The change of ownership of the Golden Port Casino caused a huge stir in the gambling circle.
On the one hand, Bandy was actually a decent person. After he started running the casinos, he won over many gambling masters, or to be more precise, masters of cheating.
He not only did not despise these people, but also befriended them, gave them high-value gifts, and would even give them some money.
Including those professional gamblers.
These professional gamblers were not cheating gamblers. They were more like an option that obtained the greatest winning rate through scientific calculation, and then always stood on the side with the greatest winning rate.
Although there were wins and losses, overall, the probability of winning was greater.
When blackjack became popular in the Federation, there was a true story in Paradise City of a high school math teacher winning hundreds of thousands from the casino.
As long as you use calculation to conduct rational analysis, then with enough sample data, the more rounds of card games you participate in, the greater your probability of winning, and the more profit you will get.
This group of people also won Bandy’s friendship. They often appeared in different casinos in different regions and also indirectly promoted Bandy’s fame.
On the other hand, Bandy had always given people the feeling that the Kodak family would never fall, no matter what. He was always talking and laughing about the big shots and upper-class characters he knew, which made people mistakenly think that he was also a member of the upper class.
In addition, with his firm control over the gambling industry in Golden Port City, the state government had not issued new casino franchise licenses for many years, which also made many people believe that the Kodak family also had great influence in the state government.
But just such a family with huge influence and great wealth was disintegrated in an instant and became a thing of the past. It was inevitable that some people would feel shocked!
Inevitably, some people would have some not-so-friendly thoughts about the not-so-famous Lance and the Lance Family.
The gambling industry is also a relatively closed industry, and it has its own unique rules here.
Many people would think that cheaters should be despised and spurned by people, but in fact, the ones who were despised and spurned were those with poor skills who were easily discovered by people.
Those cheaters with truly superb skills would instead become the target of people’s respect and imitation. Of course, this also included those gambling addicts with special talents or special abilities.
For example, some people have very good memories. After they sit down, they will ask the dealer to change to a new deck of poker, and then remember the approximate order of the first few dozen cards by observing the shuffling process.
There are also people who can judge what cards other people probably have by obtaining some elemental information, thereby winning.
These people were all respected by the gambling addicts. Not only did they earn a lot of money through their own gambling skills, but they would also become important VIPs in various casinos. It could be said that they had gained both fame and fortune!
This time, with the change of ownership of the Golden Port Casino, whether it was to repay the benefits that Bandy had once given them, or to show their face in front of the new casino operator, to let the other party know that they were not to be trifled with, and thus reach a new cooperative relationship, they all felt it was necessary to make this Mr. Lance realize that in this industry, without a sufficiently deep background and ability, a casino is not so easy to open.
At a little after eight in the morning, in the restaurant of the hotel attached to the Golden Port Casino, four gentlemen were gathered at a table.
The breakfast in the hotel had many varieties and was very rich.
The accommodation price here was not cheap, but there were still many people who chose to stay here because it was right above the casino.
Every day after waking up, you only need to take a shower and an elevator to reach the casino below. This was the most suitable place for those gambling addicts who didn’t even have enough time to gamble.
On the plates on the table was their breakfast: ham and egg sandwiches, bacon rolls, and creamy macaroni, as well as some fruit.
These four men were all quite famous in the gambling industry, because they all had their own unique skills. In other words, they also won more than they lost, and were the kind of people who were on the blacklist of many casinos.
This time they had gathered in Golden Port City, it was definitely not for tourism. They were also here for the Golden Port Casino.
“I remember that guy went in yesterday. Is there any new news?” one of them, a man in his forties, wearing a pair of round-rimmed glasses and looking like an honest and simple person, said.
He was eating breakfast while looking at the others.
The short man sitting opposite him shook his head. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him.”
As he spoke, he straightened up and looked around, but did not see the person they were looking for.
“Could there have been an accident?” another man in his thirties, wearing a floral shirt and looking a little handsome, asked with some worry.
He was actually uneasy in his heart. These few people were also good friends. They had met at the casino and had also competed with each other in gambling skills.
Without considering cheating, everyone’s level was actually very good, which was why they could become friends.
After becoming friends, they had killed their way through the casinos of the entire Federation together, and had also made a name for themselves, and at the same time had earned a lot of money.
Many casinos, in order to avoid trouble, would give them a sum of money and then blacklist them.
Although they could not go to the casino to gamble now, they could still play in tournaments. Some casinos, in order to increase the fame of their own casinos, would hold some card game tournaments from time to time.
As long as they didn’t cheat, these tournaments still welcomed them.
The total prize money of some tournaments was as high as two or three hundred thousand, and on average it was thirty to fifty thousand.
There were more than a dozen such tournaments every year. As long as they were diligent and a little lucky, they could always win one or two.
