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23-10-2010, 06:32 AM
Oct 23, 2010
the PROFESSIONALS
Betting on the game of chance to earn a living
RICKY (not his real name), 50, with his neat haircut and fluency in Mandarin and English, is the picture of respectability.
He lives in a landed property and employs a maid as well as a driver who ferries him around town in a Mercedes-Benz E350. He has six children aged between 10 and 25.
But what he does for a living will raise an eyebrow or two.
'I'm a professional gambler,' says Ricky, adding that he has been gambling for a living since completing his A levels more than 30 years ago.
Before the casinos in Singapore came along, he would travel around the region - Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Macau - to play games of chance for money.
Now he goes to Marina Bay Sands (MBS) up to four times a week.
'I've not been to Resorts World (Sentosa). My luck here has been good so I'm sticking to this place for now,' he says, adding that his family members do not interfere in his business since he brings home the bacon.
Besides paying for the $2,000 annual pass, he checked in $100,000 with the casino which bought him a platinum card. He gets rebates as well as exclusive gaming and dining privileges at some of the 30 private gaming rooms at Paiza, MBS' club for premium players on the third and fourth levels of the casino.
The Paiza can be accessed via a members-only bridge linking the casino and Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Some of its private gaming rooms are as big as an HDB executive flat, with just a couple of baccarat tables. There are rest areas for high rollers to enjoy free drinks or dishes - including fried beehoon, chicken wings or porridge spreads.
The Paiza is the playground of local and foreign 'whales' (high rollers), mostly from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Myanmar.
Forget movie stereotypes of well-dressed gamblers in tuxedos and gowns. The VIP punters The Straits Times spied at the Paiza cut across different age groups and socio-economic backgrounds. Some were in their early 20s, wore shorts and sported tattoos.
In the VIP rooms, minimum bets start at $300 and wagers can go up to hundreds of thousands.
'My minimum bet is $500; my maximum is $5,000,' says Ricky who - like most serious gamblers - only plays baccarat.
How long he stays depends on his luck.
'Once I make my target, I leave. I also limit my losses to $20,000 a night. You need to have a very strong character and be very disciplined. If not, you will end up with nothing,' he says.
He adds that he lost $10,000 the first month MBS opened, but won $20,000 the following month. 'Right now, I'm still in the black,' he says.
Ricky usually goes in the evening after dinner with a regular group of friends.
One of them is Mr C.C. Lam, a 51-year-old contractor who has annual membership to both casinos. Like Ricky, he has gambled all over Asia and America, and used to travel abroad about five times a year to wager.
Mr Lam visits the casinos here three or four times a week, spending between four and eight hours each time.
Ironically, the garrulous man - who stakes between $500 and $5,000 a hand - thinks casinos on Singapore shores are a bad idea, as he has been gambling more since they opened.
'Before that you needed to travel out of Singapore. Now it's just a 15-minute drive away,' he says, adding that his family knows about his habit. 'It's like a drug. And they make sure you come back by giving you free parking, food and drinks. Everything's free.'
'Shi du jiu shu,' he declares with a sigh, using a Chinese aphorism which means nine out of 10 gamblers will lose.
The father of three, aged between 15 and 30, lets on that he walks away once he has lost $10,000.
'We've been doing this for a long time, so we have the discipline,' says Mr Lam, who has been gambling for more than 30 years.
'But it's different for most people. When you win, you can control. But when you lose, how to control? I know someone who won for several months before losing everything in one night. He had to sell his house,' he says.
Dr Derek da Cunha, author of Singapore Places Its Bets, tells The Straits Times that professional gamblers do what they do as a lifestyle choice, not as a hobby or a job. For this group, luck is secondary, and skill primary.
'Among other qualities, they also have great discipline and mental strength,' he says.
The problem is there are many other kinds of gamblers who give themselves too much credit. They think they are professionals and believe they have the skill and the discipline to beat the house when they do not.
Many of these people, he says, fall victim to 'impulse control disorder' especially when they are losing.
They try to chase their losses, and persist not just in playing but in placing bigger bets.
'Many end up losing not just their savings but their capital too.'
