The Playboy Club in the capital is reportedly set to open in 2010 to offer gaming at roulette wheels and blackjack tables. The original Playboy club on Park Lane in Mayfair was closed 27 years ago after a police raid over suspected gambling irregularities, despite no subsequent evidence of wrongdoing.
“We are looking for opportunities around the world. London will be logical for us. We had some very good years there,” Times Online quoted Dick Rosenzweig, executive vice-president of Playboy and Hefner’’s right-hand man, as saying.
Playboy could win its licence in as little as two months after applying if it meets all the requirements.
The former London club opened opposite Hyde Park in 1966, six years after the first Playboy Club was launched in Chicago. For 15 years, the London club, on five floors, was a welcome distraction from worries such as the IRA, strikes and riots.
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Nicknamed "the Hutch on the Park", the London venue's clientele included actors Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Joan Collins, and footballer George Best, who married former bunny Angie MacDonald-Janes.The club was run by Victor Lownes, an American who became the highest-paid executive in Britain. Lownes, now 80, married Marilyn Cole, a former playmate of the year. He said: "It was a huge success and ran like a dream. We had a discotheque in the basement, several restaurants, a VIP room and a casino with roulette and blackjack. The average bunny lasted two years and then married a millionaire.
Jeff Georgino, Playboy's senior vice-president, said: "We are actively looking at locations which are on the market in London. We would love to get a casino licence ... It all depends on that."
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