. Actress Rachel Griffiths infamously ran through the casino topless on its opening night. It is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week except on Christmas Day, Good Friday and Anzac Day. On these days Crown is closed from 4am and reopens 12 noon. It was originally founded, owned and run by Lloyd Williams until the Packer takeover by PBL in 1999. Crown Casino is the largest casino in the southern hemisphere, has a license for 350 table games and 2500 poker machines. [1]
On Friday January 30 2009 The crown casino and entertainment complex was evacuated due to a blackout as a result of a 3 day heatwave. The blackout lasted from 6:30pm till about midnight. Gamers were refunded cash which they had entered into poker machine before the blackout in the following days [2]
[edit] Games
Amongst other games, Crown provides the 6 main casino games of Blackjack, Craps, Pai Gow, Poker, Baccarat and Roulette but it was also the founder of an electronic version of Roulette known as Rapid Roulette. Rapid Roulette is essentially the same as traditional roulette but rather than players placing bets on a layout, all gaming takes place on a personal electronic touch screen connected to a central roulette wheel. The benefit of this is that the player has easy access to the entire betting layout, and due to the electronic nature of the game, it is both fast and accurate. Rapid Roulette has been in use for several years, and recently Rapid Bigwheel and Rapid Sic-bo have been developed.
As well as Caribbean Stud Poker on the main gaming floor, Crown has also long offered varieties of poker including Texas Hold'em. The Crown Poker Room has recently grown with the increased popularity of poker and now encompasses a large separate space in the Crown basement known as the Poker Room.
Crown casino has 2500 poker machines on the casino floor, with values of 1 cent, 2 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, 20 Cent, 50 cent and 1 dollar available for patrons to play. The slot machines at Crown are made by Aristocrat, VLC, AGT, IGT, Konami and Stargames, with 2 Dollar machines being introduced into the VIP area.
[edit] Government oversight
The regulator overseeing the Casino's activities, and to whom grievances can be addressed to is the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation. The VCGR regularly monitors the casino's operations making sure Crown conforms to Victorian Gambling laws.[3] Several times Crown have been charged and fined for breaches of the Casino Control Act 1991.[4]
[edit] Rewards programs
The Crown Casino have a rewards program called "Crown Club" where by playing both poker machines and table games earn the player points on the card for credit or other bonuses.[5] Legislation now requires that the casino provide player activity statements for loyalty card holders that describes their gaming machine usage. (needs reference)
[edit] Entertainment complex
The Crown Entertainment Complex incorporates several nightclubs, a Village Cinema complex and multiple restaurants, fast food outlets, food courts and shops. The complex also houses "Galactic Circus", an electronic games arcade, laser 'tag' game and bowling alley. Notable features of the casino include its colourful entrance (commonly known as the 'Atrium', featuring stepped fountains and sound/light shows under the themes of the four seasons), and pyrotechnic towers running the length of the Casino promenade. Many luxury branded stores such as:
[edit] Hotels
The two hotel towers are named Crown Towers Hotel and Crown Promenade Hotel. The Crown Towers Hotel opened with the complex and is the most luxurious of the pair, located on the banks of the Yarra River overlooking the city centre, Kings Domain, Port Phillip and Docklands. A speciality area called the Crystal Club Lounge is available to people who stay in some of the more expensive suites at the Hotel. Crown Contain's Three Valet entrence's.
The Crown Promenade Hotel is located on Whiteman Street. A third hotel is under construction being built at the corner of Whiteman and Clarendon Streets, Southbank. The new, "Metropol" will be Australia's largest hotel by number of rooms.
[edit] The Palladium Room
The Palladium at Crown is Melbourne's grandest ballroom, with a seating capacity of 1,500 it has played host to some of Australia's premier functions including the annual TV Week Logie Awards, Brownlow Medal, Allan Border Medal and the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix ball. It also hosted a few weddings in 2008.
[edit] Water Feature
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The water features are located at Crown Casino, a vast complex extending along the Yarra River between Southgate and the Melbourne Convention Center. Composed of interior and exterior work, the water features range in form, choreography and technology. The Season’s of Fortune, Southern Porte Cochere, Revelry, Brigades and Celebration are designed for entertainment and interaction, creating a variety of experiences for the guests of Crown Casino.
RIGADES Gently flowing water veneers the textured granite faces of six towers that are located on a promenade at the Crown Casino along the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia. The water that surfaces these towers is quiet and delicately textured and eminently “touchable,” resulting in a tactile experience for visitors to the river’s edge during daylight hours.
At night, and in thunderous contrast to the tranquility of the daytime water experience, giant spheres of fire issue at choreographed intervals from the tops of the towers. Nine feet in diameter, these magnificent flame clusters send out pyrotechnic illumination that transforms the Crown Casino promenade and the entire river edge into an evening experience of vibrancy and drama.
[edit] See also
restaurants*Crown Las Vegas
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website
- CrownLimited.com
- Disability information
- Police ban crime figures from Crown Casino (from ABC News)
- Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation
- Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex is at 37°49′20″S 144°57′36″E / 37.822324°S 144.960099°ECoordinates: 37°49′20″S 144°57′36″E / 37.822324°S 144.960099°E
- Crown Casino Review