An annual income of thirty to fifty thousand, plus the money they had previously obtained, was enough to maintain their consumption.
This time they came to Golden Port City, besides someone suggesting to vent some anger for Bandy, there was also the idea of extorting a sum from the new casino owner.
The floral shirt was very worried that there would be a problem, but the others believed that there would be no problem.
As long as they were not caught cheating on the spot, then with their reputation in the gambling industry, there was a high probability that the casino would follow the rules of the industry.
Give them some money, and then send them away.
Although this practice looked like they were being sent away like beggars, they had ultimately obtained a sum of money, and could also vent some anger for Bandy.
The floral shirt felt that the Lance Family being able to replace the Kodak Family was definitely not for the reasons reported in the newspapers—that the Kodak Family had internal problems, a broken capital chain, and the like. There must be a deeper problem, but these people were not willing to listen.
Now that that guy hadn’t come back, it made him even more worried.
The restaurant was located on the twelfth floor of the entire hotel, right in the middle, slightly on the upper side.
A circle of floor-to-ceiling glass windows allowed them to overlook the entire Golden Port City, whether it was the city center, the Starlight District, or the most beautiful Bay Area, it could all be seen.
Just as they were worrying about what had happened to their companion, someone suddenly let out a cry of surprise. Then more people stood up and walked towards one side.
Just in that instant, something had screamed and fallen from outside the glass curtain wall on one side. It was a person!
Someone in the restaurant immediately cried out in surprise, “Someone jumped off the building!”
This was one of the casino’s reserved programs. Many people, after losing all their money in the casino and still owing a large sum of money, and being unable to repay it, would often choose to jump.
If a casino had never had anyone jump off the building, then this casino definitely had problems in its operation and revenue.
But you can’t have people jumping off the building often either. That would mean that this casino was taking too much.
People like to watch a commotion, even if they know deep down that the guy lying downstairs could be them tomorrow.
A large number of people gathered around the glass curtain wall. The floral shirt and his group also squeezed to the side of the glass curtain wall and looked down.
From here, they could just see the corpse. He had landed on the platform on the sixth floor and had been broken into two pieces. It looked extremely tragic.
Many people were commenting on something, while the faces of the floral shirt and his group gradually became not so good.
Because they found that the clothes that person was wearing were of the same style as their missing friend.
“It should be… a coincidence.”
The crowd was dispersed. The four of them no longer had the desire to continue eating breakfast. They discussed for a moment and decided to go down and have a look.
Before the police arrived, they saw the dead guy.
Although his whole person was deformed from the fall, they could still tell that this guy was their “late” friend.
The four of them fell silent in an instant.
“He’s not the type to jump off a building,” someone said.
The middle-aged man with glasses nodded. “Yes, you’re right. But he did jump off a building. you saw it, right there.”
The floral shirt couldn’t help but say, “Let’s get out of here!”
“I have a strong sense of unease. He was thrown from above!”
The other three all fell into silence. The middle-aged man with glasses let out a breath. “They broke the rules.”
The floral shirt’s scalp was a little numb. “Who the fuck cares if they broke the rules? Someone’s dead now, brother!”
“They’re using this method to warn us, to make us stay away from here. Don’t you feel it?”
“I’m really… I have to go back and pack my bags. I’m leaving this place!”
“I don’t want my mom and dad to get a call from the police station in a few days, and the police tell them that I also jumped off a building!”
The floral shirt left without hesitation. He was clearly terrified.
Yesterday, everyone was still chatting, talking about a friend who had a competition in September. Now he was lying on the ground in two pieces.
His eyeballs had been squeezed out by the huge impact. The thought of that damn scene made him feel disgusted at the same time as he felt fear.
The other three looked at each other. In the end, they all chose to leave this place.
Obviously, the Lance Family was not the operators of other casinos. They were not so concerned about, nor so respectful of, people with skills like them.
Soon the police arrived at the scene. Then, after a simple investigation, they finally concluded that this person had committed suicide.
The fall had covered up the other wounds on his body. The medical examiner also cleverly manually dealt with some of the wounds that had not been covered.
Now the entire police system was taking subsidies from the Lance Family, and Lance had also set up a foundation to ensure that all police officers would not miss the opportunity for treatment or the opportunity for their children to go to college because they did not have money when they needed a large sum of it.
Everyone was sincerely grateful to Lance. If there was a vote on who was the most respected person in the minds of the Golden Port City police, then this person would undoubtedly be Lance.
A little later, more photos and news about this jumper were also published in the newspapers.
Because his body had dirtied the terrace of the sixth floor of the hotel, and also because he had shattered and splattered everywhere, it had generated a cost of about 70.
