Casino

"If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time" - Chinese Proverb

Singapore's first Casino, Resort World Sentosa opened with a bang on the 14th February, the first day of the Lunar New Year. 149,000 visited the Casino in the first week, despite Singaporeans and permanent residents having to pay $100 a day (24 hours) entrance fee.

A fellow trader went there with his wife on the first 3 days of opening, being regulars on the cruise ship, they paid $2,000 per annum entrance fee each since they will be spending plenty of time at the casino. After 3 days of trying their luck, they were $1,000 poorer. They loved the atmosphere and the Casino loved them too!

He revealed that it's hard for anyone to make money from the Casino over time with the odds highly in favour of the house. It's just plain common sense to me. He like many other futures traders loses big time in the Casino. His wife picked up the gambling habit from him and is now seen frequently at the Casino while he needed to be there to keep an eye on her. He hardly gamble now unless it's between friends.

This trader friend is a very good gambler and he started young, he is good at any form of gambling. I knew him in the early 90s in the mess where a few fellow traders would be there almost everyday to have a game of "Majong" after the Nikkei closed at 2.15 pm. When we were short of a player, he would be invited to join us, always available, jobless. He gambled for a living after leaving the stock broking industry a few years back.

He joined us as a futures trader after we introduced him to our profession of having so much free time at our disposal. He started out trading the Nikkei and was losing money in the first few months. He would asked me to help him out by transferring money to his trading account before the end of the month to show his wife that he was making money while paying me back in cash.

Very sharp and alert, he learnt fast and within 6 months, he started to make money in futures trading. He succeeded partly because of the gambling blood in him. Unfortunately, he contributed back quite a fair sum over the years to the Casino.

I never like to gamble in the Casino because of the odds, why should I when there is a better edge in futures trading. I go there just to have some fun and entertainment.