roulette is a game
The following paragraphs summarize the work of roulette table experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of roulette table . Heed their advice to avoid any roulette table surprises.
The outcome of every spin of the roulette wheel is independent of any other and is not influenced by prior spins.
Even if you have ten black numbers after ten spins, the chance of getting red in the next spin is the same as to get black.
As roulette is a game of pure chance, you need to know the odds of the bets and place the ones with the best chance of success.
Many players try to beat roulette by buying a “sure fire” roulette system for money. These systems promise consistent gains and to make the buyer rich and beat roulette consistently. Of course, the reality does not match the hype and these systems are ALL doomed to failure.
Think about what you've read so far. Does it reinforce what you already know about roulette table ? Or was there something completely new? What about the remaining paragraphs?
You can beat roulette, but it does not involve buying a system, more of that later. For now, lets look at why a mathematical roulette system cannot work.
The above simple guidelines will help you beat roulette and will outperform any mathematical system.
Keep in mind, that roulette is a game of chance and the most you can do is put the odds in your favour as much as possible and enjoy the game and maybe some healthy profits.
That's how things stand right now. Keep in mind that any subject can change over time, so be sure you keep up with the latest news.
The outcome of every spin of the roulette wheel is independent of any other and is not influenced by prior spins.
Even if you have ten black numbers after ten spins, the chance of getting red in the next spin is the same as to get black.
As roulette is a game of pure chance, you need to know the odds of the bets and place the ones with the best chance of success.
Many players try to beat roulette by buying a “sure fire” roulette system for money. These systems promise consistent gains and to make the buyer rich and beat roulette consistently. Of course, the reality does not match the hype and these systems are ALL doomed to failure.
Think about what you've read so far. Does it reinforce what you already know about roulette table ? Or was there something completely new? What about the remaining paragraphs?
You can beat roulette, but it does not involve buying a system, more of that later. For now, lets look at why a mathematical roulette system cannot work.
The above simple guidelines will help you beat roulette and will outperform any mathematical system.
Keep in mind, that roulette is a game of chance and the most you can do is put the odds in your favour as much as possible and enjoy the game and maybe some healthy profits.
That's how things stand right now. Keep in mind that any subject can change over time, so be sure you keep up with the latest news.
learn how to play roulette table
The more you understand about any subject, the more interesting it becomes. As you read this article you'll find that the subject of roulette table is certainly no exception.
Basically, you use chips to place your bets on a variety of number and colors on the roulette table. The Croupier (dealer) spins the wheel and a number and color is chosen. As the wheel spins, a small ball rolls around the wheel and lands on a destination. This is just an example of the basics of roulette gambling. Roulette gambling can be as simple as placing a bet and watching the wheel spin. Winning in roulette gambling is a combination of strategy, odds and luck. You will not win every round; knowing the odds of the game can greatly influence your success in roulette gambling. Practice does not necessarily make perfect in roulette, although the more you play and the more experienced you become, the better you will be at gauging the odds.
Truthfully, the only difference between you and roulette table experts is time. If you'll invest a little more time in reading, you'll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to roulette table .
It would be great if they did work, players pay a couple of hundred dollars and make a couple of hundred thousand, but the reality does not match the hype. Roulette systems sold are based on mathematical formulas, but that is a complete contradiction in terms in a game of chance when you have no data to work with – the roulette ball unfortunately does not have a memory! They are based on the assumption that past data can be used to predict future spins.If black comes up 30 times in a row or 300 times, this does not change the odds of the next spin, which is always a 50 – 50 chance for either red or black. Every spin of the wheel is a separate event from all other spins, so there is no data that can be used for the next one. Now we have dispelled this myth about beating roulette, lets look at how we can win.
The day will come when you can use something you read about here to have a beneficial impact. Then you'll be glad you took the time to learn more about roulette table .
Basically, you use chips to place your bets on a variety of number and colors on the roulette table. The Croupier (dealer) spins the wheel and a number and color is chosen. As the wheel spins, a small ball rolls around the wheel and lands on a destination. This is just an example of the basics of roulette gambling. Roulette gambling can be as simple as placing a bet and watching the wheel spin. Winning in roulette gambling is a combination of strategy, odds and luck. You will not win every round; knowing the odds of the game can greatly influence your success in roulette gambling. Practice does not necessarily make perfect in roulette, although the more you play and the more experienced you become, the better you will be at gauging the odds.
Truthfully, the only difference between you and roulette table experts is time. If you'll invest a little more time in reading, you'll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to roulette table .
It would be great if they did work, players pay a couple of hundred dollars and make a couple of hundred thousand, but the reality does not match the hype. Roulette systems sold are based on mathematical formulas, but that is a complete contradiction in terms in a game of chance when you have no data to work with – the roulette ball unfortunately does not have a memory! They are based on the assumption that past data can be used to predict future spins.If black comes up 30 times in a row or 300 times, this does not change the odds of the next spin, which is always a 50 – 50 chance for either red or black. Every spin of the wheel is a separate event from all other spins, so there is no data that can be used for the next one. Now we have dispelled this myth about beating roulette, lets look at how we can win.
The day will come when you can use something you read about here to have a beneficial impact. Then you'll be glad you took the time to learn more about roulette table .
Love just like roulette table.
The following article covers a topic that has recently moved to center stage--at least it seems that way. If you've been thinking you need to know more about it, here's your opportunity.
‘The rose coloured glasses’ phase, is extremely dangerous and not usually approached with caution by either candidate. Depending on the impact of stage one, bombs warning ‘relationship doom’ could be dropped right in front of ones eyes, yet getting let go un-noticed. Everything appears and is, invariably, utterly workable. Despite my cynicism, this stage is defiantly more exciting than the terminator phase, albeit being laced with the fear of it all ending. The premature ‘I love you’ could escape ones mouth, falling like a ball onto a roulette table.
This is not carte blanche to go on a wild stock-picking adventure with your retirement money while you are young. You should leave that to the pros. There are people who dedicate their lives to learning the art of investing. These people study The Intelligent Investor like it was a bible. They pore over annual reports and study where Warren Buffet went to lunch that day in an attempt to glean a precious new piece of information. If this profile does not sound like you, stay away from stock-picking. Even the pros have a hard time beating the market and they have advantages that you can never hope to have on your side.
Sure you can gamble a little bit of money on that hot stock your cousin told you about, but think of it the same way as putting a pile of money on red at the roulette table: odds are you are going to lose your money, but, hell, you might get lucky and win.
Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete picture.
For proper long term planning, concentrate on finding a mutual fund that has a nice track record, low fees and a good rating from a reputable publication like Morningstar. If you want to make a bet on the growth of America, buy an S&P 500 index fund. For a little extra diversity, maybe research an international or emerging markets fund and put some money there. As long as you stay away from French companies, you should be fine.
People claim at this point that they have ‘fallen out of love’. My argument is that they were never in love in the first place. One of my favourite movies, ‘Moulin Rouge’, melodically states, “The greatest thing you will ever learn, is just to love, and be loved in return”. I believe this is what we think being in love is all about. Yet being loved in return implies that there is a condition to your giving love. So romantic love is conditional love. If romantic love only goes one-way, it is termed unrequited love or even ‘desperate’.
What if I said that true love can only be unconditional? And inside of that, true love can only mean 100% acceptance of the subject, just the way they are and just the way they’re not. What if love, real love, is just loving?
Knowing enough about roulette table to make solid, informed choices cuts down on the fear factor. If you apply what you've just learned about roulette table , you should have nothing to worry about.
‘The rose coloured glasses’ phase, is extremely dangerous and not usually approached with caution by either candidate. Depending on the impact of stage one, bombs warning ‘relationship doom’ could be dropped right in front of ones eyes, yet getting let go un-noticed. Everything appears and is, invariably, utterly workable. Despite my cynicism, this stage is defiantly more exciting than the terminator phase, albeit being laced with the fear of it all ending. The premature ‘I love you’ could escape ones mouth, falling like a ball onto a roulette table.
This is not carte blanche to go on a wild stock-picking adventure with your retirement money while you are young. You should leave that to the pros. There are people who dedicate their lives to learning the art of investing. These people study The Intelligent Investor like it was a bible. They pore over annual reports and study where Warren Buffet went to lunch that day in an attempt to glean a precious new piece of information. If this profile does not sound like you, stay away from stock-picking. Even the pros have a hard time beating the market and they have advantages that you can never hope to have on your side.
Sure you can gamble a little bit of money on that hot stock your cousin told you about, but think of it the same way as putting a pile of money on red at the roulette table: odds are you are going to lose your money, but, hell, you might get lucky and win.
Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete picture.
For proper long term planning, concentrate on finding a mutual fund that has a nice track record, low fees and a good rating from a reputable publication like Morningstar. If you want to make a bet on the growth of America, buy an S&P 500 index fund. For a little extra diversity, maybe research an international or emerging markets fund and put some money there. As long as you stay away from French companies, you should be fine.
People claim at this point that they have ‘fallen out of love’. My argument is that they were never in love in the first place. One of my favourite movies, ‘Moulin Rouge’, melodically states, “The greatest thing you will ever learn, is just to love, and be loved in return”. I believe this is what we think being in love is all about. Yet being loved in return implies that there is a condition to your giving love. So romantic love is conditional love. If romantic love only goes one-way, it is termed unrequited love or even ‘desperate’.