The police department and the hotel side needed his family to pay this cash before they could take his body or ashes away.
Some people who had seen this guy in the casino, and some people who knew this guy, realized in this matter that Lance was not Bandy. He would not allow those people to extort him and his casino.
Although this made many professional gamblers a little dissatisfied, it could only be a dissatisfaction in their hearts.
In the afternoon, the casino spread the news through various channels that they welcomed any normal customer to gamble in the casino.
Not only could you lose money to the casino, but you could also win a large sum of money from the casino. But there was one prerequisite, and that was that cheating was not allowed.
As long as you didn’t cheat, even if a customer won a million, the casino would guarantee his safety and the safety of his funds.
But if someone cheated, even if this person only won one dollar, Lance would guarantee that he would not leave Golden Port City alive!
Besides this news, which was confirmed by someone’s life, there was also another piece of news.
A new game called “Lance Poker” would be opened on every floor of the casino. Its rules were simpler, but it was more fun and playable than ordinary games. Everyone was welcome to try it.
The gameplay of this new “Lance Poker” was actually Stud Poker. The Federation did not have this gameplay, at least not in this era.
The greatest fun of this gameplay is that even if you have a small hand, as long as you are bold enough, you may still be able to scare away those with a big hand.
The casino does not participate in the game, but will take a 5% cut from each round of the game.
The gambling addicts were very interested in the new gambling method, and in the promotion, the casino mentioned “winner takes all,” which made those gambling addicts who liked excitement very interested.
The matter of the cheater jumping off the building in the daytime did not affect the business of the casino at night at all. On any floor, the Lance Poker tables were surrounded by people, and there was even a situation where there were not enough tables!
The tables were divided into eight-person tables and twelve-person tables. The most popular was always the twelve-person table. Using one dollar to win eleven dollars, the gambling addicts knew how to choose to maximize their interests.
The gameplay itself was not complicated, but these people had already figured out some of its fun. When someone with a not-so-big hand won the whole table, it would trigger a wave of exclamations from the onlookers!
There was no more thrilling and exciting gameplay than this. In just a few hours, it became the most popular gameplay in the casino, bar none.
Even Morris was sincerely amazed by Lance’s “versatility.” Don’t be fooled by the fact that this gameplay seems very simple, and that the casino doesn’t seem to make much money. In fact, that’s not the case.
According to the current statistics, a gambling table on the first floor can generate at least two dollars of income per minute, and one gambling table’s income for a day is about 3,000.
It may seem that this number is not very amazing, but what if the number of gambling tables is ten, or twenty?
And this is only on the first floor.
The minimum bet on the second floor is ten times that of the first floor, which means that a gambling table on the second floor can generate about twenty of income per minute, which is nearly 30,000 of income a day.
There are fewer gambling tables on the second floor, only eight. Even if only three of them are full every day, that’s still at least 80,000 to 90,000 of income a day.
On the third floor, the minimum bet is increased to fifty. An eight-person table, if every round only starts with looking at the cards, can also generate at least twenty to thirty of profit.
But when you get to the third floor, people are not just playing for the first round. So the profit generated per minute is over fifty.
As long as one table can be filled, then it can bring at least about 80,000 of profit to the casino every day.
All of this added up, a new game could bring in a guaranteed income of 200,000 every day. This did not even count the free consumption tables on the fourth and fifth floors.
In this gameplay, the casino does not participate as the banker, which means that the casino has no losses.
Unlike games like blackjack, where the casino gambles with the players, and sometimes the casino will lose money in a card game.
Winning two rounds and losing two rounds is equivalent to playing for nothing, but Lance Poker is not like that. All the income is profit, and there is no possibility of losing money.
The crazier the players are, the more money the casino makes!
A city on the East Coast with a population of two million and still expanding, this is definitely not its limit!
Plus the upcoming ten thousand or even more high-income groups, the income of the casino will exceed people’s imagination!
After the first day of trial operation, Morris was dumbfounded. He had never imagined that this kind of gameplay would make the players constantly throw money onto the gambling table!
Or it was because of greed, wanting to win more, but in the end losing more!
And this gameplay also had another benefit, and that was that the hatred generated by the players was not directed at the casino.
Unlike other games, if a player loses too much and their mentality collapses, they will feel that it is the casino’s problem.
It’s the dealer who has cheated, or some other reason. They will resent the casino for taking their money.
But Lance Poker is different. They will only hate the other players, not the casino.
Lance is a genius!
But Lance also told him not to be happy too early. The popularity of Lance Poker now was just because it had just appeared.
As it began to overdraw people’s pockets, this crazy income would decrease. Maybe by the end of next year, the profit it brought would decrease.
But even if it decreased by half, it would still be the most profitable gambling table of all the games in the casino, bar none!
(End of a Chapter)