Supporting a football team can be a bit of a gamble for many fans and it is not a decision that always has its roots in rationality. There are plenty of fans who follow blindly through the ups and downs without making the sort of rational decision making that would let them know that they were throwing away a considerable amount of money while getting very little in return. It is therefore no surprise to see that a team was keen to have a casino added to their stadium because let’s face it, football fans love chucking money away on something that will likely see them lose. You can just imagine the keen poker players lining up to get a seat at the table at one of these games!
The football club in question was Leeds United and this is a club that knows all about a gamble. They were huge in the late 1960s and early 1970s but the club never seemed to have the luck or the vital killer instinct to get over the edge on too many questions. Sure they managed to pick up the league title and an FA Cup but when you think about how many near misses they had, it is clear that there was something not quite right about the club. Even at their highest moments in European football, they were shown to be out of their depth by the top teams of the time such as Celtic and Bayern Munich.
Poker can be fun against clueless opponents
In more recent times, the gambles taken at Elland Road have been in the boardroom with some stupid decisions being made to chase the Champions League dream. Even amateur poker players would have loved to have played poker against Peter Ridsdale, a clown of a business man who had no sense of his own value or limitations. Again, this is exactly the sort of poker opponent you would love to find yourself up against.
Sadly for Leeds United and their fans, there will be no official poker games at Elland Road. This is because their application to be the recipient of the large casino licence for Leeds. Only 8 of these licences have been granted around the country and Leeds United were keen to bring a casino and plenty of poker table to Elland Road.
Their application was rejected though with Global Gaming Ventures being handed a provisional statement, which is the pre-cursor to the firm being awarded a full licence. There are conditions attached to this, so it is not all cut and dried just yet but the Leeds United dream of being a poker, much like their dream of being mainstays in the Champions League have been destroyed. Global Gaming Ventures plan on placing their casino within the Victoria Gate development, which has so far cost over £130m. With over 200 jobs expected to be created for the city with this new poker venue, there is a lot to look forward to in Leeds, even if this doesn’t extend to the football team.