Many Moons Ago
I wrote this about 2 days after it happened....10 years ago.

I apologise for the bad spelling, terrible grammar and the fact that I haven't bothered to re-read it before posting.

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I got to Kuala Lumpur for the second time after my day trip to Malacca. I was doing what backpackers do and just walking about taking in the sights of the area around Chinatown when a middle-aged Malaysian woman approached me and asked if I knew where a particular road was. With my trusty Lonely Planet to hand I was able to help. Anyway she seemed harmless enough and she started asking about London and explained that her sister was going to London in a few weeks time and could I spare some time to talk to her about it.

At the time I was rushing off to make a phone call home and had to refuse her offer of a drink but agreed to meet her the following day at 1pm at the nearby McDonalds.

Okay...immediately my mind goes bonkers...what does she want ? ..my body, my money (more likely) or something else ? So I decided to meet her and if it got too hairy I could always overpower her (they're only little) and run away before any damage could be done to my body or wallet.

So, as the big hand approached the twelve and the little hand was on the one I was standing outside the designated spot. She wasn't. But from behind me I heard my name being called out (very weird in a foreign country)and she had been waiting inside.

We sat down for a bit, she bought me a coke and we chatted...she said that it would be easy if I could spare half an hour or so right there and then to talk to her sister, but could we go shopping first. (Why is it I always end up with girls/women who want to wander around shopping malls ?) So I got in a cab with her and off we went. Just before this happened I bumped into the bi-sexual jewish woman I met a few days ago and told her where I was going and with whom, just to be safe.

So a couple of cab rides later and I'm in someone's home. Some Malaysian guy called Tom Ton. He introduces himself and explains that he is a croupier at the local big casino and that he too is going off to London in a few weeks to visit the Ritz casino and to go to a seminar on crouping.

Anyway, this is the bit that gets interesting.....

He begins to tell me about the VIP rooms in the casino where there are no cameras, only supervisors and the players play against themselves not the house who only take a percentage of the winnings.

He then starts his "proposal" as he kept putting it. He said there was a way that we could make a lot of money, 100,000 ringgit (nearly 15,000 quid) split three ways between myself, him and the supervisor.

He then takes me up to a room where there is a small table, some cards and a few large tiddlywinks. He then proceeds to show me how the scam works. Okay...I'm already feeling edgy but I'm keeping calm, so he shows me the hand signals, the circumstances, how to play the cards, how to bet against it and we practice for a bit. This was easy. It could work, I kept thinking.

All the time he's talking about a game that occurred last night between a couple of tycoons, one from Brunei and one from Singapore. The Brunei guy won and was coming over to take his "lucky dealer" to lunch.

So there we are practicing away, the woman who I originally met comes in and sits next to me while this goes on. Suddenly...Mr Brunei comes in, Tom Ton explains that I was playing blackjack against a Chinese guy last night and lost 10,000 ringgit, Mr Brunei commiserates me. Tom Ton then introduces the woman as my girlfriend, dammit...I'd like to think I have better taste than that.

It's at this point I started to make hints that I wanted to leave but the woman just kept kicking my leg as if saying don't go anywhere. So I stayed.

Tom Tun then suggests a 'fun game' between myself and Mr Brunei. Tom Tun produces 150 ringgit (30 quid) saying that as I had lost so much last night he would give me back his tip so I could play. Mr Brunei pulls out a bound wad worth 2000 ringgit (290 quid) and we begin to play.

Now as you can guess within about 2-3 hands I was sitting on 1000 ringgit due to the interesting addition to the game that we had been practicing... but I still couldn't help but think all was little to good. Then came a funny hand...I ended up with 21 with 3 cards. Mr Brunei had an ace showing and the dealer told me he had a 9 hidden. This was then simple, I bet almost everything..then the git raised me, by 500 ringgit, 200 of which I didn't have. Tom Tun then offers me credit for the 200 and was clearly saying to me do it. I got confused and a little concerned about this credit thing and visions of me trying to leave the house with 3000 in credit to this guy suddenly danced elaborately around my mind. So I threw it in. Didn't cover and lost the hand, much to the amazement of the 3 other people in the room. This obviously bothered me a little, why was Mr Brunei so sure that I should be carrying on...it's almost like he knew.

I managed to get out of the room with my 'girlfriend' under some pretence of making an important phone call. Tom Ton's attitude changed a little after that and the woman was a little confused.

I apologised to the guy (?) and explained that I had lost trust in him due to the unknown addition of this real game without warning and explained that I felt threatened and the woman got me out of the house and back to near where I was staying. I explained more clearly to her about what had happened. I think she understood and was going to try and convey this to Tom Ton who had been banging on about losing 150 ringgit.

I almost became part of a half decent scam and nearly made 5 grand in an evening...but then again I could have lost a rather lot of money or a leg or something. Overall it's an experience I am happy to have lived through and come out unscathed.

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I lied...I have re-read it and I still can't believe it happened. I was very careful about where I went and who I went with for the whole of my travels and I am still very dubious about any kind of gambling scenario.

My brain must have briefly short-circuited and I went with the flow.

All that stuff that the mental cat Charlie taught me when I was a kid went straight out of the window.
( bacon and egg roll is going to be big downunder, Mon 11 May 2009, 7:22, 4 replies)

similar story
my friend did exactly the same thing in Thailand...the next step would have been for them to take £50 - 100 from your card to fund the next few hands and stitch up the businessman. My mate went for it and then found out later they had taken £4,000 from his bank card.
You got out just in time...I'm amazed they didnt put more pressure on you!
(jonboy75, Mon 11 May 2009, 12:34, closed)

not as amazed as me
It leads me to two trains of thought.

1. They were just starting out and hadn't sorted out the whole routine yet.
2. It was real. I highly doubt this but you never know.

I have to wonder if what I did was to give them a critical appraisal of their scam only for them to improve it and take some other sucker to the cleaners.

I'll never know.
( bacon and egg roll is going to be big downunder, Wed 13 May 2009, 7:32, closed)

damn fish heads

(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Mon 11 May 2009, 12:55, closed)

Scam artists
It's quite common for scam artists to involve a member of the public in a "scam" as a perpetrator... then have it fail, with the original scam artist taking a cut from the money and the member of the public afraid to go to the police as they were getting involved in something illegal...
(Not him., Mon 11 May 2009, 18:28, closed)