Minimum Bet
Mate of mine has worked in casinos for 20-odd years.

Back in the 80s, when the high rollers tended to be middle eastern rather than Russian, a punter who came in now and again and spent vast amounts at the table was having a bad run and needed to get more chips, so he sent one of his entourage off to cash a six-figure cheque (this guy's credit was definitely good at the casino in question).

While said cheque was being converted into chips, the punter found himself at the table with nothing to play with, but the itch to get something down on the next spin of the wheel was proving irresistible.

So, off comes the Patek Phillippe watch - probably at least ten grand's worth - and down it goes on the table.

My mate's reaction?

"Sorry sir, the minimum bet on this table is ten pounds".

The bloke went fucking ballistic.

"You insult me, you insult my credit, you insult my watch, you insult my country..." et cetera et cetera probably all the way through to "... and you insult my camel".

My mate got summoned to the boss's office where he had to absolutely grovel to the punter - who, naturally, is demanding that he be beheaded, or at least sacked - which seemed to placate the guy eventually.

Once he'd gone and the door had closed, the boss burst out laughing, saying it was one of the funniest things he'd ever heard in years of working in the casino business - but under NO circumstances was my mate to make an off-the-cuff joke like that to a punter ever again.

PS Same mate more recently got involved in another watch/casino episode - he took a bit of a busman's holiday to Las Vegas, was doing well on the tables, card games etc, which they were pretty cool with once they realised he was a fellow casino worker not a professional gambler - came back with a Cartier watch he'd bought with his winnings, with plenty spare cash left over.
(Capo, Thu 7 May 2009, 13:18, 1 reply)

Have a click
Your mate is awesome.
(sarahlicity, Sat 9 May 2009, 3:34, closed)