The Playground of the Rich and Famous-
Rehan Latif-London
Before Monte Carlo became the epitome of high class gambling, when Las Vegas was a lifeless desert wasteland, London was the ultimate gambler's town. However, the puritanical Queen Victoria's reign quashed the game of chance to such an extent that no bartender dared to keep a dice cup on the counter. Only in 1960, did gambling become permitted in legitimate gaming clubs. In London’s West End there are at least 30 such clubs. With the highest per/sq Km population of millionaires, London now boasts a great preying ground for casino businesses.
Since casinos under British law are not allowed to advertise and you need to be a member for at least 24 hours before you can gamble away, it maintains an exclusive aura that is quite unlike the flashy, gaudy, and attention grabbing displays in other major gambling cities like Las Vegas.
An entirely different world hits you when you enter through the door, all at once surreal and luxurious. The custom of signing in impresses anyone accompanying the member, the strict adherence to a dress code where informal sports wear and jeans are strictly forbidden.
The design of the club is such that bar, restaurant and lounge open onto the gaming floor, which features roulette, black jack, punto banco and baccarats. The atmosphere inside is a throwback to the 1950’s, and the sort of place one would expect James Bond, complete with tuxedo and martini, would drop by to play baccarat. The gaming floor is electric and though not exactly in the Wall Street genre, but with a minimum value for a chip at £20, the sums at risk are serious.
The casino scene is diverse but nowadays dominated by noveaux-riche Asians. The second generation of ‘foreign borne confuse desis’ FBCD’s are an emerging group with many striking it big in the real estate markets and the recent Internet boom. The regulars are treated like VIPs, free flowing bottles of Moet Chandon champagne or Blue label Johnnie Walker is the order of the day. However in the truest sense of British fair play, no drinks are allowed on the floor of the gambling floor, as a drunken man is not considered to be in full control of his senses. However, as is so often the case, one can get drunk on the bar, leave their glass on the bar and come on the floor to play absolute havoc with their fortune.
The casinos try to catch the fancy of these souls with a heart to spend a cool 10,000 £ a night while hardly batting an eyelid. One young Pakistani who became a great operator of take away pizzas at age 28 lost half of his company in 18 months to the vagaries of Roulette table. The other day he told me ‘once I get married in June in Islamabad I will not be seen in the casino,’ Mr. Patel who overheard him, an old timer and a equally big loser told him ‘ bakwas bund karo tera janaza hai yahen set uthay ga!’ That summarises the habit that never dies. From riches to rags is story of most of the regulars.
A few visits leaves you dripping with rich anecdotes and quite heavy on the name-dropping. Subcontinent regulars from as varied background as Bollywood and Pakistani political self-exiled personalities drown their sorrows in a glass of St. Emillion and then top it off by losing it big on the tables.
The story of the London Casino scene cannot be written without a reference to over powering presence from its Subcontinent patrons. Rumour from the regular punters in Palm beach at 13, Berkeley Street, has it that during the Cricket World Cup, a few Pakistani cricket players spent more time on the tables than in the nets, which perhaps could explain the dismal performance in the Final.
Without doubt, the most frequent visitors in the Casino scene are the Arabs with some of the Saudi royal family notorious around the club for their gambling binges and their massive loss taking ability. For decades, it has been no secret that Saudi multi-millionaire princes have cavorted all over the world, in the gambling houses in London, France, Monte Carlo, and Las Vegas, sometimes dropping up to 3 million pounds and more in one night of gambling, with numerous beautiful consorts on their arms. Since they are dealing in billions, their attitude is "What is 50 million here and there?"
The present monarch, King Fahd, at the time of the death of his predecessor, King Khaled was gambling in a casino here in London. When he heard the news of his accession to the throne he tried to break the bank in a game of black jack, and lost 10 million £. He left the table with a smile to takeover the leadership of his country. More recently, Prince Mohammed has continued where his father left off, and is equally lavish in Casinos around the world. Indeed, his custom is so highly valued here in the club; they dedicate a member of staff to look after his every need. He always loses. Prince Jeffrey of Brunei, who ran Brunei national wealth to ground last year tipped a waiter in a casino at St. James a hefty tip of 88 thousand pounds after losing 912,000 £ on the table, he did not have time to cash the remainder of the chips.
So why do people with more money than they can use, waste away their nights and invariably their cash, with an abandon that would make most of us weep? They are simply bored and after all the fast cars, the women, the nices houses, the exotic holidays, they are still trying to go after quick thrills. Gambling is a forbidden pleasure, which makes it all the more exciting. There is a perverse pleasure and indeed an adrenalin rush, from placing a bet on the Roulette table, winning and losing is certainly no more than a side issue for the high profile players with deep pockets.
Globally 996 billion dollars are wagered annually, 10 times Pakistan national wealth, out of this 600 billion is paid out, giving Casinos around the world a colossal profit of almost 400 billion. So, at the end of the night, when the punters go home, the Club is the only winner and as that old Abba song goes “the winner takes it all.” |
