But they will tremble.Akio Kashiwagi, a mysterious real estate tycoon from Japan who is said to have had ties to the Yakuza, was one of the biggest casino whales of them all. The casinos will be ready for him, they will welcome him. And Packer, the victor in Vegas, will be back. London's most successful group, London Clubs International, which runs the Ritz and Les Ambassadeurs clubs, reported record profits of pounds 30m last week. The Derby, Ascot, Henley, Wimbledon all beckon. Now that the summer season is coming, the high rollers are back in town. Some restrictions on casinos are being eased - the number of permitted slot machines in a casino is about to be raised from two to six - but clubs still cannot advertise, serve drink after 11pm, or allow gamblers to drink at gaming tables. Until now, the Gaming Board, which once suggested pens and diaries as suitable gifts for gamblers, has refused to soften its animus against casinos proffering air fares or hotel rooms. Players such as the business tycoon Adnan Khashoggi, Saudi middle-man Hassan Anani, who reportedly dropped pounds 7m in the Ritz casino in Cannes, or the scions of Oriental potentates play over here because they enjoy being in London. It is a sore point at the elegant casinos around Park Lane that despite the foreign currency they earn and the high taxes they pay, they cannot do more than offer players dinner or a visit to the races. This was why, some 15 years ago, Ladbroke's - now back on the green baize - ran into trouble. In London, the casinos are not allowed to offer any inducement to play. Both sides are trying to win so each appreciates the other. At the same time, the relationship is often based on genuine respect. Of course, the high rollers understand that all the flattery and free hospitality is, in a sense, false, based on the casino's desire to beat them out of their bankroll. He was found murdered back home in Tokyo, amid rumours of heavy debts to unsavoury elements in the Japanese underworld. Unfortunately, Kashiwagi, who went by the nickname of "the Warrior" and modelled himself on the Samurai tradition, came to a sticky end. A furious Kashiwagi was driven off in a white Rolls-Royce, sent to collect him by Caesar's Palace. Trump got so nervous that when the house was a few million ahead, he called the joust off. Donald Trump once staged a special session for him in Atlantic City on the top floor of Trump Plaza. The prize whale was the celebrated player Akio Kashiwagi, who was even bigger in his day than Packer. If the casino can land him, it has hit the jackpot. Besides, the casinos do not want their prize players, known as "whales", beached by some expensive ladies relieving them of their wallets.Ī whale is a very big player at baccarat. For those who want them, there are licensed brothels, a couple of hours' drive outside the city limits. In their sober moments (which is most of the time), Las Vegas managers insist that they would never risk their gaming licences by breaking the strict prohibition against prostitution. Anything he wants, to keep him here." The only time a casino feels badly let down is when the player leaves for somewhere else. "If a guy is playing off a million dollars," one hard-boiled Vegas manager once confided, "and he wants six ladies in red garters suspended from the chandelier, he can have 'em. Special "hosts" are appointed whose sole duty is to keep the players happy. They will offer expensive gifts to wives and mistresses on their birthdays (hopefully not at the same time - there have been mix- ups) and lay on every kind of sport or entertainment. They will, as a matter of course, fly them into town by private jet, accommodate them in splendid suites, gratify their slightest wish - for example, maintaining a favourite chef on duty night and day. The top casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and elsewhere go to extraordinary lengths to attract such players. All are men, most of them come from the Orient, now that the petro-dollar boom is over - Chinese, Japanese, Malaysians and other plungers from the Pacific Rim. It is a small group, of probably not more than a few score players throughout the world, who really play high. This is the essence of the curiously ambivalent relationship casinos have with big players.
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