Rien ne va plus at El Matador

Everything is going very well at El Matador Club where gambling forms part of a growing leisure activity.

Tous les jeux sont faits? Rien ne va plus. The terms for roulette in any country as the compère throws the ball onto the wheel are in French but the stakes at El Matador Club in Taunton are limited, the threshold is half a crown up to three pounds for the maximum bet. Professional croupier Jennifer Bramble is interviewed about her job for the card game of Baccarat Chemin de fers. The croupier oversees the game and is responsible for taking bets and paying out on winning hands.

After the Second World War retuning troops were partial to Housie or Bingo and the Betting and Gaming Act of 1960 paved the way for members-only clubs and casinos. Baccarat Chemmy hails from the French term Chemin de fers meaning railway because the game is a faster variant. Author Ian Fleming made this form the favourite with James Bond although in the film Casino Royale (2006) Daniel Craig faces off with Mads Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre in several rounds of Texas hold’em poker instead! In the 1960s as shown at El Matador, baccarat and roulette were popular games with perhaps less high stakes hoolie. The 2005 Gambling Act regulates online gambling but new laws try to keep up with the gambling industry phenomenon.