A visit to RWS Casino.

Monday night, after working from 5.00pm till 10.00pm, I decided to go and spend sometime and enjoy myself at the RWS Casino.
If you are a Gold or Platinum card member of the Casino, you get to park free of charge in the vast V.I.P. basement carpark situate just below the Casino lobby. Other visitors need to pay a carpark fee in the huge Casino and Resorts World carpark, the amount usually varies from between a minimum of $4.00 to above $10.00 depending on how long you park there.
To enter the Casino, Singaporeans and Permanent Residents have to pay an entrance fee of $100.00 which allows you to go in and out only for a period of 24 hours (a deterrent to dissuade and for you to refrain from gambling). You can also pay $2000.00 for a yearly subscription and, (this is how the Govt further enriched their own coffers).
Inside the Casino, near the entrance, there is an enclosed area which caters strictly for Locals and PRs. This 'exclusiveness' was brought about by complains from Locals, "Kiasuism" in action, of being left out from 'table games' and no chance to play the hundreds of jackpot machines which are nearly always fully occupied by foreign guests. There are eating shops selling western and local dishes, a food court and many scattered 'stations' providing free 24-hour hot and soft drinks.
The people I see are mainly Chinese elderly men and women mostly seated at jackpot machines tapping away happily, many young women mostly Chinese nationals, you can usually tell by their accents when they speak aloud, walking around with chips in their hands, crowding around baccarat tables to place their bets. I noticed only a couple of middleaged caucasian guys sitting at a blackjack table, some Indian nationals and a handful of Malay young men walking around here and there.
At the middle of the casino, there is this stage with a large video screen in the background constantly providing entertaining shows by popular local and foreign artistes, celebrities, and also screenings of 'live' football matches for the big crowds of gamblers, (mostly uninterested while fully engrossed in their games) and to visitors as well as those losers who are left with nothing better to do.
There is an upper floor which is exclusively only for Silver, Gold and Platinum card holders, they are the high-rollers. The Casino, with an area equivalent to the size of 3 football fields, is usually packed during weekends and everyday you can see long queues of taxis (there is an additional $3.00 surcharge for every trip out).
After staying in the Casino for more than four hours and also playing Carribean Stud Poker, a fairly slow and relaxing game for two and a half hours, I thought it was time to make a move. My pockets felt a bit lighter as I slowly strolled out with a hot cup of white coffee in my hands, and it looks like a bit of overtime work is needed. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted but most importantly, I did relax and enjoyed myself. Maybe next time Sands.......

...taxi drivers meet regularly at coffee shops to yak, yak, yak......

Gambling and Lotteries! 4D, Toto, Big Sweep, Horse Races, Share Markets, Football betting, two new very attractive Casinos, not mentioning the many hidden illegal gambling dens, my, my, my, what a huge 'conglomerate' of multi-national enterprises. With this booming market of get rich quick outlets, you tell me, how can we even imagine that there will be no citizens' gambling problems at all? 
I mean, with the carefully worded and yet encouraging phrase "Please Gamble Wisely" announced in the media and in all outlets makes us think like, "Well, its okay to play what, only we must be more careful, study harder, do our homework, etc, etc, you never know, we may strike it rich one day, right?". 
We are Singaporeans, most of us belong to the same "kiasu" community and who does not want to be rich? 
Oh yes, last night the huge Five million dollar 'jackpot' Toto draw, must see the results, I bought $10.00 normal 'quick-pick' tickets, so, if you will excuse me, I need to check it out.......who knows.?.........

how's the going ?.....

"How's your luck today?"
"Ah, no good lah, lost few hundred dollar.. when win always a little bit but when lose, plenty plenty. Cannot win money in casino one lah!"
"Then, why you always come?"
"Aiyah, maybe one day got luck can hit Jackpot what."
This is a typical answer I get with my usual way of greeting passengers, men and women, young or old at both casinos, the MBS and RWS, and most times I get negative results but of course there are the occasional elated winners with tales of good luck and many many losers with big 'IFs'. Winners will show you a bit of extra tips like 'keep the change', and losers, what do you think? Well, picking up commuters at these two joints gives me an additional surcharge of $3 in earnings but I don't normally queue at these places unless I happen to be in those vicinities. Conversations with these passengers are always very interesting, continuous with lots of sighs, exclamations of big losses and many stories of missed 'Big' jackpots couple with 'Top Tips' and 'Winning Systems' and what have you. You can see how excited and spontaneous when they chat and we really enjoy much laughter throughout the journey. I look forward to these kind of trips, they make my day...........