Logic, be gone; let the dice roll. By Yeoh Siew Hoon Sunday, 28th February 2010

It's the talk of the town – Singapore's first casino, our writer listens in on the chatter -

You can’t go anywhere these days without someone asking you, “Have you been to the casino?”

Yes, ever since Resorts World at Sentosa opened Singapore’s first casino, it’s the topic on everyone’s lips.

I haven’t been personally – I was away during the first week it opened – attending to filial piety duties rather than indulging my baser gaming instincts (I am the daughter of my father, after all) but there are plenty of people willing to share their stories with me.

The taxi driver who picked me up from the airport asked me, “Are you going to the casino?”

I think I will wait for the opening frenzy to die down. On opening day, there was such a crush that the casino had to shut down for two-and-a-half hours. As of 6pm on opening day, a total of 86,000 people was estimated to have entered its doors. People had to wait their turns at tables and slot machines. A friend of a friend said she spent 16 hours at the place, mostly waiting for her turn to play.

As a permanent resident, I have to pay a one-day S$100 entry levy or S$2,000 for an annual pass and I am told they have very sophisticated screening or location-based devices that will be able to tell if you’ve been in there for more than 24 hours or not. If you overstay, you risk a S$1,000 fine.

Resorts World Sentosa Casino. Courtesy of ©2009 Resorts World at Sentosa

So I have to pay money to lose money?

Some are apparently happy to lose money though. A local news report quoted a family of three who said they were happy to lose because now, they wouldn’t return to the casino.

Some turn desperate after they lose. An Indonesian, after losing all his money at the tables, stole a phone and was arrested and jailed for four weeks. A few others were arrested for trying to get in without paying the levy, tsk tsk.

Some don’t know what to wear. A report in Channel News Asia said some visitors were turned away for showing up in slippers, singlets and shorts while others in the same attire were allowed in.

The report quoted a punter as saying, "Yesterday I wore slippers, can go inside casino. But today, I can't” while another said, “They didn't tell me (what to wear) when I paid the S$100 (levy).”

I suppose it is natural for such confusion, fuss and drama to emanate from such a historic moment in Singapore’s history. This is a place that takes everything seriously – and the authorities are absolutely paranoid about social problems erupting as a result of the casino opening.

There’s a National Council on Problem Gambling to oversee the issue and its chairman has been quoted as saying it is too early to assess the impact and that it "has been engaging RWS on the implementation of various social safeguards to minimize problem and addictive gambling”.

For those keeping count of visitorship, a week after opening, the casino had attracted 128,000 visitors. The resort is targeting 13 million visitors in its first year of operations and while numbers have tapered off, the opening of Universal Studios shortly should provide a further boost to numbers.

Of all the casino-related stories I have read though, the most useful came from a letter writer to the Straits Times. The headline of the letter, signed by a Larry Haverkamp, was “Casino, 4-D Why house wins, sooner or later”.

Sharing a story of how two women visited the casino and felt they did well – one broke even while the other made S$1,000 (she doubled the money), he shared the ‘house edge’ of casino games and compared it to the national 4-D lottery.

This is what he shared.

“The women played baccarat where the house edge is 1.2%, assuming the gambler acts as 'banker’. Otherwise, it is 1.6%.

“It means, on average, the casino keeps S$1.20 for itself and pays S$98.80 out of every S$100 wagered. It seems like a good deal compared to lottery games – like 4-D big – where the house edge is 34%. It means Singapore Pools keeps 34% of all the money and pays out 66%.

“Actually both are bad deals as you are certain to lose if you play long enough.

“Surprisingly, however, you are more likely to lose at casino games than 4-D. It is because you play 4-D more slowly, buying a ticket just once or twice a week. Casino games are faster. Baccarat, for example, plays at a rate of 60 hands per hours, which is one per minute.

“Because of this, even a small house edge – like 1.2% – means you can expect to lose half your money after one hour of play, 75% after two hours, 90% after 3 hours and 95% after 5 hours.”

You know, all these numbers sound like Greek to me but Larry makes a lot of sense and it all sounds very logical.

But since when has logic and sense ever been associated with gambling?

Yeoh Siew Hoon, one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, writes a regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry for 4Hoteliers.com.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her other writings can be found at www.thetransitcafe.com

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