SINGAPORE : A casino wins on many levels, according to former
high-roller Chia Teck Leng.
First, it is simply a commission earner.
Second, unlike a gambler, it does not take risks and in fact -
always makes sure it wins with a house advantage.
Chia, former finance manager of Asia Pacific Breweries (Singapore)
Pte Ltd, was sentenced to 42 years' in jail.
He pleaded guilty to cheating four banks out of $117.1 million to
fund his high-stakes gambling habit.
Chia, now aged 45, wrote a paper "Taming the Casino Dragon" while
in prison to 'share his experience' and 'lessons learnt'.
The Home Affairs Ministry is releasing it now as part of the public
education on the casino debate.
Chia gave an example of how much a casino with 2,000 local and
2,000 foreign regular punters can make in the game of
Baccarat.
If a local Baccarat player bets an average of $100, and sits four
hours at the table, he would end up playing 48 times and spending
$4,800.
If he goes to the casino twice a week, his annual spending would be
$499,200.
The casino makes 2.5 percent on that, so $12,480 a year.
For a foreign punter, his average bet could be $2,000.
Assuming the same play time, he could spend $1.15 million a
year.
The casino gets 2.5 percent at least - regular players get rebate,
but the house still gets about $16,128.
So even without doing anything, the casino gets money every time
someone bets, and even when someone steps in - in the form of
entrance fees.
It will make $20 million from 2,000 locals based on entrance fees
of $10,000 each.
The casino will also generate $25 million from the annual potential
wins of 2,000 local punters, and $23 million from the annual
potential wins of 2,000 foreign punters. - CNA /de