Friday, December 24, 2010

Winning machine

A quick pix of one of my wins at Marina Bay Sands. Love the casino which doesn’t seem to mind photos being taken of their jackpot machines, unlike in Genting Highlands and its ship, Superstar Virgo.

At those places, they have strong, armed and beady eyed security men watching any shutter happy guest all ready to move in to stop any action.

Besides, there are spoil spot signs which indicate “No camera” with a slash across a sketch of a camera.
So, unlikely I would be heading back to Genting or Virgo any time soon, now that there is MBS with its more than 1,600 slot machines to choose from compared to the hundreds in Genting and several dozens on board Virgo!

This machine is near one of the entrances of the casino and beneath a sports car (that's supposed to be a prize!) and next to two other slots, named Butterfly Kisses. Not bad payers either but don't put in more than 10 bets!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Winning day at Marina Bay Sands

for me that is, not the casino!  

I’m grinning like a Chesire cat, happy as a sand boy (girl, actually) as I write this.

This is because today I treated myself to a day at the Marina Bay Sands like I had been planning to since July and had fretted here that I might not be able to make it be4 2010 bows out.

Somehow with a bit of planning and tight scheduling of all my chores, I got that long clear stretch I wanted to justify paying the $100 levy to enter the casino.

And guess what? Not only did I spend close to 12 hours at MBS — not all of it inside the casino of cos, as I explored the new food court, the new shops that had opened since I was there last, ate a leisurely early dinner, snacked and generally took it easy.

But I guess I must have been inside the actual casino for at least eight hours and so in my estimate have maxed out the cost of the levy.

And guess what again? I started with $500. After paying the levy, I had $400 left for gambling.
Then guess what yet again?

When I left, after 10pm, I still had $150 of capital in my wallet and cashed out this amount as shown in the pix I took be4 I changed it for cash at the casino’s cashier.



My math tells me that I won a net of $75.41, after taking into account the levy, or $175.41 if the levy is ignored.

Which isn’t a bad return where I’m concerned.

So my fourth visit to Marina Bay has been the luckiest to date. A very fitting X’mas present to myself!
And unlike my July visit, I didn’t lose my “free parking” ticket. I got free parking for all the hours I was there.
Oh, the cheap thrill I get out of this to brighten my life!  :-D

Monday, February 8, 2010

Luck is what you make of it

Written on Feb 8, 2010

On the way home today, I heard on the car radio two talk show hosts on 93.8 Live jocularly discussing the date when Resorts World Sentosa has been reported to throw open its casino doors: Feb 13.

The female host expressed surprise at the reported choice, as she considered the number 13 unlucky, betraying an Anglo-Saxon superstition bias.

The male host then pointed out that Feb 13 also happens to be the 30th day of the 12th moon according to the lunar calendar. And “30″ is considered to be lucky by the Chinese.

It was my turn to be surprised. 30 may indeed be considered lucky by some Chinese, due to the fact that when it is said aloud, it could be mistaken for a lucky utterance in Chinese.

But. And there is a very big but.

Month ends, particularly year ends, aren’t considered to be particularly auspicious for the truly traditional Chinese, as they mark an end.

I’ve a relative and her husband (to be) who, in their ignorant youth, had picked Dec 31 to hold their wedding dinner. To them, that would enable them to start the new year together, as a married couple.

Their elders put their foot down. The end of the year is no way to mark a new life as husband and wife, they pointed out. And so their wedding dinner was held on Jan 2 instead.

Resorts World Sentosa may not fall into this mould of thinking. Or it may. Then what? Open on Feb 14 which doesn’t sound particularly auspicious in Chinese, especially if one puts the date before the month, giving 142.

Yet, I know some Chinese who would argue that contrary to popular belief, 142 needn’t be pronounced to sound like “easy to die” but “a whole life of ease”. It’s where you put the accent, you see.

However, there’s another problem. Feb 14 is also the start of the Tiger Year. And the Feng Shui fraternity have much to say about the most auspicious direction and timing to make sure the arriving tiger isn’t one that’s ready to eat everything in its way, including the casino.

Still, if I were a feng shui master, I could also make a plausible case on why Resorts World should, nay must, open on Feb 14. Because what better image for a casino to aspire to than that of a tiger, with the eager gamblers as its easy prey?

And the theme music, I would advise should be “I am Tiger hear me roar…” adapted from the gender liberators’ anthem, “I am woman hear me roar..”