Before I go any further, it's imperative I clarify a few things for my readers. When I say whale? I'm not talking about a big fish you find in the ocean. Think of a whale in Las Vegas as person or persons who are willing to wager large amounts of money at a casino. Another thing, Orientals make up an overwhelming proportion of the whales in Las Vegas. Asians love to gamble, that's hardly news. A good friend of mine in Las Vegas is a gentlemen named Quan. He was born in Hong Kong, and moved to San Francisco when he was ten. Ever since he turned 21, his full time profession has been gambling. He called me the other day and said he would give me a 100 bucks if I would register his new car for him. Since I''m unemployed, I gladly accepted his offer. He was at Caesar's Palace and he wanted me to come pick up the car. I told him this. "OK, be there in 30 minutes. What room are you in?" He told me that I couldn't come to the room without him, and he would meet me in the lobby. Turns out, I was in for one helluva of an interesting day.
I arrive at Caesar's, call Quan, and he comes down to the lobby. I figured he was going to throw me the keys to his car, I would go register it for him, and that would basically be it. He then looks at me and says. "Hey, come on up to the suite. I want to show you what it looks like, I also have some friends of mine that I want you to meet." Quan and his buddies were staying in a high roller's suite. Now, I'm a poor white guy from Kansas, the last place on earth I would ever expect to see is a high roller's suite on the strip. So when he made the offer. I gladly accepted.
If your going to stay in a high roller's suite, the only condition attached to it? Money, and lots of it. A person or persons staying in a lavish setting like this must be willing to gamble tens of thousands, upon hundreds of thousands, upon millions of dollars in order to have such a luxury. Sounds far fetched to most people. Not Quan and his buddies from Hong Kong. They expect it. Or as he puts it.."Will just go some place else." Every whim a high roller has? The casino's will cater to it. Anyways, we make our way to the top floor of the Augustus tower at Caesars. The elevator door opens, and I step into the most lavish/hedonistic site any guy from Kansas will ever see. The main entrance to the suite was covered in marble, with a sculpture of Venus in the rotunda. As I made my way into the living room, I guess that's what it's called? A number of Quan's friends from Hong Kong were getting ready to eat. He introduces me to them, and they ask if I'm hungry. I accepted their offer, and about five minutes later, 4 carts are wheeled into the suite, with every delicacy you could imagine. This wasn't your ordinary room service. When your a high roller? The casino's have a dedicated wait staff to serve you.
Curiosity was starting to get the best of me, so I asked Quan and his buddies how much you have to gamble in order to receive such luxurious accommodations. His friend looks at me and says. "Last night we were playing 5 grand a hand in baccarat. Right now were up 180k," I read about guys like this before, but this was the first time I had actually met one of them. Quan looks at me and says. "How much do you think it will cost to get my car registered?" I didn't know for sure. So he gave me 1000 bucks and told me to call him once I was finished. I grabbed his keys, thanked the group for the lunch, and headed to the DMV. As I was leaving the suite, I started thinking to myself AGAIN.."Your a long way from Kansas Dorothy! When you woke up this morning, the last place on Earth you thought you would be eating lunch is in a high roller's suite at Caesar's." Little did I know, this was just the beginning of what was going to be a very interesting day for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment