A PRIVATE club in the heart of Reigate which was shut down for illegally hosting high-stakes commercial poker, has been refused a licence to reopen under a new name.
The Full House, also known as the Reigate Town Club, situated above three shops in Church Street, was stripped of both its private club premises certificate and gaming licence by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council in November. This was after a raid and investigation by the Gambling Commission.
Members of the previous club applied for a new club premises certificate under the name of the Jubilee Club. This prompted a licensing sub-committee hearing at which council licensing officer Paul Holliday said: "We have a very clear case here that there is evidence to suggest these premises could be used for illegal gaming.
"Illegal gaming has lots of consequences to society, not just in terms of breaching specific regulations, but other, social, concerns.
"We have a premises that was used as an illegal poker venue, we have members of that club applying for a licence."
He said the club had 42 members, of which just 3 live in the borough.
"We are saying that people who are prepared to travel half way across the South East are more interested in playing high-stakes poker," he told the committee on Friday.
He argued that, if the committee did grant a club premises certificate, it would allow the club to apply for a fast-track gaming licence, which the council would have little power to oppose.
The application was initially for a licence to open until 8am every day and serve alcohol until 5am at weekends.
But at the hearing, counsel for the applicant, Leo Charalambides, said they were prepared to cut both to 4am. He argued the licence was not for any form of gambling, and that Mr Holliday's arguments were "irrelevant".
"We are concerned with an entirely new entity," he said. "Certainly, made up of former members, as you would expect for a premises that has been operating since the 70s – but this is an entirely fresh premises [licence]."
He claimed the Gambling Commission – which had two representatives at the hearing who were denied permission to speak by the committee – were trying to "hijack" the role of the licensing authority by pursuing their own agenda.
Refusing the licence, the committee did not provide reasons for their decision, but said they would issue a written judgement at a later date.
Club secretary Peter Edler said he and his legal team would wait until then to decide whether or not to appeal.
