IT IS probably more than five years since Kerry Packer was a regular visitor to London’s gaming tables, but in his prime his fortunes could dictate whether a casino company would be able to meet market forecasts or have to issue a profit warning.

Packer was one of perhaps a dozen super-highrollers in the world who could win or lose £10 million at a single sitting. Roulette is said to have been his favoured game, although he also reckoned himself to be a dab hand at blackjack.

Although the entrepreneur was happy to tell anyone who would care to listen about his big wins, he was well known for playing down the scale of any big losses.

Packer was an aggressive player who could be a bad loser, and stories of overturned blackjack tables have become part of London casino folklore. “He was very arrogant and could be rude and obnoxious if the cards started going against him,” one source said.

Packer was a big fan of Las Vegas, although in London his favoured gambling venue was Crockfords, a more restrained and plush type of establishment. It was at Crockfords, now part of Stanley Leisure, that he famously lost £7 million over the space of three weeks in 1999.

Like many gamblers, Packer also liked to own casinos. His PBL empire includes the Crown Entertainment Complex in Southbank, Melbourne, and the recently acquired Burswood Entertainment Complex in Perth, which for 20 years has held Western Australia’s only casino.

PBL has also joined forces with Betfair, the British-based internet betting exchange operator, to pitch for Australia’s first betting-exchange licence. The Tasmanian Government recently granted a licence and PBL is now pushing other states to follow suit.

PBL’s Asian gaming joint venture, Melco International Development, headed by Stanley Ho, the Macau gaming billionaire, is also on the shortlist to win the tender for Singapore’s first casino, although it is up against some of America’s biggest gaming groups.

In Britain, the Packer family’s Consolidated Press Holdings vehicle has set up a joint venture with Damian Aspinall, the casino owner. The venture, which falls under the aegis of James Packer, opened its first Aspers casino in Newcastle in October at a rumoured cost of more than £15 million. Further big Aspers casinos are planned across the UK, including Swansea and Brierley Hill in the Midlands, although rivals say that the Las Vegas-style entertainment could make it difficult for the venues to make money.

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