What if I said that true love can only be unconditional? And inside of that, true love can only mean 100% acceptance of the subject, just the way they are and just the way they’re not. What if love, real love, is just loving?
Knowing enough about roulette table to make solid, informed choices cuts down on the fear factor. If you apply what you've just learned about roulette table , you should have nothing to worry about.
how to play roulette table
Imagine the next time you join a discussion about roulette table . When you start sharing the fascinating roulette table facts below, your friends will be absolutely amazed.
Roulette tables are generally rectangular in shape and can range from three to five feet in length. Most of the commonly used tables are covered in green felt. Roulette tables are also labeled in individually marked boxes. Each box is color-coded in either black or red. Each box on the table is also numbered from 1 to 36, one zero and in the American version of the roulette table, one box with double-zeros. The table is usually large enough to seat between one and six players.
Why would that number or any other come up more often? The short answer: Who Cares! The longer explanation has to do with the nature of the wheels. The pockets could be manufactured imperfectly, with one or more slightly larger than the others, therefore catching the ball more often. One or more of the dividers between the pockets could be loose, absorbing the force of the ball instead of bouncing it away, so the ball might drop into that pocket more often.
There are other reasons, including more temporary ones, like a drop of sticky pop in one of the pockets, or a build-up of dust. The important point isn't what causes a "biased" wheel, though. The important point is that biased wheels exist, and can be taken advantage of.
Truthfully, the only difference between you and roulette table experts is time. If you'll invest a little more time in reading, you'll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to roulette table .
You can find tables for purchase at a variety of vendors both online and offline. One of the most reputable companies for gambling and casino equipment is Kardwell International. This company specializes in casino equipment and carries a large selection of Roulette tables. They offer both stationary and foldable tables. Stationary tables are ideal for casinos or other venues in which the table will remain a permanent fixture. Folding roulette tables, on the other hand, are not as sturdy as stationary tables but can be transported from location to location. These tables are ideal for event planners that travel with their equipment.
Why would a casino let this happen? Roulette wheels are expensive, and so they are not often replaced, unlike cards and dice, which casinos replace daily. This means that if there is a bias, it sometimes remains for months. I know for a fact that managers where I worked were aware of the problem, but as long as the table made money overall, they were too lazy to worry about one guy making money on it.
Prices can vary on tables depending on the brand, quality and whether they are stationary or foldable. You can check out at least a few companies for price comparison and find out what their warranties are for the tables. Generally speaking, roulette tables can range anywhere from $300 up to $2,000 or more. You certainly want to buy a table that is high quality and very durable.
There's no doubt that the topic of roulette table can be fascinating. If you still have unanswered questions about roulette table , you may find what you're looking for in the next article.
Roulette tables are generally rectangular in shape and can range from three to five feet in length. Most of the commonly used tables are covered in green felt. Roulette tables are also labeled in individually marked boxes. Each box is color-coded in either black or red. Each box on the table is also numbered from 1 to 36, one zero and in the American version of the roulette table, one box with double-zeros. The table is usually large enough to seat between one and six players.
Why would that number or any other come up more often? The short answer: Who Cares! The longer explanation has to do with the nature of the wheels. The pockets could be manufactured imperfectly, with one or more slightly larger than the others, therefore catching the ball more often. One or more of the dividers between the pockets could be loose, absorbing the force of the ball instead of bouncing it away, so the ball might drop into that pocket more often.
There are other reasons, including more temporary ones, like a drop of sticky pop in one of the pockets, or a build-up of dust. The important point isn't what causes a "biased" wheel, though. The important point is that biased wheels exist, and can be taken advantage of.
Truthfully, the only difference between you and roulette table experts is time. If you'll invest a little more time in reading, you'll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to roulette table .
You can find tables for purchase at a variety of vendors both online and offline. One of the most reputable companies for gambling and casino equipment is Kardwell International. This company specializes in casino equipment and carries a large selection of Roulette tables. They offer both stationary and foldable tables. Stationary tables are ideal for casinos or other venues in which the table will remain a permanent fixture. Folding roulette tables, on the other hand, are not as sturdy as stationary tables but can be transported from location to location. These tables are ideal for event planners that travel with their equipment.
Why would a casino let this happen? Roulette wheels are expensive, and so they are not often replaced, unlike cards and dice, which casinos replace daily. This means that if there is a bias, it sometimes remains for months. I know for a fact that managers where I worked were aware of the problem, but as long as the table made money overall, they were too lazy to worry about one guy making money on it.
Prices can vary on tables depending on the brand, quality and whether they are stationary or foldable. You can check out at least a few companies for price comparison and find out what their warranties are for the tables. Generally speaking, roulette tables can range anywhere from $300 up to $2,000 or more. You certainly want to buy a table that is high quality and very durable.
There's no doubt that the topic of roulette table can be fascinating. If you still have unanswered questions about roulette table , you may find what you're looking for in the next article.
The Best Bet on the table
Current info about roulette table is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes the latest roulette table info available.
You can beat roulette, but it does not involve buying a system, more of that later. For now, lets look at why a mathematical roulette system cannot work.
In roulette, each spin of the roulette wheel is totally random. Let’s say that the colour red has come up twice in succession. The odds of this number coming up on the next spin are no greater or worse than if the number had not come up in 100, 500 or 1,000 spins previous spins, the odds still remain 50% - 50%.
All spins of the roulette wheel are independent of each other and totally unrelated to the previous spin history. As the outcome of the spin is unrelated to any other, roulette is a game of pure chance. A mathematical system in roulette that promises consistent gains is a contradiction in terms, because if you have no reliable historical data, mathematical formulas are useless.
In mathematics, you know what is definitely going to happen, in roulette you have the exact opposite you never know what is going to happen! You can play these bets a long time with a small bankroll. With these bets you'll find your odds of winning are just under 50%, making this a very good way to bet.
Truthfully, the only difference between you and roulette table experts is time. If you'll invest a little more time in reading, you'll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to roulette table. The bet with the best odds is even money bet where your bet can be imprisoned 'en prison.' (also called surrender ) is available on European tables.
If you make an even money bet and the ball lands on zero, the croupier doesn't take in your wager. Your bet is 'imprisoned' i.e held hostage, and you go to the next spin.If your bet wins, you can remove it from the table.This bet cuts the house edge on even money bets in half, down to 1.35%. This makes it the best bet on a roulette table to play.
Roulette is a simple, fun game if you just want to play for fun you can bet on some of the long shots, but if you want to play roulette to win - Focus on the best bets outlined and your chances of winning are enhanced. Good Luck!
Now that wasn't hard at all, was it? And you've earned a wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study an expert's word on roulette table.
You can beat roulette, but it does not involve buying a system, more of that later. For now, lets look at why a mathematical roulette system cannot work.
In roulette, each spin of the roulette wheel is totally random. Let’s say that the colour red has come up twice in succession. The odds of this number coming up on the next spin are no greater or worse than if the number had not come up in 100, 500 or 1,000 spins previous spins, the odds still remain 50% - 50%.
All spins of the roulette wheel are independent of each other and totally unrelated to the previous spin history. As the outcome of the spin is unrelated to any other, roulette is a game of pure chance. A mathematical system in roulette that promises consistent gains is a contradiction in terms, because if you have no reliable historical data, mathematical formulas are useless.
In mathematics, you know what is definitely going to happen, in roulette you have the exact opposite you never know what is going to happen! You can play these bets a long time with a small bankroll. With these bets you'll find your odds of winning are just under 50%, making this a very good way to bet.
Truthfully, the only difference between you and roulette table experts is time. If you'll invest a little more time in reading, you'll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to roulette table. The bet with the best odds is even money bet where your bet can be imprisoned 'en prison.' (also called surrender ) is available on European tables.
If you make an even money bet and the ball lands on zero, the croupier doesn't take in your wager. Your bet is 'imprisoned' i.e held hostage, and you go to the next spin.If your bet wins, you can remove it from the table.This bet cuts the house edge on even money bets in half, down to 1.35%. This makes it the best bet on a roulette table to play.
Roulette is a simple, fun game if you just want to play for fun you can bet on some of the long shots, but if you want to play roulette to win - Focus on the best bets outlined and your chances of winning are enhanced. Good Luck!
Now that wasn't hard at all, was it? And you've earned a wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study an expert's word on roulette table.
history of roulette table
The following article covers a topic that has recently moved to center stage--at least it seems that way. If you've been thinking you need to know more about it, here's your opportunity.
Historical Richness- Roulette has a long rich history that roots it profoundly in tradition. Unlike several other games roulette has a 300-year-old background. It is deemed to be the oldest of casino games that gained unparalleled recognition in Europe especially in France. However, the game did not receive equal applause in America because of the rival 00 slots that magnetized people to it with higher returns. The 00 slots doubles the house advantage of roulette from 2.63 percent to approximately 26 percent. The roulette played nowadays belongs to 18th century.
Roulette is a casino chance game. It is a fairly simple game and almost always gathers a large crowd around the table depending upon the stake. A few years ago, Ashley Revell sold all his possessions to get $135,300. He bet all of his money on a spin and returned home with twice the amount he had risked. However, in many cases these chances are not always profitable.
If you find yourself confused by what you've read to this point, don't despair. Everything should be crystal clear by the time you finish.
