A GAMBLING LIFE
It is unfair to criticise me for having the odd flutter - it is in my blood, so not my fault. My grandfather was a Borderer and a gambler, or so I was told. My grandmother was an Edinburgh lass from Charlotte Square, where they used to put thick layers of tan bark on the cobbles to soften the clatter of the carriage wheels whenever one of the residents died. Being well bred, we were never allowed to ask what happened to Grandfather, but there was a hell of a clatter when he left.
In 1970, a friend was offered a free dinner for two at The Curzon Club when it reopened after a period of interfighting and scandal in the London underworld. New membership was available for £10, so we both joined. They were both welcoming and very generous; when one ran out of cash, and then bank cheques, the management accepted your signature on their own paper. There appeared to be no limits - as long as you cleared when asked. The doormen looked like heavyweight boxers but the croupiers were pretty. Within a few months, the group had opened Crockfords, The International Sporting Club and The Palm Beach Casinos. It did not cost anything to join and one likes a change when one’s luck is out. Shift work was particularly conducive to this, as I could reach home after the afternoon shift at 11 pm and be in Berkeley Square by half past, stay for free breakfast at 4 am and be back on the factory by midday for lunch and the afternoon shift. There was no need to even go home if I was on the morning shift. Thank God, or my employer, I was moved back to Scotland about that time. There was a problem with drinking and driving up there and Edinburgh was 30 miles away, so I confined my activities to nearer home. Of course, visits to London, Malta, Marseilles, Cannes, Monaco and Bournemouth gave me the chance to keep my hand in but there was not the opportunity to spend six to eight hours gambling six nights a week. This is where I met my first trainer and took to horse racing and serious investments: but that is another story.
My memories were awakened this week when I received on the internet, from a regular supplier of secondhand ships, the following:
OFFER - CASINO / GAMBLING VESSEL FOR SALE OR LONG TERM CHARTER.
6500 DWT; BOW THRUSTER; STABILIZERS; SPEED: 24.5 Knots
PAX: 850; 2 Suites/ 6 Cabins / 8 bed spaces /Private Facilities;
CREW: 180; 21 officer cabins / 42 Crew cabins/ 164 bed Spaces
SECURITY: 80 Surveillance cameras
MAIN ROOMS: Purser's Office, Information Desk
SHOWROOM: Accommodates 400 passengers
Pool and Pool Bar; Gift Shop;
Hospital - doctor and full facilities
Buffet Dining Room - Seats 275 each seating time
Children's Video Games Room
Casinos:
Slot Casino - Accommodates 150 passengers
Main Casino - Accommodates 300 Passengers
Lounge, Piano Bar, Non-smoking casino
Gaming equipment consists of 12 Black Jack Tables, 4 Roulette Wheels, 2 Crap Tables,
1 Stud Poker and 1 x Mini Bacarrat Table. There are 335 machines onboard that include IGT S+ Slots, Bally Slots, VLC Video Poker Games (All slots and video poker machines are hooked into an online computerized player tracking system, which also provides online accounting controls) and IGT Players Choice Video Poker Games.
It is a pity Indonesia discourages gambling, as if we anchored off Tanjong Priok we might be able to save the national economy or at least our own. Alternatively we could park it somewhere offshore between here and there.
Any retired entrepreneur looking for an investment and partner, please contact the editor.
Malcolm Llewellyn