Rules of Membership

Formal Details

1  The name of the Club is “The Ritz Club”. Its address is 150 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9BS.

2  The Club is a proprietary club. The proprietor is The Ritz Hotel Casino Limited (“the Company”).

3  The Club exists to provide members and their guests with gaming, eating and other facilities. It shall provide and maintain Club premises of the highest quality and staff of the highest calibre for the comfort of members. The objects of the Club are social, recreational and non-political.

Membership

4  Any person aged 18 or over is eligible for membership.

5  All applications for membership of the Club shall be made in writing on a form provided for that purpose by the Company.

a)  A person shall become a member of the Club if elected by the Company;
b)  The Company shall have absolute discretion as to who shall become a member of the Club and shall have the right to refuse any application for membership for any reason without giving any explanation;
c)  No member or applicant for membership of the Club shall be entitled to use the Club unless notice of his intention to do so has been given on the premises or received at the premises in writing;
d)  The Company shall have the right to refuse any member entrance to the Club;
e)  Save as provided in (d) above, every member of the Club shall, subject to these Rules and upon payment of any charges fixed by the Company, be entitled to use and enjoy, in common with the other members of the Club, the Club premises and the things therein provided by the Company for the use of the Club.

6  A successful applicant shall be given immediate notice of his election and shall become a member of the Club and shall be entitled to all the benefits and privileges of such membership and agrees thereby to be bound by these Rules.

7  The membership fee and any subscriptions shall be fixed by the Company from time to time. It shall be entirely within the Company’s discretion to raise, lower or waive such membership fees and or subscriptions.

8  All membership fees, subscriptions and payments by members become the property of the Company. The Company shall be solely responsible for the provision of the Club premises and all services necessary for carrying on the Club and shall have entire control of all financial matters connected with the Club. Members’ liability shall only arise as a result of membership and shall be for such payments to the Company as are provided by these Rules.

9  The Company may, at its complete discretion, invite persons to become honorary members. Honorary members shall not be required to pay any membership fee or any subscription but such membership may be ended by the Company at any time at its complete discretion.

10  Any member may resign his membership at any time by giving the Company written notice of his resignation and such member shall not be entitled to a return of his membership fee or subscription or any part thereof.

11  The Company shall have an absolute discretion as to whether a person shall remain a member of the Club and shall have the right to expel or terminate the membership of any member for any reason without giving any explanation and without returning that member’s membership fee or subscription or any part thereof.

General

12  The Company reserves the right not to pay any gaming debt in circumstances where it knows or reasonably suspects that a member has won money by way of cheating. For the purpose of this Rule ‘cheating’ includes any conduct which seeks to remove or reduce the element of chance and or seeks to give any advantage to the player. The company shall have absolute discretion in deciding whether any activity amounts to cheating and also as to whether any such activity has in fact taken place.

13  Any decision of the Company under these Rules shall be conclusive and binding. It is a term and condition of membership that no legal proceedings shall be instituted by any member to challenge the ruling of the Company.

14  These Rules shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law. Members and any guests of members irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts in respect of any disputes arising in connection with membership of the Club, gaming at the Club, or otherwise howsoever.

15  Nothing in the foregoing however shall prevent the Company from instituting legal proceedings in any other jurisdiction as it sees fit, and in those circumstances members and any guests of members irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the court in question.

16  No member shall give the address of the Club in any advertisement or use the Club address for business or political purposes.

17  Every member of the Club shall notify any change of address to the membership secretary and all notices posted to the last notified address of the member shall be considered as having been duly given and received on the seventh day following posting.

18  Members must carry the membership card issued to them at all times when visiting the Club and produce it to any representative of the Company whenever required.

19  Any member may introduce and entertain friends, other than those under the age of eighteen, at the Club. The introducing member shall be responsible for his guests strictly observing the Club Rules and must not leave the premises before his guests without the prior agreement of the Company. The introducing member shall be responsible for any refreshments consumed by his guests. The Company may suspend from membership any member who abuses this privilege. No person who has been expelled from membership or whose conduct or presence on the Club premises is considered by the Company to be objectionable or prejudicial to the interests of the Club shall be introduced as a guest.

20  A register shall be kept at the Club in which, on entry to the premises, the name of the visiting member, together with that of any guest accompanying him must be recorded along with such other information or particulars as the Company may require.

21  The Club will be open and prepared to receive members (subject to the terms and conditions of any gaming licence which may be issued from time to time) during the hours permitted for the time being for gaming by The Gambling Act 2005 or any amending or substituted legislation, but these hours may be shortened at the discretion of the Company.

22  Intoxicating liquor may only be sold or supplied or provided in the Club whilst the Club is open and prepared to receive members and only during the hours and within the conditions permitted by any Licence, Order or Certificate granted by the Local Authority or under any succeeding Premises Licence in force for the time being. Members must pay any account due from them before leaving the Club unless they have authority from the Company not to do so.

23  If a member or guest’s behaviour is deemed unacceptable as a result of becoming intoxicated on or off the premises the Company may take any action it deems reasonable, including, but not limited to, refusing entry, requesting the member and/or guest to leave the premises or withdrawing the member’s membership.

24  The charges to be made for refreshments shall be fixed by the Company.

25  No game of hazard or chance shall be played on the Club premises otherwise than in accordance with the law in force relating to that particular game or games.

26  No member or any guest of any member may participate in gaming on the Club premises on behalf of any other person who is not present on the premises at the time and no member shall so participate or endeavour to participate unless he is present on the Club premises at the time.

27  The Company reserves the right to shut off any portion of the Club premises at any time, to exclude members therefrom and to close the Club from time to time as it may deem necessary.

28  No credit shall be given, provided or facilitated to enable any person to take part in gaming, to which rule there shall be no exception.

29  All property brought into the Club premises by any member or his guest shall be at the sole risk of the person bringing such property onto the Club premises and neither the Company nor any employee of the Company shall be liable for any loss or damage to any such article, howsoever occasioned.

30  Neither the Company nor any employee of the Company shall, under any circumstances, be responsible to members or their guests for loss or damage to vehicles parked, collected or driven by staff of the Club, or loss of or damage to the contents or accessories of or in any such vehicle.

31  The Company may, from time to time, revoke, alter or add to these Rules. Any such revocation, alteration or addition shall be deemed to have been brought to the attention of members provided a notice of any changes is prominently displayed to members within the Club and on The Ritz Club’s web site for one month after such change.

32  The details of all Club members are kept on files administered by The Ritz Hotel Casino Limited, 86 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6JD and will be used for membership administration and provision of information to members and investigating authorities. The Club premises are covered by C.C.T.V. and audio surveillance. All data protection enquiries should be made in writing to the Data Controller at the above address.

33  In these rules, where the context to permits, the masculine shall include the feminine.

July 2010