Roulette, the all time source of entertainment and business for large number of people across the globe can now be largely enjoyed through the medium of Internet. The best part about it is that striking amount of money made via it even when the game is played online. Although the amazing roulette art and craft or its perceptual magnets are missing on the net but the range of betting choices still remain to be the same. In playing online any proficient gambler has knowledge of the fact that which company’s software is the eminent one and so is running the game at well-known online casinos. The French version of roulette is highly acclaimed online and is preferred to the American version of it.
European roulette uses casino chips of varying values per bet. This is also known to be more confusing for the players and the croupier. A European roulette table is usually larger than an American roulette table. In 1891, Fred Gilbert wrote a song called "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo" about Joseph Jaggers. He is known to have studied the roulette tables at the Beaux-Arts Casino in Monte Carlo. Subsequently, he amassed large sums of money as a result of a continuous winning streak.
Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what's important about roulette table.
Historical Richness- Roulette has a long rich history that roots it profoundly in tradition. Unlike several other games roulette has a 300-year-old background. It is deemed to be the oldest of casino games that gained unparalleled recognition in Europe especially in France. However, the game did not receive equal applause in America because of the rival 00 slots that magnetized people to it with higher returns. The 00 slots doubles the house advantage of roulette from 2.63 percent to approximately 26 percent. The roulette played nowadays belongs to 18th century.
Roulette is a casino chance game. It is a fairly simple game and almost always gathers a large crowd around the table depending upon the stake. A few years ago, Ashley Revell sold all his possessions to get $135,300. He bet all of his money on a spin and returned home with twice the amount he had risked. However, in many cases these chances are not always profitable.
If you find yourself confused by what you've read to this point, don't despair. Everything should be crystal clear by the time you finish.
Roulette, the all time source of entertainment and business for large number of people across the globe can now be largely enjoyed through the medium of Internet. The best part about it is that striking amount of money made via it even when the game is played online. Although the amazing roulette art and craft or its perceptual magnets are missing on the net but the range of betting choices still remain to be the same. In playing online any proficient gambler has knowledge of the fact that which company’s software is the eminent one and so is running the game at well-known online casinos. The French version of roulette is highly acclaimed online and is preferred to the American version of it.
European roulette uses casino chips of varying values per bet. This is also known to be more confusing for the players and the croupier. A European roulette table is usually larger than an American roulette table. In 1891, Fred Gilbert wrote a song called "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo" about Joseph Jaggers. He is known to have studied the roulette tables at the Beaux-Arts Casino in Monte Carlo. Subsequently, he amassed large sums of money as a result of a continuous winning streak.
Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what's important about roulette table.
Roulette is Still people interest.
Have you ever wondered what exactly is up with roulette table? This informative report can give you an insight into everything you've ever wanted to know about roulette table.
The game of roulette goes as far back as Roman soldiers spinning their shields and asking the gods of chance what the chances were of victory. Sometimes the soldiers were only playing a game for money or jewelry or who could pillage the village they had just conquered, and sometimes the soldiers had much bigger questions, such as, "Which casino offers the best roulette games?"
Roulette became the staple "casino" game of Europe many centuries ago and many a nobleman lost his lands and his good name by attempting to defeat "that damnable wheel." Roulette is the third most favorite casino table game today, behind blackjack and craps - in fact, it has been third for quite a long time now, since the late 1940s.
There are approximately one million to 1.3 million roulette players in America out of approximately 52 million casino gamblers. While roulette keeps its main patrons, we don't see the game picking up steam any time soon. Indeed, some casino prognosticators believe that some of the newer table games such as Let It Ride, Caribbean Stud, Three-Card and Four-Card Poker might just surpass roulette in the next 10 years.
Is everything making sense so far? If not, I'm sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.
In a recent interview with Time magazine (8/14/2006) – which is owned and operated by the same Likudnik cultists who broadcast CNN – Condi Rice gave us a peak of the kind of gibberish that passes for policy deliberations behind White House walls. “We are in transition to a different kind of Middle East. And it is very turbulent. It is even violent. But it has a chance, at least, in which there is a democratic, multiethnic Iraq where people solve their differences by politics, not by repression.” Here’s a short translation. “This is a game of chance. You make a few ‘shock and awe’ bets in Iraq. If you lose, you try doubling up the violence in Lebanon. Of course, you never bet against the House of Saud. In the end, we might get something that better suits American and Israeli interests. Let’s roll the dice and let the violence begin. Our violence is better than Saddam’s violence.”
Next time they play Middle Eastern roulette, maybe Bush and his crew should consider a safer bet. They can bet the house that overwhelming majorities of the people in the region want a new Middle East completely free of American intervention. Another sure bet is that an emerging Americans majority would be more than happy to pack up and cut their losses. Sooner rather than later, both Americans and Arabs will realize that the time has come to permanently toss Bush and his neo-con losers out of the Middle Eastern casino.
Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what's important about roulette table.
The game of roulette goes as far back as Roman soldiers spinning their shields and asking the gods of chance what the chances were of victory. Sometimes the soldiers were only playing a game for money or jewelry or who could pillage the village they had just conquered, and sometimes the soldiers had much bigger questions, such as, "Which casino offers the best roulette games?"
Roulette became the staple "casino" game of Europe many centuries ago and many a nobleman lost his lands and his good name by attempting to defeat "that damnable wheel." Roulette is the third most favorite casino table game today, behind blackjack and craps - in fact, it has been third for quite a long time now, since the late 1940s.
There are approximately one million to 1.3 million roulette players in America out of approximately 52 million casino gamblers. While roulette keeps its main patrons, we don't see the game picking up steam any time soon. Indeed, some casino prognosticators believe that some of the newer table games such as Let It Ride, Caribbean Stud, Three-Card and Four-Card Poker might just surpass roulette in the next 10 years.
Is everything making sense so far? If not, I'm sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.
In a recent interview with Time magazine (8/14/2006) – which is owned and operated by the same Likudnik cultists who broadcast CNN – Condi Rice gave us a peak of the kind of gibberish that passes for policy deliberations behind White House walls. “We are in transition to a different kind of Middle East. And it is very turbulent. It is even violent. But it has a chance, at least, in which there is a democratic, multiethnic Iraq where people solve their differences by politics, not by repression.” Here’s a short translation. “This is a game of chance. You make a few ‘shock and awe’ bets in Iraq. If you lose, you try doubling up the violence in Lebanon. Of course, you never bet against the House of Saud. In the end, we might get something that better suits American and Israeli interests. Let’s roll the dice and let the violence begin. Our violence is better than Saddam’s violence.”
Next time they play Middle Eastern roulette, maybe Bush and his crew should consider a safer bet. They can bet the house that overwhelming majorities of the people in the region want a new Middle East completely free of American intervention. Another sure bet is that an emerging Americans majority would be more than happy to pack up and cut their losses. Sooner rather than later, both Americans and Arabs will realize that the time has come to permanently toss Bush and his neo-con losers out of the Middle Eastern casino.
Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what's important about roulette table.
Roulette Table: Roulette basics
James bond plays it and so does a large part of America. A table a wheel which has about 37-38 pockets many pockets where the ball must land after it is spun by the croupier. The scene is really common at the casino setups across America. The players with high adrenaline pumping and high risk bearing capacity are expected to be seen around the roulette table trying their luck with spinning dolly. The croupier, or the dealer representing the house, takes the wagers and pays out all bets at the table. The croupier has no personal stake in the roulette game. The game has seen its popularity grow due to the reason that as the wheel slows down the people are more and more betting on the numbers.
Beginners bet on up to 8 numbers with smaller stakes. The champions however take greater risks. The bets are allowed on the table till the croupier gives a signal to the players regarding the bets to be stopped. The people are allowed to take a pick of 8 numbers and any of the tem winning gets a share of the other stakes and thus he gets the chips to be converted into money at the counter. As the wheel is slowing down the accuracy of the number where the dolly stops increases. And thus the stakes sky rocket at the end of the wheel spin. The bigger bets include the betting on the number along with color of its base. If they are matched then the prize too is multiplied. Thus the players prefer to take different combinations of colors and numbers and thus increasing the probability of win.
What makes the game nerve wrecking is that there is no rule of winning it. So there is no trick or system of betting that maximizes your chances of a win. So if one fine morning if one feels lucky then he can try his hand at the roulette table that evening. It’s just as simple. All you need is a load of luck and some amount of experience to understand a particular roulette table. This fact also repels some people from the game as it attracts. Bu the game has not lost its charisma among the fortunate ones. The roulette tables are the ones with the most visitors lined up for the bet. The game is played with utmost etiquette and the winners are expected not to over react as there is no big trick or tact to win the game. The simple rule is that if you are winning it its sheer luck and if you are loosing it’s just the same.
People have been seen getting robbed off their whole money at the game of roulette and some times the person gets so crazy playing it that he just looses the track of his capabilities and there are examples where the player almost lost their homes at the roulette table.
A lot of attachments come with the thrill of the game. Allegations of rigging the wheel to tempering the dolly have been rampant across the 200 year old history of the game. But the game has not lost its following throughout the world. A casino without roulette tables is not imaginable at all. Roulette has seen people rise and fall and historians have seen it in the same manner. But for sure the game is here to stay in all its glory.