WONG KIM HOH
the PROFESSIONALS
Betting on the game of chance to earn a living
RICKY (not his real name), 50, with his neat haircut and fluency in Mandarin and English, is the picture of respectability.
He lives in a landed property and employs a maid as well as a driver who ferries him around town in a Mercedes-Benz E350. He has six children aged between 10 and 25.
But what he does for a living will raise an eyebrow or two.
'I'm a professional gambler,' says Ricky, adding that he has been gambling for a living since completing his A levels more than 30 years ago.
Before the casinos in Singapore came along, he would travel around the region - Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Macau - to play games of chance for money.
Now he goes to Marina Bay Sands (MBS) up to four times a week.
'I've not been to Resorts World (Sentosa). My luck here has been good so I'm sticking to this place for now,' he says, adding that his family members do not interfere in his business since he brings home the bacon.
Besides paying for the $2,000 annual pass, he checked in $100,000 with the casino which bought him a platinum card. He gets rebates as well as exclusive gaming and dining privileges at some of the 30 private gaming rooms at Paiza, MBS' club for premium players on the third and fourth levels of the casino.
The Paiza can be accessed via a members-only bridge linking the casino and Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Some of its private gaming rooms are as big as an HDB executive flat, with just a couple of baccarat tables. There are rest areas for high rollers to enjoy free drinks or dishes - including fried beehoon, chicken wings or porridge spreads.
The Paiza is the playground of local and foreign 'whales' (high rollers), mostly from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Myanmar.
Forget movie stereotypes of well-dressed gamblers in tuxedos and gowns. The VIP punters The Straits Times spied at the Paiza cut across different age groups and socio-economic backgrounds. Some were in their early 20s, wore shorts and sported tattoos.
In the VIP rooms, minimum bets start at $300 and wagers can go up to hundreds of thousands.
'My minimum bet is $500; my maximum is $5,000,' says Ricky who - like most serious gamblers - only plays baccarat.
How long he stays depends on his luck.
'Once I make my target, I leave. I also limit my losses to $20,000 a night. You need to have a very strong character and be very disciplined. If not, you will end up with nothing,' he says.
He adds that he lost $10,000 the first month MBS opened, but won $20,000 the following month. 'Right now, I'm still in the black,' he says.
Ricky usually goes in the evening after dinner with a regular group of friends.
One of them is Mr C.C. Lam, a 51-year-old contractor who has annual membership to both casinos. Like Ricky, he has gambled all over Asia and America, and used to travel abroad about five times a year to wager.
Mr Lam visits the casinos here three or four times a week, spending between four and eight hours each time.
Ironically, the garrulous man - who stakes between $500 and $5,000 a hand - thinks casinos on Singapore shores are a bad idea, as he has been gambling more since they opened.
'Before that you needed to travel out of Singapore. Now it's just a 15-minute drive away,' he says, adding that his family knows about his habit. 'It's like a drug. And they make sure you come back by giving you free parking, food and drinks. Everything's free.'
'Shi du jiu shu,' he declares with a sigh, using a Chinese aphorism which means nine out of 10 gamblers will lose.
The father of three, aged between 15 and 30, lets on that he walks away once he has lost $10,000.
'We've been doing this for a long time, so we have the discipline,' says Mr Lam, who has been gambling for more than 30 years.
'But it's different for most people. When you win, you can control. But when you lose, how to control? I know someone who won for several months before losing everything in one night. He had to sell his house,' he says.
Dr Derek da Cunha, author of Singapore Places Its Bets, tells The Straits Times that professional gamblers do what they do as a lifestyle choice, not as a hobby or a job. For this group, luck is secondary, and skill primary.
'Among other qualities, they also have great discipline and mental strength,' he says.
The problem is there are many other kinds of gamblers who give themselves too much credit. They think they are professionals and believe they have the skill and the discipline to beat the house when they do not.
Many of these people, he says, fall victim to 'impulse control disorder' especially when they are losing.
They try to chase their losses, and persist not just in playing but in placing bigger bets.
'Many end up losing not just their savings but their capital too.'
WONG KIM HOH
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