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The
Straits Times, 21 Mar 04
Gods of Gamblers
By Tracy Quek
Punting for deep pockets, top casinos woo and pamper high rollers
who can easily lose $1 million a night
IT'S not every day you have freshly brewed bird's nest for breakfast
or beluga caviar as a between-meals snack, with a choice of Chateau
Latour, Chateau Lafite or Chateau Mouton-Rothschild wine to wash it
all down. Except, of course, if you're a high roller at a swanky Las
Vegas casino. And there's more: From US$10,000 (about S$17,000) worth
of shopping vouchers to splurge on the latest designer togs, first-class
air tickets, private jets to chauffeured stretch limousines, casinos
roll out the red carpet for punters with deep pockets like Mr Fu Yang
Rong.
Ask the 50-something businessman about his trips to Las Vegas casinos
and he waxes lyrical. 'They treat you very well, even better than
what you see in the movies!' gushed Mr Fu who visits the world-famous
Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, at least twice a year. He and
another big spender The Sunday Times spoke to reckon they have gambled
as much as a million bucks each time they set foot in Nevada. No surprise
then that casinos go all out to court them, the very people Singapore
policy makers hope to entice as regulars - if they decide to allow
a casino here.
For those who are rolling in money, the pampering begins even before
they board the plane to Las Vegas. Several times a year, casino representatives
fly to Asian cities, including Singapore, to hook potential customers.
With lavish 10-course Chinese banquets that can cost more than $1,000
a head, they wine and dine the region's rich and famous. Those who
take the bait often receive first-class passage to Las Vegas - and
yes, families are included. The hospitality is first rate, said Mr
Fu. The casino's bigwigs welcome their special guests the moment they
arrive in stretch limousines. Then it's straight to a VIP lounge where
they savour $500-a-glass cognac or wine.
During their stay, a casino host will be at their beck and call. These
guests get the best rooms: palatial suites and penthouses ranging
from 3,000 to 5,000 sq ft, bigger than many luxury apartments here,
and furnished with plasma TVs and oversized four-poster beds. Best
of all, to use the Singaporean's favourite four-letter word, it's
free. If one had to pay for it, a night's stay could cost between
US$2,000 and US$12,000.
Free tickets to shows and concerts starring performers like Celine
Dion are also thrown in. For a two-week stay, a casino might have
to underwrite a bill of S$100,000, estimates Mr Fu. Aside from perks,
casinos may also offer their top customers rebates on every dollar
spent, win or lose.
This royal treatment usually brings the casinos rich rewards and they
bank on the fact that these patrons will usually lose enough money
to more than cover a casino's outlay. As Mr Fu and his fellow Mr Big
can tell you, they have wagered anything from US$10,000 to US$50,000
a hand and most times, the house wins. 'Nine times out of ten, you
lose,' said the businessman, adding that he's gambled away $1 million
in one night. The most he's won: $400,000.
The top echelon of high rollers, those whose wagers may top US$100,000
per hand, stand to lose even more. 'Those prepared to lose at least
half a million dollars during their stay are considered very good
customers,' said Mr Allan Tan, chief financial officer of Casinos
Austria International which manages and has stakes in 70 casino properties
worldwide.
There are at most 300 of these people, he said, mostly Asians, and
only a dozen of the world's top casinos can afford to court them.
'With big players, it's a very volatile stream of income, they lose
big but they win big, too,' said Mr Alan Feldman, spokesman for MGM
Mirage which owns and operates 12 casino resorts in America and Australia.
This explains why successful casino business models are the ones that
include the masses who might punt as little as US$5 a time. 'It's
a numbers game. You need the majority who are ordinary folk who come
in to gamble a little, to balance out high-roller activity,' said
Mr Tan. So whether rich or poor, casinos vie to provide the highest
level of service to keep patrons coming. Said Mr Feldman: 'We aim
to make every customer feel extra special, to provide a fantasy experience.'
Mr Fu can vouch for it. He said: 'They treat you like a king. You
really don't know the meaning of luxury until you've been in a Vegas
casino. They make you feel so good, you forget your losses and want
to go back.'
$34,000 cash tip
A BIG-TIME gambler was on a roll. So pleased was he at his good fortune
that he gave his casino host Mr C. Koh a generous tip. How much? Try
US$20,000 (S$34,000), in cash.
For Mr Koh, whose job it was to keep the high rollers happy, it was
like striking oil in his backyard. At the casino where he worked for
two years in the late 1980s, one of Las Vegas' largest, big players
thought nothing of splashing out on tips after a winning streak, said
Mr Koh who provided a personalised service to its Asian clients, from
Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore.
In fact, US$1,000 tips were small change. Media mogul Kerry Packer,
arguably Australia's richest man and owner of Crown Casino in Melbourne,
has been known to bestow million-dollar tips on dealers. To keep such
high rollers coming back, they are treated 'like gods', said Mr Koh,
who now runs his own business in Singapore.
Hosts like himself were at their beck and call. Once, at 3am, he got
a call from the suite of a Taiwanese client: 'I jumped out of bed,
got into my suit, ran up to his suite and all he wanted was a glass
of iced lemon tea. Anything they wanted, they got. Nothing was too
expensive or too inconvenient.' Tickets to the best shows and concerts,
stretch limousines, the best food and wine were the bare minimum when
it came to pampering their guests.
Feel like a spot of shopping? They might fly you out to New York for
a shopping spree. Want some Japanese food? Top-grade sushi would be
flown in from a restaurant in another city for dinner. At no charge.
'To ordinary folk, it might seem like the casinos incur a huge expense,'
said Mr Koh. 'But what is, say, US$50,000 for a shopping spree, compared
to the millions these guys spend?'. He left after two years as he
couldn't get an extension on his employment pass.
Does he regret it? Yes and no. 'To work there is a great eye-opener.
But I'm not sure what sort of person I would have turned out to be
if I had stayed on. 'When you hang around these people, you get sucked
in too. If I had stayed, I would probably have ended up a gambler.'
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