Mansi aggarwal writes about roulette topics. Learn more at http://www.guidetoroulette.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mansi_Aggarwal
Beginners bet on up to 8 numbers with smaller stakes. The champions however take greater risks. The bets are allowed on the table till the croupier gives a signal to the players regarding the bets to be stopped. The people are allowed to take a pick of 8 numbers and any of the tem winning gets a share of the other stakes and thus he gets the chips to be converted into money at the counter. As the wheel is slowing down the accuracy of the number where the dolly stops increases. And thus the stakes sky rocket at the end of the wheel spin. The bigger bets include the betting on the number along with color of its base. If they are matched then the prize too is multiplied. Thus the players prefer to take different combinations of colors and numbers and thus increasing the probability of win.
What makes the game nerve wrecking is that there is no rule of winning it. So there is no trick or system of betting that maximizes your chances of a win. So if one fine morning if one feels lucky then he can try his hand at the roulette table that evening. It’s just as simple. All you need is a load of luck and some amount of experience to understand a particular roulette table. This fact also repels some people from the game as it attracts. Bu the game has not lost its charisma among the fortunate ones. The roulette tables are the ones with the most visitors lined up for the bet. The game is played with utmost etiquette and the winners are expected not to over react as there is no big trick or tact to win the game. The simple rule is that if you are winning it its sheer luck and if you are loosing it’s just the same.
People have been seen getting robbed off their whole money at the game of roulette and some times the person gets so crazy playing it that he just looses the track of his capabilities and there are examples where the player almost lost their homes at the roulette table.
A lot of attachments come with the thrill of the game. Allegations of rigging the wheel to tempering the dolly have been rampant across the 200 year old history of the game. But the game has not lost its following throughout the world. A casino without roulette tables is not imaginable at all. Roulette has seen people rise and fall and historians have seen it in the same manner. But for sure the game is here to stay in all its glory.
Mansi aggarwal writes about roulette topics. Learn more at http://www.guidetoroulette.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mansi_Aggarwal
Roulette Table: Interview with Roy Houghton – Part 1
September 11, 2006
Tony Bromham
UK Poker News was pleased to sit down this week with one of the UK's legendary names in poker, someone who has been around the scene since the 1960's and isn't finished yet! Roy Houghton has been involved in the running of casinos and card rooms in London and Brighton and been at the heart of an awful lot more including the conception of some of poker's great ideas that we take for granted today. Now, he is on the verge of opening a brand new private members club, "Loose Cannon Sports Bar & The VC Player's Lounge", in the City of London, under the classical Victorian railway arches of Cannon Street station (For contact details, click on the News tab above for our article dated Saturday 9th September).
Those who know Roy know a Londoner in the classic mould, a man with plenty to say and a cockney wit to tell it with. In this, the first of a two part feature, Roy talks in his own inimitable style about the early days of his career in the gaming industry.
In part two, Roy brings us up to date including his time spent pioneering big poker tournaments in the UK and having a key role in the conception of the Ladbrokes Poker Million and the Gutshot Club, plus the long road to open his new club.
The Early Days
Well, basically, how old was I? About 25 and I wanted to emigrate to Canada. I'd had an unhappy marriage, I was divorced and ****ed off with people generally so I thought I'd emigrate. I was a sales rep at the time but when you're 25, you like going out a lot, don't you, so I didn't save any money! So, I was going to emigrate with a friend of mine and he went "How are we going to save the money to get to Canada? We'll have to get a part-time night job". Hence the casino business!
I went down to the Golden Nugget for an interview, got chosen and was trained as a dice dealer. I went over to the Grable Club in Streatham – long since closed now – and became a dice dealer there. I was only there three or four months when the manager came up and said "Look, there's a group of people here who want to play poker; does anyone deal poker?"; "No"; "Anyone want to deal poker?"; "Yeah, I'll give it a go!"
So, they sent a Chinese lad from the Golden Nugget; I think there was about five of us put our names down, and he started training the five of us up. I didn't find it particularly hard but the others couldn't get on with it, couldn't grasp it. To cut a long story short, I ended up becoming the resident poker dealer.
Brighton Rocks
I then went down to Brighton one weekend, took a young lady down with me. In those days there was what was called the Clubman's Club. It was a club you belonged to and you were automatically a member of about 300 clubs, you know, and it told you whether it had a casino. So, I took this young lady down to Brighton, looked in the Clubman's Club and thought, "Oh yeah, here's a club with a casino, we'll go in there."
Absolutely dead it was; got about three people in there; great big bar. So, it was the governor behind the bar and I said "it's a bit quiet in here". He said "Well, I've only just taken it over." I said, "have you got a casino?" He said, "yeah, it's on the first floor." I went up there and it was another massive room with one French roulette table stuck in the corner! I had a little punt, then came down – chat, chat, chat! – I said "Look, you've got all that room upstairs all going to waste; if I put a dice table upstairs, how much would you charge me?"
"Tenner a week" he says. "Leave it out, leave it out! Ten pound a week, that's a fortune." Anyway, tenner a week it was; I bought a dice table and had it shipped down to Brighton. The guy rang me up and says "You were serious weren't you? I've just had a dice table delivered!". I said, "Yeah, I know". "I thought it was general talk.".
Basically, what had happened was that we had saved the money to go to Canada but my friend, bless him – and he's still a very dear friend now – had had cancer, testicular cancer, and they wouldn't give him a clean bill of health and couldn't get a permit to go. I had got one and I thought, well I don't really fancy going out there on my own so it all sort of died a death.
So, the guy in Brighton said to me, if you are going to have a dice table, can you get some more gear, you know like American roulette tables, blackjack and so on, and make a proper casino out of it? I got a few staff in, bought the tables. We opened up and we just went from there to there (points upward!). It took off, this place, it was fantastic.
Now Dickie, the owner, he then built a disco in the basement, Tinkerbell's, and soon the money was pouring in, so after about nine months, he came up to me and said, "Do you want to take over the whole casino?" I said "No, I haven't got any money." He said "Well, I'm too busy now with the disco, and this and that; £500 a week and you can take over the whole casino." I bought two friends in and we all had a third each in the casino. This went on until 1970.
Time Out
Just to give you an idea of how bad things were, we lost our gaming licence in 1970 because the residents had drummed up an Act that the Prince Regent had passed! They drummed up this bleeding law that was hundreds of years old that said that no business could be carried on in Brunswick Square! The Judge upheld it but said he had a lot of sympathy with us. We said, there's a load of hotels here too but he said they were not objecting to the hotels, they're objecting to your club! It's still on the statute book and still an Act of Parliament today. The Judge said he couldn't give us the licence.
When we lost the licence, my French partner had a villa out in Majorca with its own swimming pool. Australian George owned five houses in Brighton that he sub-let to Sussex University. That's how much money they made out of it. What did I have? £700 worth of debts! I gambled, I played a lot of poker; not well I might add, as you no doubt gathered!
Vic Calling
So, we lost the licence and I went out of the business. Then in 1974, I thought I would go back into it. The Vic (Victoria Casino) were advertising for poker dealers so I went there, had a table test, got the job. I was there from 1974 to 1982 as a dealer. They closed the card room in '82. They lost a lot of money in the Claremont and the company panicked. They closed the card room down and made us all redundant. I took the club to the industrial tribunal and won my case so I thought they were never going to ring me up again!
Would you believe it, sixteen months later, the manager rung me up; "Roy, will you come and reopen the card room?" "Why?" "Well, we're losing a lot of money." So, we were back and now I was card room manager. I was the first person to run a poker tournament in the UK; that was 1982. Then, as is always the case, managers get moved around. One person might come along, 100% in favour of poker. Then another person takes over as manager, can't stand poker, doesn't know the game, doesn't want it; a disaster. So, you've got a card room always alternating between empty and very busy depending on the manager's whim and it used to drive me mad! So that's exactly what happened at the Vic. We reopened the club in 1984.
Bookmark this site to catch Part 2 of this fascinating tour of Roy Houghton's poker career in his own words, and how he ended up opening The Loose Cannon!
Tony Bromham
UK Poker News was pleased to sit down this week with one of the UK's legendary names in poker, someone who has been around the scene since the 1960's and isn't finished yet! Roy Houghton has been involved in the running of casinos and card rooms in London and Brighton and been at the heart of an awful lot more including the conception of some of poker's great ideas that we take for granted today. Now, he is on the verge of opening a brand new private members club, "Loose Cannon Sports Bar & The VC Player's Lounge", in the City of London, under the classical Victorian railway arches of Cannon Street station (For contact details, click on the News tab above for our article dated Saturday 9th September).
Those who know Roy know a Londoner in the classic mould, a man with plenty to say and a cockney wit to tell it with. In this, the first of a two part feature, Roy talks in his own inimitable style about the early days of his career in the gaming industry.
In part two, Roy brings us up to date including his time spent pioneering big poker tournaments in the UK and having a key role in the conception of the Ladbrokes Poker Million and the Gutshot Club, plus the long road to open his new club.
The Early Days
Well, basically, how old was I? About 25 and I wanted to emigrate to Canada. I'd had an unhappy marriage, I was divorced and ****ed off with people generally so I thought I'd emigrate. I was a sales rep at the time but when you're 25, you like going out a lot, don't you, so I didn't save any money! So, I was going to emigrate with a friend of mine and he went "How are we going to save the money to get to Canada? We'll have to get a part-time night job". Hence the casino business!
