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High rollers get a free ride
WELCOME BAHAMAS - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - 2004
High rollers get a free ride
Meet the criteria and you can gamble for free
Just as they do all over the world, high rollers get special treatment at the two large and glitzy casinos in Nassau: the Casino at Atlantis on Paradise island and the Wyndham Nassau Resort?s Crystal Palace Casino at Cable Beach.
Agree to play at a certain level (say $75 per bet), for a minimum number of hours a day (usually four), and the casino will be happy to put you up in a room, and maybe even buy you a dinner or two.
The maximum blackjack bet at both Atlantis and Crystal Palace is $5,000 (more at Atlantis under special arrangement). However, high rollers can play three hands of blackjack at the same time, putting $15,000 on the line with each deal. Play at this level, as some folks do, and you won?t have to pay for anything much on your holiday, including the airfare, entertainment, room service, drinks, a round of golf or food.
The upper limit varies from casino to casino and from game to game. It might be $10,000 at the baccarat table, $3,000 for a line bet at craps, $500 at Caribbean stud poker and $200 at the roulette table.
Sometimes a high roller will walk away with a bundle. But for every one that does, many others will lose some, most or all of the cash they bring with them. Casino operations work something like an insurance company?s actuarial tables. Over time, the odds are inexorable: so many players betting so much money over such and such a period of time yields a profit of close to ?X.?
The casinos love it when someone wins big because it?s the best advertising in the world. That?s why a slot machine?s bells and whistles go crazy when a player hits the jackpot, magically turning a quarter into a couple of thousand dollars.
High rollers, or ?high-limit gaming customers,? as they are called by casino executives, ?are a very big part of our operation,? says Don Grissom, responsible for player development at Crystal Palace. ?They provide an extraordinary percentage of the revenue of the overall complex.?
High rollers get a ?rating card,? like a credit card, and use it every time they gamble, as they move from game to game. This helps the casino keep track and ensure that players are living up to their end of the agreements they sign.
?Floor managers keep track of the games the high-limit customers are playing, how long they are playing and the average level they are playing at,? says Grissom.
All the information is entered into a computer. In a typical case, a high roller may get all or part of his air fare paid, plus a complimentary room and $200 worth of free food and drinks.
Big gamblers usually prefer to play the board games, although some sign deals agreeing to wager the maximum on slots and play four hours a day. The slots provide anywhere from 50 to 70 per cent of a casino?s total income, according to insiders. They operate at a very thin profit margin. Up to 98 per cent of the handle (the total amount bet) is typically returned to the players in the form of winnings.
Craps
Although craps is the most complicated board game, it?s the favoured game of serious gamblers. The pace is fast and exciting, with opportunities to make many different kinds of bets on every roll of the dice. Players can win between two and 15 or even 30 times their wagers. To get the highest odds you wager either ?craps two? or ?craps twelve? ? betting that the number you choose will turn up on the next roll of the dice. You?ll hear a lot of whooping and hollering around a busy craps table. Players often yell at the dice as they throw them the length of the table.
Blackjack
A popular game among the high-limit players, as well as those who place smaller bets, is blackjack.
It?s a quieter and more personal game because each gamer plays against the dealer and players have to do some simple mental arithmetic as they play. If you?re undecided whether to take a hit, the dealer may help you by saying ?you need a seven or less.? This means your hand totals 14 and need to draw a seven or less to stay at or under 21.
Roulette
Roulette is an intense game with players reaching over the board and hurriedly laying bets as a little white ball spins around the rim of the opposite-spinning roulette wheel. All this activity stops abruptly when the dealer waves his hand across the board. Roulette offers the high odds, 35 to one for bets placed on a single number. But there are many other bets that pay anywhere from even money to 17 to one.
Caribbean stud poker
Although straight poker and most of its variations are illegal in The Bahamas, Caribbean stud is legal and it?s becoming very popular among both novices and high rollers.
It is basically five-card stud, except you play only against the dealer, not the other players. Players ante up an amount between the table?s minimum and maximum bet and are dealt five cards face down. The dealer takes four cards down and one up. After looking at your cards, you can decide to bet double your ante, or fold, in which case you lose your ante.
If your hand beats the dealer?s you will win even money on the ante and a bonus on the bet: from two to one if you have two pairs all the way up to 100 to one if you should happen to have been dealt the top hand, a royal flush ? from 10 to ace in the same suit. That?s the best odds in any casino (except for the slots). Your chances of getting a royal flush in a five card hand (using a single deck) are 649,740 to one.
Big six wheel
The simplest gambling game, other than the slots, is big six wheel, or the wheel of fortune.
The odds are related to the number of times a particular number appears on the big wheel. Thus, a bet on one pays even money, two pays two to one up to 20 at 20 to one. There?s also a joker (pays 40 to one).
The player simply places his or her bet or bets on one or more of the numbers and is paid if the wheel stops on one of those numbers.
Baccarat
Another table card game that has many fans is baccarat, considered by some to be the most sophisticated of the board games. It?s exciting for two reasons: first you?re allowed to bet large amounts (up to $10,000 at Atlantis), and you can bet either with or against the banker or the player. You can also bet that the two will tie, and if they do, you?re paid $8 for every dollar bet.
Unless you?re a high roller, it pays to study the board games before playing them. It?s also a good idea to take a little instruction from the friendly staff at Atlantis and Crystal Palace. The casinos offer courses, including demonstrations and brochures that describe the games in detail. They?re held daily: 3pm at Atlantis and 11am at Crystal Palace.
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