Money, money, money
I just came back from a trip to the casino with the boys. First time I have been to the casino in probably ten years if not more. We did not go there to gamble, we went there because one of the guys had heard about a new bar there called The Merrywell which had got some good write ups and he wanted to try it out.
It was pretty good I have to admit. We were going to go for table service, but we were told a one hour wait and we magically were able to snare one of the unwaited tables, so you pay for you food at the counter and they give you a number. Was probably about 15 minutes and out came our dishes.
My favourite was probably the casadeas (That is probably spelt wrong). The mini hamburgers were nice, but I prefer a real burger with more stuff in it. After we had finished eating and had started on the first of many drinks, we got a phone call asking us if we still wanted out waited table - 1hr and 45 minutes after we put our names down. We said no.
Then it was off to the casino.
I can never really understand casinos. I watched someone win $1564 on a slot machine and not even move, just start putting the money straight back in. I watched someone hand over $3800 in cash and get a tiny number of chips in return. Trying to get my head around some of the games was just bizarre. When did roulette become so popular? Last time I was there, they had about four roulette wheels and only two of them going, now they must have about 20.
Watching people scatter chips over the roulette wheel never ceases to amaze me. I'm sure there are some people who I watched put so many chips on the table that there was no way they could make a profit. I'm sure some of the bets are mutually exclusive. I did chuckle when one of the guys I was with bet on black, the other on red and it came up 0 which is green.
One of the guys I was with loves roulette, but only ever bets on red. He did quite well, ending up $100 in front... until he found the two-up table. One of the other guys was $20 up and I said I was going to go to two-up. Not to play, I just like to watch, certainly the more audience friendly game. The guy with the $20 decided to place a bet. He had four $5 chips, but the minimum bet on heads or tails was $10, odds however was only $5; so he bet on the odds.
Quick lesson for non-Australians. Two up, simple game, throw two coins up in the air and bet on the outcome. You can bet heads for both heads or tails for both tails or odds, which is one head and one tail. Heads or tails pay 1:1, ie, $1 bet returns $2 - your original dollar, plus one from the casino. Odds cause the coins to be re-tossed, keeping the original bets in play. If odds comes up five times in a row, the casino takes both money... or you can bet on it at 28:1
I like it because I think it is the fairest of casino games, essentially a 50:50 bet, with the house edge being the five in a row.
Of course, first time he lost, second time he lost, third time he won - $140. Ok, not a big win in the scheme of things, but not bad. Of course that started off a round of betting on odds and a lot of lost money to go with it.
In the end I lost the grand total of $1. Between everyone else, I think they came out $150 in front, not bad, but if they had stopped when they said they were going to, it would have been $240.
That all said, the casino was an interesting experience. Areas still allow smoking, took me a while to realised what it was in the air. The clientele is certainly not a advertisement for Perth's social elite. It has a dress code... apparently... I think that means if your jeans aren't ripped too badly, you should be right.
The other observation was the ethnic background of the vast majority of the people gambling. Playing the "I'm not racist, but..." card. There is a definite bias towards people of Asian decent and they're heavy gamblers. They much prefer the tables, mainly roulette. The older Caucasian grandparent types are the ones who seem to be on the pokies. I still can't get over some of the amounts of money being tossed around.
And the other thing is how the casino fares comparing it to other. I've been to the casinos of Vegas and our casino would not make it to the strip. We were complaining how quiet the slot machines are. We did give extra points to the sports bar though, but the actual gaming floor, no, it just doesn't have the same zing that Vegas has.
It was pretty good I have to admit. We were going to go for table service, but we were told a one hour wait and we magically were able to snare one of the unwaited tables, so you pay for you food at the counter and they give you a number. Was probably about 15 minutes and out came our dishes.
My favourite was probably the casadeas (That is probably spelt wrong). The mini hamburgers were nice, but I prefer a real burger with more stuff in it. After we had finished eating and had started on the first of many drinks, we got a phone call asking us if we still wanted out waited table - 1hr and 45 minutes after we put our names down. We said no.
Then it was off to the casino.
I can never really understand casinos. I watched someone win $1564 on a slot machine and not even move, just start putting the money straight back in. I watched someone hand over $3800 in cash and get a tiny number of chips in return. Trying to get my head around some of the games was just bizarre. When did roulette become so popular? Last time I was there, they had about four roulette wheels and only two of them going, now they must have about 20.
Watching people scatter chips over the roulette wheel never ceases to amaze me. I'm sure there are some people who I watched put so many chips on the table that there was no way they could make a profit. I'm sure some of the bets are mutually exclusive. I did chuckle when one of the guys I was with bet on black, the other on red and it came up 0 which is green.
One of the guys I was with loves roulette, but only ever bets on red. He did quite well, ending up $100 in front... until he found the two-up table. One of the other guys was $20 up and I said I was going to go to two-up. Not to play, I just like to watch, certainly the more audience friendly game. The guy with the $20 decided to place a bet. He had four $5 chips, but the minimum bet on heads or tails was $10, odds however was only $5; so he bet on the odds.
Quick lesson for non-Australians. Two up, simple game, throw two coins up in the air and bet on the outcome. You can bet heads for both heads or tails for both tails or odds, which is one head and one tail. Heads or tails pay 1:1, ie, $1 bet returns $2 - your original dollar, plus one from the casino. Odds cause the coins to be re-tossed, keeping the original bets in play. If odds comes up five times in a row, the casino takes both money... or you can bet on it at 28:1
I like it because I think it is the fairest of casino games, essentially a 50:50 bet, with the house edge being the five in a row.
Of course, first time he lost, second time he lost, third time he won - $140. Ok, not a big win in the scheme of things, but not bad. Of course that started off a round of betting on odds and a lot of lost money to go with it.
In the end I lost the grand total of $1. Between everyone else, I think they came out $150 in front, not bad, but if they had stopped when they said they were going to, it would have been $240.
That all said, the casino was an interesting experience. Areas still allow smoking, took me a while to realised what it was in the air. The clientele is certainly not a advertisement for Perth's social elite. It has a dress code... apparently... I think that means if your jeans aren't ripped too badly, you should be right.
The other observation was the ethnic background of the vast majority of the people gambling. Playing the "I'm not racist, but..." card. There is a definite bias towards people of Asian decent and they're heavy gamblers. They much prefer the tables, mainly roulette. The older Caucasian grandparent types are the ones who seem to be on the pokies. I still can't get over some of the amounts of money being tossed around.
And the other thing is how the casino fares comparing it to other. I've been to the casinos of Vegas and our casino would not make it to the strip. We were complaining how quiet the slot machines are. We did give extra points to the sports bar though, but the actual gaming floor, no, it just doesn't have the same zing that Vegas has.