I went down to the Golden Nugget for an interview, got chosen and was trained as a dice dealer. I went over to the Grable Club in Streatham – long since closed now – and became a dice dealer there. I was only there three or four months when the manager came up and said "Look, there's a group of people here who want to play poker; does anyone deal poker?"; "No"; "Anyone want to deal poker?"; "Yeah, I'll give it a go!"
So, they sent a Chinese lad from the Golden Nugget; I think there was about five of us put our names down, and he started training the five of us up. I didn't find it particularly hard but the others couldn't get on with it, couldn't grasp it. To cut a long story short, I ended up becoming the resident poker dealer.
Brighton Rocks
I then went down to Brighton one weekend, took a young lady down with me. In those days there was what was called the Clubman's Club. It was a club you belonged to and you were automatically a member of about 300 clubs, you know, and it told you whether it had a casino. So, I took this young lady down to Brighton, looked in the Clubman's Club and thought, "Oh yeah, here's a club with a casino, we'll go in there."
Absolutely dead it was; got about three people in there; great big bar. So, it was the governor behind the bar and I said "it's a bit quiet in here". He said "Well, I've only just taken it over." I said, "have you got a casino?" He said, "yeah, it's on the first floor." I went up there and it was another massive room with one French roulette table stuck in the corner! I had a little punt, then came down – chat, chat, chat! – I said "Look, you've got all that room upstairs all going to waste; if I put a dice table upstairs, how much would you charge me?"
"Tenner a week" he says. "Leave it out, leave it out! Ten pound a week, that's a fortune." Anyway, tenner a week it was; I bought a dice table and had it shipped down to Brighton. The guy rang me up and says "You were serious weren't you? I've just had a dice table delivered!". I said, "Yeah, I know". "I thought it was general talk.".
Basically, what had happened was that we had saved the money to go to Canada but my friend, bless him – and he's still a very dear friend now – had had cancer, testicular cancer, and they wouldn't give him a clean bill of health and couldn't get a permit to go. I had got one and I thought, well I don't really fancy going out there on my own so it all sort of died a death.
So, the guy in Brighton said to me, if you are going to have a dice table, can you get some more gear, you know like American roulette tables, blackjack and so on, and make a proper casino out of it? I got a few staff in, bought the tables. We opened up and we just went from there to there (points upward!). It took off, this place, it was fantastic.
Now Dickie, the owner, he then built a disco in the basement, Tinkerbell's, and soon the money was pouring in, so after about nine months, he came up to me and said, "Do you want to take over the whole casino?" I said "No, I haven't got any money." He said "Well, I'm too busy now with the disco, and this and that; £500 a week and you can take over the whole casino." I bought two friends in and we all had a third each in the casino. This went on until 1970.
Time Out
Just to give you an idea of how bad things were, we lost our gaming licence in 1970 because the residents had drummed up an Act that the Prince Regent had passed! They drummed up this bleeding law that was hundreds of years old that said that no business could be carried on in Brunswick Square! The Judge upheld it but said he had a lot of sympathy with us. We said, there's a load of hotels here too but he said they were not objecting to the hotels, they're objecting to your club! It's still on the statute book and still an Act of Parliament today. The Judge said he couldn't give us the licence.
When we lost the licence, my French partner had a villa out in Majorca with its own swimming pool. Australian George owned five houses in Brighton that he sub-let to Sussex University. That's how much money they made out of it. What did I have? £700 worth of debts! I gambled, I played a lot of poker; not well I might add, as you no doubt gathered!
Vic Calling
So, we lost the licence and I went out of the business. Then in 1974, I thought I would go back into it. The Vic (Victoria Casino) were advertising for poker dealers so I went there, had a table test, got the job. I was there from 1974 to 1982 as a dealer. They closed the card room in '82. They lost a lot of money in the Claremont and the company panicked. They closed the card room down and made us all redundant. I took the club to the industrial tribunal and won my case so I thought they were never going to ring me up again!
Would you believe it, sixteen months later, the manager rung me up; "Roy, will you come and reopen the card room?" "Why?" "Well, we're losing a lot of money." So, we were back and now I was card room manager. I was the first person to run a poker tournament in the UK; that was 1982. Then, as is always the case, managers get moved around. One person might come along, 100% in favour of poker. Then another person takes over as manager, can't stand poker, doesn't know the game, doesn't want it; a disaster. So, you've got a card room always alternating between empty and very busy depending on the manager's whim and it used to drive me mad! So that's exactly what happened at the Vic. We reopened the club in 1984.
Bookmark this site to catch Part 2 of this fascinating tour of Roy Houghton's poker career in his own words, and how he ended up opening The Loose Cannon!
Roulette Table: Cracked crab and high stakes: Life in the VIP
MASHANTUCKET, Conn. -- Perhaps you've noticed them strolling toward the elevator with their butlers while you wait in the check-in line. Maybe you've seen them, from the 25-cent slots, as they stepped into the VIP room with enough chips to buy a Porsche, a house, or both.
Most patrons will never be ushered to ringside seats or have extravagant dinners laid before them in opulent suites. Such luxuries are reserved for high rollers, the gamblers who represent as much as 50 percent of a casino's revenue and are treated accordingly.
But just for tonight, nod knowingly to the security guard and step past the velvet rope. Come along for a night at one of the world's largest casinos as the guest of one of its most important customers.
The limousine is arriving.
First things first, however. Boston restaurant owner Nick Varano peels off a $100 bill and presses it into his busboy's palm. Two boxes of cannoli from the bakery up the street, he instructs, for the Foxwoods butlers who can't get pastry like this in eastern Connecticut.
Just before stepping into the limousine, Varano, 35, takes the boxes and motions for the boy to keep the $70 or so in change. The driver puts the pastry in the trunk.
Foxwoods sends a limo to Varano's restaurant three, maybe four times a month. Tonight, a Thursday, he's joined by a few friends: Frank DePasquale, 54, a fellow restaurant and nightclub owner, and Ralph Ventola, 38, who runs a fleet of cars for funerals.
There are two types of high rollers: whales and premium players.
The highest of high rollers, whales might bet $5 million per night. While glamorized in movies, whales are increasingly too risky for many casinos who fear huge losses with a few spins of the roulette wheel.
Premium players don't reach whale status and don't get the biggest casino perks -- free Lamborghinis, discounts on gambling losses or shopping money for their wives. But many casinos consider them their most desirable customers.
Varano and his friends are premium players.
"I like to have a minimum of at least $1,000 to $10,000. If I feel that the day's going my way, you know, I don't mind betting $10,000 a hand or more," DePasquale says. "If the day's not going my way, I'll stay as low as $100 a hand. Everything's about rhythm."
Any ultra-rich businessman can drop millions of dollars a few times a year, but DePasquale says the true high roller returns every week, living the high life and playing for high stakes.
Tonight, Varano's plan is to eat like a king, win $25,000 and come back next week.
They're greeted at the casino by Frank Playo, their host. Top players don't call the reservations line. They call their casino host.
Want to see a title fight? Catch a sold-out show? Tee off on a private course? Call the host, whose job is keeping the best customers returning.
Like any good salesman, a host knows his clients' tastes and makes sure they're met without being asked. Casinos spend millions collecting this data and, thanks to corporate consolidation, a regular at the MGM Grand can visit the Bellagio and his favorite champagne will be waiting.
Playo ushers them to the elevator, swipes his card for access to the VIP floors, and shows them to their suite, a palatial flat set in marble. The Red Sox game is on the big screen. The butlers pour the drinks -- the usuals -- from the in-room bar.
A butler is like a personal concierge. He secures tables at the finest restaurants and has the limo waiting downstairs. He's also quick to meet an odd request. One Foxwoods butler arranged the baptism of a player's baby.
Varano and his friends enjoy a selection of imported Italian meats and cheeses, cracked crab, shrimp and -- because the butlers knew DePasquale was coming -- a tray of caviar. Then it's upstairs to the gourmet restaurant where chef Scott Mickelson greets them.
"Some appetizers," Varano says. "What do you suggest?"
"I'll have three of each brought out," Mickelson replies.
Mickelson wears a pager on his shoulder in case of a high-roller emergency. If a seafood lover suddenly announces he's coming, Mickelson can have a wahoo fish head-speared in Hawaii that day and shipped overnight.
The appetizers arrive in stages: oysters and crab on silver tiers, lobster risotto, shrimp, beef and more. It's all complimentary, a small price for their business.
"I can't imagine the way everybody else lives," Varano says.
Ventola is getting antsy. The invite-only casino is calling.
"Frank, wanna come?" Ventola asks eagerly. "Five minutes. Five minutes."
Ventola dreams about gambling. That morning, he blindly bet on soccer just to make the World Cup interesting. Now, he's craving blackjack. Five minutes.
"Well, maybe just to check and see if it's the same," DePasquale replies, smiling, "if they changed the colors."
DePasquale can't resist. He'd take an unbeatable night gambling over a night with a beautiful woman anytime. There are plenty of beautiful women.
"There's nothing more exciting than making a score," he says. "It's when you're popping champagne and you're laughing and you're joking and everybody's slapping each other five. And everything seems like the perfect world."
The casino staff greets them by name. Ventola lays $3,000 on the table. As he wins, he rolls the money into the next bet. It's called progressive betting and, if he catches a run of good cards, it's the fastest way to turn huge profits. Within minutes, he's up thousands of dollars, playing $4,000 a hand.
