When Training to Be a Croupier Would Get You £2,700 PA

_{Buchannan Street in Glasgow Buchanan Street in Glasgow bustling with pedestrians. (Image: Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy)}

It is easy to reminisce about the good old days. You could go to the cinema by bus, buy some popcorn and a Vimto, then call for a cheeky beer on the way home and, if your luck was in, stop off at the casino for a roll of the dice.

So, it was in Glasgow when ads appeared in local papers recruiting ‘girls’ croupiers for one of Glasgow’s first casinos.

The site of what is considered to be Glasgow’s very first casino is now the Royal Concert Hall, located at the junction of three major city roads: Buchanan Street, Sauchiehall Street and Parliamentary Road.

Glasgow has been the City Culture of and holds many surprises for the tourist, including some new casinos where the croupiers command a little more than £2,700 for doing their job.

_{The Chevalier Casino in 1980s was a prestigious training place for young croupiers. (Image: Courtesy of The Casino Academy)}

NAFFI Made Way for Casino 

The original (NAFFI) eight-story building was located on the site of the Imperial Hotel and cost £100,000. Goodness knows how many members of the Navy, Army and Air Force went through those doors before it closed in 1960.

When the Armed Forces started scaling back, there was no great demand for the NAFFI. In 1964 a Cypriot by the name of Reo Stakis took over the top two floors of the building and Casino Chevalier was born, making it one of the largest casinos in the UK at the time.

_{In 1960s, a croupier salary was a mere £2700 yearly. (Image: Courtesy of GlasgowLive)}

Casino Owner Eventually Knighted  

The casino remained open until the 1980s, but by then Stakis had enjoyed great success, moving on to ownership of a number of restaurants and hotels. Stakis wasn’t without controversy as the casino was raided shortly after opening with police confiscating a roulette table amid allegations of game fixing.

_{Hotel entrepreneur Sir Reo Stakis, pictured with his family, received a knighthood at Buckingham Palace. (Image: PA Images / Alamy)}

Glasgow went through a period of renewal with many of the buildings in the area of the casino torn down and streets modernised. The NAFFI remained standing until 1988 to make way for the Royal Concert Hall. 

No doubt the recently knighted Stakis would have taken a seat there to enjoy a concert all the while reminiscing on his success on that very spot.