It's gone just as quickly and when Ventola returns to the dinner table -- loaded now with chateaubriand, Kobe beef and Hawaiian tuna -- he has only his original $3,000.
After dinner, Varano smiles and announces: "Now I want to gamble."
No roulette dealer is upstairs so the boss calls to have someone sent up. In the meantime, Varano plays a few hands of blackjack and DePasquale takes $10,000 from his credit line.
Twice in five minutes, Varano loses when the dealer catches a six to make 21. They're terrible losses and are a bad omen for DePasquale, who abruptly slides all his chips to his friend. They'll settle up later but those sixes spooked DePasquale out of betting tonight.
Down a few thousand dollars and sick of blackjack, Varano gets his private roulette table just before midnight. He always plays the same 10 numbers, hoping for a 35-to-1 payoff.
He begins at $500 a spin, betting progressively. Because of the house advantage, he says betting conservatively for hours is a losing venture. With these odds and betting strategy, four or five good spins can get him his $25,000 in minutes.
He coaxes the wheel with sudden outbursts:
"We're movin' on up, just like the Jeffersons."
"C'mon now! C'mon!"
"I've got more comebacks than Judy Garland."
Not tonight. He burns through DePasquale's $10,000 and his own. DePasquale reminds him of the sixes and suggests they return next week.
This is a bad night but it barely registers on the losing story scale. It's not like when they had to mail the limousine driver a tip, or when, in Las Vegas, Varano lost a massive, potentially break-even blackjack hand, hurled his Rolex at a slot machine and tossed his last pocket change off a balcony.
"You always remember the losses more than wins because the losing stories are so much better," he says.
Varano wants to play another $20,000 but DePasquale urges restraint. It starts like this, he says, then it'll take another $80,000 to break even. Varano ponders it.
"I wish I ordered the bread pudding for dessert," he says. He'll play a while longer.
It's no better the second time and by about 2 a.m., Varano is down more than $25,500. He's tired and they retreat to the suite to watch TV, sleep a bit, maybe take another shot around dawn before heading back.
DePasquale has a busy day tomorrow and, as he selects a bottle of wine from the bar, they call him a limousine.
"You wake up in the morning and start going crazy gambling, call me," DePasquale says on his way out. "I'll wire you some money."
DePasquale knows the routine. He'll call.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Most patrons will never be ushered to ringside seats or have extravagant dinners laid before them in opulent suites. Such luxuries are reserved for high rollers, the gamblers who represent as much as 50 percent of a casino's revenue and are treated accordingly.
But just for tonight, nod knowingly to the security guard and step past the velvet rope. Come along for a night at one of the world's largest casinos as the guest of one of its most important customers.
The limousine is arriving.
First things first, however. Boston restaurant owner Nick Varano peels off a $100 bill and presses it into his busboy's palm. Two boxes of cannoli from the bakery up the street, he instructs, for the Foxwoods butlers who can't get pastry like this in eastern Connecticut.
Just before stepping into the limousine, Varano, 35, takes the boxes and motions for the boy to keep the $70 or so in change. The driver puts the pastry in the trunk.
Foxwoods sends a limo to Varano's restaurant three, maybe four times a month. Tonight, a Thursday, he's joined by a few friends: Frank DePasquale, 54, a fellow restaurant and nightclub owner, and Ralph Ventola, 38, who runs a fleet of cars for funerals.
There are two types of high rollers: whales and premium players.
The highest of high rollers, whales might bet $5 million per night. While glamorized in movies, whales are increasingly too risky for many casinos who fear huge losses with a few spins of the roulette wheel.
Premium players don't reach whale status and don't get the biggest casino perks -- free Lamborghinis, discounts on gambling losses or shopping money for their wives. But many casinos consider them their most desirable customers.
Varano and his friends are premium players.
"I like to have a minimum of at least $1,000 to $10,000. If I feel that the day's going my way, you know, I don't mind betting $10,000 a hand or more," DePasquale says. "If the day's not going my way, I'll stay as low as $100 a hand. Everything's about rhythm."
Any ultra-rich businessman can drop millions of dollars a few times a year, but DePasquale says the true high roller returns every week, living the high life and playing for high stakes.
Tonight, Varano's plan is to eat like a king, win $25,000 and come back next week.
They're greeted at the casino by Frank Playo, their host. Top players don't call the reservations line. They call their casino host.
Want to see a title fight? Catch a sold-out show? Tee off on a private course? Call the host, whose job is keeping the best customers returning.
Like any good salesman, a host knows his clients' tastes and makes sure they're met without being asked. Casinos spend millions collecting this data and, thanks to corporate consolidation, a regular at the MGM Grand can visit the Bellagio and his favorite champagne will be waiting.
Playo ushers them to the elevator, swipes his card for access to the VIP floors, and shows them to their suite, a palatial flat set in marble. The Red Sox game is on the big screen. The butlers pour the drinks -- the usuals -- from the in-room bar.
A butler is like a personal concierge. He secures tables at the finest restaurants and has the limo waiting downstairs. He's also quick to meet an odd request. One Foxwoods butler arranged the baptism of a player's baby.
Varano and his friends enjoy a selection of imported Italian meats and cheeses, cracked crab, shrimp and -- because the butlers knew DePasquale was coming -- a tray of caviar. Then it's upstairs to the gourmet restaurant where chef Scott Mickelson greets them.
"Some appetizers," Varano says. "What do you suggest?"
"I'll have three of each brought out," Mickelson replies.
Mickelson wears a pager on his shoulder in case of a high-roller emergency. If a seafood lover suddenly announces he's coming, Mickelson can have a wahoo fish head-speared in Hawaii that day and shipped overnight.
The appetizers arrive in stages: oysters and crab on silver tiers, lobster risotto, shrimp, beef and more. It's all complimentary, a small price for their business.
"I can't imagine the way everybody else lives," Varano says.
Ventola is getting antsy. The invite-only casino is calling.
"Frank, wanna come?" Ventola asks eagerly. "Five minutes. Five minutes."
Ventola dreams about gambling. That morning, he blindly bet on soccer just to make the World Cup interesting. Now, he's craving blackjack. Five minutes.
"Well, maybe just to check and see if it's the same," DePasquale replies, smiling, "if they changed the colors."
DePasquale can't resist. He'd take an unbeatable night gambling over a night with a beautiful woman anytime. There are plenty of beautiful women.
"There's nothing more exciting than making a score," he says. "It's when you're popping champagne and you're laughing and you're joking and everybody's slapping each other five. And everything seems like the perfect world."
The casino staff greets them by name. Ventola lays $3,000 on the table. As he wins, he rolls the money into the next bet. It's called progressive betting and, if he catches a run of good cards, it's the fastest way to turn huge profits. Within minutes, he's up thousands of dollars, playing $4,000 a hand.
It's gone just as quickly and when Ventola returns to the dinner table -- loaded now with chateaubriand, Kobe beef and Hawaiian tuna -- he has only his original $3,000.
After dinner, Varano smiles and announces: "Now I want to gamble."
No roulette dealer is upstairs so the boss calls to have someone sent up. In the meantime, Varano plays a few hands of blackjack and DePasquale takes $10,000 from his credit line.
Twice in five minutes, Varano loses when the dealer catches a six to make 21. They're terrible losses and are a bad omen for DePasquale, who abruptly slides all his chips to his friend. They'll settle up later but those sixes spooked DePasquale out of betting tonight.
Down a few thousand dollars and sick of blackjack, Varano gets his private roulette table just before midnight. He always plays the same 10 numbers, hoping for a 35-to-1 payoff.
He begins at $500 a spin, betting progressively. Because of the house advantage, he says betting conservatively for hours is a losing venture. With these odds and betting strategy, four or five good spins can get him his $25,000 in minutes.
He coaxes the wheel with sudden outbursts:
"We're movin' on up, just like the Jeffersons."
"C'mon now! C'mon!"
"I've got more comebacks than Judy Garland."
Not tonight. He burns through DePasquale's $10,000 and his own. DePasquale reminds him of the sixes and suggests they return next week.
This is a bad night but it barely registers on the losing story scale. It's not like when they had to mail the limousine driver a tip, or when, in Las Vegas, Varano lost a massive, potentially break-even blackjack hand, hurled his Rolex at a slot machine and tossed his last pocket change off a balcony.
"You always remember the losses more than wins because the losing stories are so much better," he says.
Varano wants to play another $20,000 but DePasquale urges restraint. It starts like this, he says, then it'll take another $80,000 to break even. Varano ponders it.
"I wish I ordered the bread pudding for dessert," he says. He'll play a while longer.
It's no better the second time and by about 2 a.m., Varano is down more than $25,500. He's tired and they retreat to the suite to watch TV, sleep a bit, maybe take another shot around dawn before heading back.
DePasquale has a busy day tomorrow and, as he selects a bottle of wine from the bar, they call him a limousine.
"You wake up in the morning and start going crazy gambling, call me," DePasquale says on his way out. "I'll wire you some money."
DePasquale knows the routine. He'll call.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Roulette Table: The Miracle of Media to Come
Mark Hollands
05/09/2006 09:00:00
Part 1 of 2 pages
"If I need your opinion, I'll give it to you," the legendary movie mogul Sam Goldwyn once boomed in a simple articulation of his autocratic genius.
What the late Tinseltown tycoon would think of the swath of new technologies and media business models currently exploding on the silver screen of innovation is anyone's guess. But there is no doubt this canny icon of the movie business would not only have an opinion but his own strategy to ensure he did not have merely a bit-part - or be written out of the script - by stubbornly repeating the lines of a bygone era.
The next transformation of the media has already started and will be widely recognized as truly historic before we are finished with it. Today, it is the best evolving case study of what happens to an industry when technical innovation and generational change combine to become an unstoppable social and business force.
If you work in an industry that has experienced such dramatic dynamics, like those in financial services, then you'll be familiar with the oddly contradictory emotions of uncertainty and excitement that many media executives are experiencing right now.
For those of you whose industries have not really been affected beyond technology enablement for efficiency and improved business processes, then it should be as valuable as it is entertaining to follow what will be high drama; more dramatic even than TV high-flyer Eddie McGuire telling the world he wants to "bone" a breakfast show host.
Next-Gen Media
This script for media revolution is much more than the excruciatingly dull debate about Australian government regulation of media. That's a sideshow; not even. This storyline stretches far beyond the parochial concerns of how media moguls, holed up in their Toorak and Double Bay bunkers, will plunder the open mines of digital gems.
And there is little more than a supporting role for the so-called "triple play" strategies of telecommunications companies, which are trying to keep customers with bundled combinations of voice-mobile-Internet offerings.
So, what is really going on, what or who will take the starring roles in next-gen media? It must be Google, right? Fantastically, nobody knows; especially those who say they do. There is no more exciting place to be in technology right now. The companies now claiming a stake in this game are little more than blindfolded players throwing darts at the board, hoping and dreaming they will spear the bulls-eye. Google darts are the closest, that's for sure.
Moderate winners will be the traditional tech companies. Increasing demands will be made for networking technologies, hardware and software for storage. So the likes of IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP - all the usual suspects, in fact - will make money if they are even half-smart. However, they will no longer be our economic icons as they have been since the 90s. For them, their role will be little more than pipes and infrastructure. Increasingly, no one much cares about them.
Microsoft is different. Of course. It has had its chips on pretty much every number on the roulette table for a long time. Also different, Apple has produced it own little miracle with the iPod - a classic transformational business model, not just a gadget. However, Microsoft's upcoming Zune strategy and hardware, plus handset-music plays from the likes of Nokia and Motorola, will surely squeeze Apple's pips in the next five years.
But this is commentary only about traditional tech companies. The most significant contributions are coming from the content kings and companies, such as Google, MySpace and YouTube, which were not even on the radar until very recently.
Beyond many of these new and largely unproven companies emerging, a number of social characteristics are the true force shaking and stirring today's media cocktail.
These, perhaps not surprisingly, also mimic the behaviours of the "Y" and "Millennium" generations of adolescents and young adults who now enter the workforce with values and attitudes that mystify old farts who grew up thinking you were lucky to have a job.
Equally mystifying is the style of content these kids invent and want, including:
» Social networking - services such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo provide this;
» Opportunities to collaborate and share ideas - wikis, blogs and the like which have already become old news despite a slowish uptake in Australia;
» Unified communications - that always-on, anywhere, anytime story. (And off when they want it off.)
» Entertainment on demand - music, TV, audio that is global and unfettered; (and screw all that local regulation crap, just give it to me when I want it).
Providing all these various services, and many more besides, is seen as multi-billion-dollar opportunities. For example, News Corp paid $US528 million for MySpace - an incredible amount of money for what it is now, but perhaps not for what it might become. Others are following this path. MTV, which changed the face of music in the 80s, has launched MTV Flux (nothing to do with indigestion they tell me) to compete. The theme here is the belief that there is money to be made in user-produced content - a concept we oldies and media types have long scoffed at.
IP-TV: No Walled Garden
Perhaps the biggest bucks for biggest impact are being invested in IP-TV - a technology that threatens traditional TV and advertising business models. There is plenty of innovation to come in this space, but there is no doubt a major part of the media we consume in the future will be through IP-TV, which will one day be known as (shockingly) TV!
Telecommunications companies are putting the most wood behind this arrow. While it has dominated press debate, there is no profitable model to emerge from the numerous trials. Indeed, in a world of 2.5 billion TV sets, plus 250 million cable subscribers, there are only 2 million people tuning into IP-TV.
The best trials are, predictably, in Asia, which continues to demonstrate its people are the earliest of adopters - Japanese schoolgirls being the world's first SMS'ers, of course. There are 600,000 subscribers in Hong Kong, tuning their TVs into either PCCW or HK Broadband. Another 90,000 watch IP-TV in China and 80,000 in Japan through KDDI. In Europe, Free and France Telecom leads the way with 900,000 customers. There are numerous trials in the US, though none with more than 100,000 subscribers. The Aussies are, metaphorically, still brewing the tea.
IP-TV will offer channels from all over the world, never mind what Helen Coonan thinks the rules should be. The idea of SMS'ing to keep Michael Slater on that ice-skating show will be too ridiculous to contemplate - just send an e-mail from the TV. And when the phone rings, the caller ID will come on screen. You might even do a videoconference there and then. Calls will be IP-based; farewell those outrageous ISD charges. Viral marketing, not ads, will permeate our lives. Content will be subscription-driven but much cheaper because of volume. Governments, let's hope, will try to secure some free stuff for everyone, as our lot do with mainstream sport now.
Today, the telcos see IP-TV as some sort of walled garden. It won't stay like that. It can't. Our kids won't let it. We are about to behold a miracle of media driven by innovation and the generation that will inherit this planet from us.
You should tune into this saga. It is hard to imagine anything being more exciting. So long as he could make a buck, Sam Goldwyn would agree.
Mark Hollands is an Asia-Pacific vice-president at Gartner. His views are independent and not necessarily those of Gartner.
05/09/2006 09:00:00
Part 1 of 2 pages
"If I need your opinion, I'll give it to you," the legendary movie mogul Sam Goldwyn once boomed in a simple articulation of his autocratic genius.
What the late Tinseltown tycoon would think of the swath of new technologies and media business models currently exploding on the silver screen of innovation is anyone's guess. But there is no doubt this canny icon of the movie business would not only have an opinion but his own strategy to ensure he did not have merely a bit-part - or be written out of the script - by stubbornly repeating the lines of a bygone era.
The next transformation of the media has already started and will be widely recognized as truly historic before we are finished with it. Today, it is the best evolving case study of what happens to an industry when technical innovation and generational change combine to become an unstoppable social and business force.
If you work in an industry that has experienced such dramatic dynamics, like those in financial services, then you'll be familiar with the oddly contradictory emotions of uncertainty and excitement that many media executives are experiencing right now.
For those of you whose industries have not really been affected beyond technology enablement for efficiency and improved business processes, then it should be as valuable as it is entertaining to follow what will be high drama; more dramatic even than TV high-flyer Eddie McGuire telling the world he wants to "bone" a breakfast show host.
Next-Gen Media
This script for media revolution is much more than the excruciatingly dull debate about Australian government regulation of media. That's a sideshow; not even. This storyline stretches far beyond the parochial concerns of how media moguls, holed up in their Toorak and Double Bay bunkers, will plunder the open mines of digital gems.
And there is little more than a supporting role for the so-called "triple play" strategies of telecommunications companies, which are trying to keep customers with bundled combinations of voice-mobile-Internet offerings.
So, what is really going on, what or who will take the starring roles in next-gen media? It must be Google, right? Fantastically, nobody knows; especially those who say they do. There is no more exciting place to be in technology right now. The companies now claiming a stake in this game are little more than blindfolded players throwing darts at the board, hoping and dreaming they will spear the bulls-eye. Google darts are the closest, that's for sure.
Moderate winners will be the traditional tech companies. Increasing demands will be made for networking technologies, hardware and software for storage. So the likes of IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP - all the usual suspects, in fact - will make money if they are even half-smart. However, they will no longer be our economic icons as they have been since the 90s. For them, their role will be little more than pipes and infrastructure. Increasingly, no one much cares about them.
Microsoft is different. Of course. It has had its chips on pretty much every number on the roulette table for a long time. Also different, Apple has produced it own little miracle with the iPod - a classic transformational business model, not just a gadget. However, Microsoft's upcoming Zune strategy and hardware, plus handset-music plays from the likes of Nokia and Motorola, will surely squeeze Apple's pips in the next five years.
But this is commentary only about traditional tech companies. The most significant contributions are coming from the content kings and companies, such as Google, MySpace and YouTube, which were not even on the radar until very recently.
Beyond many of these new and largely unproven companies emerging, a number of social characteristics are the true force shaking and stirring today's media cocktail.
These, perhaps not surprisingly, also mimic the behaviours of the "Y" and "Millennium" generations of adolescents and young adults who now enter the workforce with values and attitudes that mystify old farts who grew up thinking you were lucky to have a job.
Equally mystifying is the style of content these kids invent and want, including:
» Social networking - services such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo provide this;
» Opportunities to collaborate and share ideas - wikis, blogs and the like which have already become old news despite a slowish uptake in Australia;
» Unified communications - that always-on, anywhere, anytime story. (And off when they want it off.)
» Entertainment on demand - music, TV, audio that is global and unfettered; (and screw all that local regulation crap, just give it to me when I want it).
Providing all these various services, and many more besides, is seen as multi-billion-dollar opportunities. For example, News Corp paid $US528 million for MySpace - an incredible amount of money for what it is now, but perhaps not for what it might become. Others are following this path. MTV, which changed the face of music in the 80s, has launched MTV Flux (nothing to do with indigestion they tell me) to compete. The theme here is the belief that there is money to be made in user-produced content - a concept we oldies and media types have long scoffed at.
IP-TV: No Walled Garden
Perhaps the biggest bucks for biggest impact are being invested in IP-TV - a technology that threatens traditional TV and advertising business models. There is plenty of innovation to come in this space, but there is no doubt a major part of the media we consume in the future will be through IP-TV, which will one day be known as (shockingly) TV!
Telecommunications companies are putting the most wood behind this arrow. While it has dominated press debate, there is no profitable model to emerge from the numerous trials. Indeed, in a world of 2.5 billion TV sets, plus 250 million cable subscribers, there are only 2 million people tuning into IP-TV.
The best trials are, predictably, in Asia, which continues to demonstrate its people are the earliest of adopters - Japanese schoolgirls being the world's first SMS'ers, of course. There are 600,000 subscribers in Hong Kong, tuning their TVs into either PCCW or HK Broadband. Another 90,000 watch IP-TV in China and 80,000 in Japan through KDDI. In Europe, Free and France Telecom leads the way with 900,000 customers. There are numerous trials in the US, though none with more than 100,000 subscribers. The Aussies are, metaphorically, still brewing the tea.
IP-TV will offer channels from all over the world, never mind what Helen Coonan thinks the rules should be. The idea of SMS'ing to keep Michael Slater on that ice-skating show will be too ridiculous to contemplate - just send an e-mail from the TV. And when the phone rings, the caller ID will come on screen. You might even do a videoconference there and then. Calls will be IP-based; farewell those outrageous ISD charges. Viral marketing, not ads, will permeate our lives. Content will be subscription-driven but much cheaper because of volume. Governments, let's hope, will try to secure some free stuff for everyone, as our lot do with mainstream sport now.
Today, the telcos see IP-TV as some sort of walled garden. It won't stay like that. It can't. Our kids won't let it. We are about to behold a miracle of media driven by innovation and the generation that will inherit this planet from us.
You should tune into this saga. It is hard to imagine anything being more exciting. So long as he could make a buck, Sam Goldwyn would agree.
Mark Hollands is an Asia-Pacific vice-president at Gartner. His views are independent and not necessarily those of Gartner.
Roulette Table: Staying married: Therapists offer survival guide for first year
by Christine Rook, GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
published September 4, 2006 12:15 am
The wedding gifts are open, the thank you notes mailed, the honeymoon bills due. Now begins the marriage in an era where divorce is common. There were 1,218 divorces filed in Buncombe County in 2005, 74 of which are still pending, according to the county’s court records. The Buncombe court administrator’s office has granted 994 divorce actions so far this year, with 480 still pending.
That’s about as promising as betting red at the roulette table.
Couples can increase their odds of survival, though, by devoting their first year of wedded bliss to establishing the rules and habits that will get you past arguments about money and who gets to drive the new car.
Rule 1: Because your parents reared you with one set of expectations and your spouse’s parents used another, don’t assume your spouse will behave as you wish.
Rule 2: Discuss your differences.
“Marriage is difficult,” says Rebecca Fuller Ward, author of “How to Stay Married Without Going Crazy” (Rainbow, $12.95).
“Don’t ever think it isn’t.”
By about the fifth year of marriage, 10 percent of couples divorce, according to a 2002 Census Bureau study. Five years later, another 10 percent have given up.
Marriages that go bad do so quickly.
First marriages ending in divorce dissolve in an average of eight years. A subsequent marriage that goes sour lasts an average of about seven years.
Census experts don’t track how many marriages dissolve in that first year, but experts have seen misunderstandings and wrong assumptions from year one return to haunt couples a decade later.
“Our experience teaches us something, and we look for that to be the rule,” says psychologist and pastoral counselor Ross Lucas. “It’s not.”
Lucas tells a story about a couple he counseled. The husband grew up in a home where the mother and father didn’t exchange Christmas gifts. The wife’s parents, however, made a big deal out of presents.
On the couple’s first Christmas together, the wife handed a gift to her husband and hid her hurt feelings when she didn’t get one in return.
How did the couple resolve the issue?
“Unfortunately, they didn’t,” Lucas says.
About nine years later, they landed in his office. The wife dredged up her frustration at giving her husband a Christmas present each year and getting nothing in return. Her husband was baffled. He couldn’t figure out why his wife kept giving him gifts.
The lesson: talk.
Then there’s money
Money is perhaps the biggest argument-inducing topic.
It doesn’t matter whether a husband and wife maintain separate accounts or merge their finances, says tax accountant Tom Johnson. “They just have to agree.”
At tax time, Johnson becomes privy to a lot of domestic disputes — mostly about who will pay the taxes.
He advises newlyweds to discuss their financial goals, look at their income and expenses and work out a budget.
Couples who don’t discuss money may end up with him boiling at her shop-till-she-drops habits and her resentful over his high-priced toys.
Individuality is underrated in a wedding that is hyped as a time for two to become one. Ignoring the self, however, leads to problems, says Ward, a psychotherapist.
Everyone has heard the phrase: “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”
Ward calls that enmeshment — where a person focuses so much on the needs of another that he becomes unable to express himself.
Don’t expect a spouse to accept responsibility for your happiness or to mimic your bad mood, she says. Be responsible for your own emotions. Say something when your feelings get hurt.
Do not avoid conflict.
That’s right. Don’t avoid it. Learn how to handle it.
Running off to pout is a child’s way of disagreeing. Instead, tell how your feelings were hurt. Don’t accuse. Don’t attack. Focus on you.
“When you’re talking about yourself, you’re on safe ground,” Ward says.
After you say what you don’t like, tell your husband or wife what you do like.
“I feel loved when you sit by me,” Ward offers as an example.
“It doesn’t usually work to argue,” Lucas said.
published September 4, 2006 12:15 am
The wedding gifts are open, the thank you notes mailed, the honeymoon bills due. Now begins the marriage in an era where divorce is common. There were 1,218 divorces filed in Buncombe County in 2005, 74 of which are still pending, according to the county’s court records. The Buncombe court administrator’s office has granted 994 divorce actions so far this year, with 480 still pending.
That’s about as promising as betting red at the roulette table.
Couples can increase their odds of survival, though, by devoting their first year of wedded bliss to establishing the rules and habits that will get you past arguments about money and who gets to drive the new car.
Rule 1: Because your parents reared you with one set of expectations and your spouse’s parents used another, don’t assume your spouse will behave as you wish.
Rule 2: Discuss your differences.
“Marriage is difficult,” says Rebecca Fuller Ward, author of “How to Stay Married Without Going Crazy” (Rainbow, $12.95).
“Don’t ever think it isn’t.”
By about the fifth year of marriage, 10 percent of couples divorce, according to a 2002 Census Bureau study. Five years later, another 10 percent have given up.
Marriages that go bad do so quickly.
First marriages ending in divorce dissolve in an average of eight years. A subsequent marriage that goes sour lasts an average of about seven years.
Census experts don’t track how many marriages dissolve in that first year, but experts have seen misunderstandings and wrong assumptions from year one return to haunt couples a decade later.
“Our experience teaches us something, and we look for that to be the rule,” says psychologist and pastoral counselor Ross Lucas. “It’s not.”
Lucas tells a story about a couple he counseled. The husband grew up in a home where the mother and father didn’t exchange Christmas gifts. The wife’s parents, however, made a big deal out of presents.
On the couple’s first Christmas together, the wife handed a gift to her husband and hid her hurt feelings when she didn’t get one in return.
How did the couple resolve the issue?
“Unfortunately, they didn’t,” Lucas says.
About nine years later, they landed in his office. The wife dredged up her frustration at giving her husband a Christmas present each year and getting nothing in return. Her husband was baffled. He couldn’t figure out why his wife kept giving him gifts.
The lesson: talk.
Then there’s money
Money is perhaps the biggest argument-inducing topic.
It doesn’t matter whether a husband and wife maintain separate accounts or merge their finances, says tax accountant Tom Johnson. “They just have to agree.”
At tax time, Johnson becomes privy to a lot of domestic disputes — mostly about who will pay the taxes.
He advises newlyweds to discuss their financial goals, look at their income and expenses and work out a budget.
Couples who don’t discuss money may end up with him boiling at her shop-till-she-drops habits and her resentful over his high-priced toys.
Individuality is underrated in a wedding that is hyped as a time for two to become one. Ignoring the self, however, leads to problems, says Ward, a psychotherapist.
Everyone has heard the phrase: “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”
Ward calls that enmeshment — where a person focuses so much on the needs of another that he becomes unable to express himself.
Don’t expect a spouse to accept responsibility for your happiness or to mimic your bad mood, she says. Be responsible for your own emotions. Say something when your feelings get hurt.
Do not avoid conflict.
That’s right. Don’t avoid it. Learn how to handle it.
Running off to pout is a child’s way of disagreeing. Instead, tell how your feelings were hurt. Don’t accuse. Don’t attack. Focus on you.
“When you’re talking about yourself, you’re on safe ground,” Ward says.
After you say what you don’t like, tell your husband or wife what you do like.
“I feel loved when you sit by me,” Ward offers as an example.
“It doesn’t usually work to argue,” Lucas said.
