Today, many normal employment channels have dried up due to our porous economy which has driven some to society’s underbelly for income. Certainly very few in our cities have turned to highly illegal and harmful occupations – like drug trading, trafficking, extortion and thievery to survive. But, behind computer terminals and closed doors; at racetracks and casinos, other shadowy professions are prospering and multiplying. Case in point: A very close friend of mine got fed up with trying to scratch out a buck in the L.A. real estate industry five years ago and became a professional poker player. Instead of days consumed by calling on clients and customers with business cards in tow, my buddy opted to play high stakes cash and tournament poker games in Southern California, Las Vegas and felt tables beyond to try and earn a living. Countless others have followed suit, leaving professions with solid pay checks by choice or boot to cards, ponies and point spreads to swing a buck. The action in most of our nation’s casinos is alive and vibrant – day or night. Doors are mostly open 24/7. Because of antes, cuts, rakes, and bad luck flops and turns, most undoubtedly fail at their new found careers. Most I suspect end up in far worse shape than when they left mainstream America.

Today, in our cities and across our nation, many women, too, have become displaced by job loss or have struggled to find work in the first place. High divorce rates nationwide and separations from partners have also added to women’s struggles to make ends meet. No doubt, a small minority of them have turned to the shadows for incomes. Prostitution flourishes in the U.S. and it’s there for the taking at the flick of a mouse and phone call. But, it has become much more hidden than decades past. Solicitations in bar lounges and on urban street corners have largely been curbed in favor of cell phones, websites and traveling lap tops. Today’s technology has altered how the world’s oldest profession is promoted and solicited. Becoming a high priced hooker these days means going high-tech. For some struggling women today, this income alternative will not dry up – it’s recession proof. There are no professionally handed out pink slips, only rotating hands of a clock.

The problems with underbelly professions in society can be discussed legally and morally, certainly. But there are economic issues, too, which can’t be solved easily. Most of our state governments have huge billion dollar dripping red ink deficits. The recession has caused thousands of layoffs from payrolls, reduced commissions and has certainly had an effect on states’ income tax revenues. Those jobs lost or waned were in most cases properly accounted for and taxed. Past nationwide Borders employees received W2s and stated and attested to their professions on tax returns. So did countless other mainstream Americans who lost jobs. Don’t think for one moment today that the billions of dollars changing hands nationally in the shadows is properly accounted for and taxed. It’s a cash game, in safes and under mattresses, and out of reach from governments’ needy hands. And, when we go out for our morning strolls around several city blocks, we often wonder how the pretty lady several doors away with the red convertible Mercedes parked in the driveway and some of our other neighbors live so well.

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Mr. Lux, formerly worked at a major investment firm. He is a graduate of UCLA and holds an MBA in finance and has been involved in real estate lending in the Los Angeles area for over 20 years. Mr. Lux has had numerous societal and business articles published by leading news publications. He is author of the investment book, Exposing the Wheel Spin on Wall Street. For more information please visit: http://wwwluxlends.blogspot.com

1-Bill Gates

Net Worth= $56 billion

Occupation= Chairman of Microsoft Corporation

Bill Gates home is situated on a 66,002-square-foot(approx.) compound and is estimated at $140 million.

2-George Lucas

Net worth= $3.1 billion

Occupation= Film director, Producer, Screen writer

The Starwars filmmaker lives and works on his 5,156-acre(approx.) property known as Skywalker Ranch.

3-James Packer

Net Worth= $3.7 billion(approx.)

Occupation= Media and Casino’s

James Packer, the media heir, lives on the 3 acre(approx.) packer family compound his grandfather bought in 1935.

4-Lakshmi Mittal

Net Worth= $28.8 billion(approx.)

Occupation= CEO, ArcelorMittal

Lakshmi Mittal bought his home in 2004 for $114.89 million(approx.). The sale held Guinness Book of World Record for a while as the most expensive house in the world.

5-Larry Ellison

Net Worth= $27 billion(approx.)

Occupation= Co-Founder and CEO and Oracle Corporation

Set on 23 acres(approx.), Larry Ellison’s home is reminiscent of a Japanese palace.

6-Lev Leviev

Net Worth=$1.6 billion(approx.)

Occupation=  Business Man: Diamonds and Real Estate and Chemicals

The $35 million dollar house(approx.), in the heart of London, is home to Lev Leviev, his wife Olga and their 9 children.

7-Michael Dell

Net Worth= $16 billion(approx.)

Occupation: Founder and CEO and Dell Corporation

The Dell’s 33,000 square-foot (approx.) home sits on 20 acres(approx.) and is known as the “The Caste” due to it’s high walls and tight security.

8-Mukesh Ambani

Net Worth= $29.5 billion(approx.)

Occupation: Chairman and Managing Director and Reliance Industries Limited

The 27 story skyscraper is the private home of Mukesh Ambani. Antilla, as the home is called, sets the record as the most expensive home in history valued over $1 billion(approx.).

9-Warren Buffet

Net Worth= $47 billion

Occupation: Chairman and CEO and Berkshire Hathaway

Warren Buffet is the world’s 3rd richest man. Buffet bought his house in 1958 for $31,500 (approx.) and lives there ever since.

Kerry Packer was Australian, and he was considered to be the wealthiest and most influential  man in the country.  Estimates of his fortune ranged  depending on the day, from $4.5 billion to  more than $8billion.  He was said to love casinos and was considered The Prince of Whales (in the gambling lexicon, a “whale” is one of the world’s wealthiest wagerers,  who bets $50,000 to  $250,000 a hand).  He was  also known to   be a “Hit and Run” player,  winning as  high as $16 million in a single visit and leaving right away,  not allowing the casinos to recover their losses.  His experiences in playing at Las Vegas’  Caesar’s Palace and  MGM Grand has become stuff of legend.   He was permanently banned  to play  at the MGM Grand  after winning $26 million in playing for just a couple of hours, and taking off right after.

But he was  a big tipper.  Casinos have a slang term for big tippers..it’s called “George.”  Kerry Packer was  said to be a super George.  By most accounts, he was  the biggest tipper who ever lived.  His tokes to dealers and cocktail waitresses typically run in the tens of thousands of dollars, and stories abound about his dropping a few thousand here and a few thousands there into the hands of needy employees. 

While playing baccarat at The Mirage shortly after it opened in 1989, Packer made a $100,000 bet for the dealers (and won).  After winning the $26 million at MGM grand, he went  around and tipped each dealer on duty $2,500, which added up to $105,000.  And once, after bumping a cocktail waitress and causing her to dump a tray of drinks, he asked for her name and address.  The next thing she knew,  her $130,000 mortgage has been paid off. 

He once played in  Hilton in 1991 and saw a little girl in a wheelchair watching a show. He stopped in his tracks, reached into his pocket, stuck something in the girl’s hand, and continued walking.   The girl later asked the hotel managers who Packer was, saying that she would like to thank him, as she was just handed three thousand dollars.  He also took a liking to  a girl singer (Kristine W of the Sting) who has a stint at the Hilton Nightclub.  He was playing blackjack between sets and asked Kristine to hang with him.  He played for her,  won $100,000,  gave the money to her, and left.  

Kerry Packer  passed away at the age of 68 in 2005.  His notorious gambling days and extravagance have long been over,  but the stories lived to be told. 

Sources :  Hippie, Hippie, Shake :  The Dreams, the Trials, the Love-ins, the Screw ups -  The Sixties (Neville, 1995) ;  Player Magazine, January 2005.

image via wikipedia

Perfect alignment of time and date is rarer than you might believe. It will happen again on November 11 , 2011 and on December 12, 2012, but that will be the last occurrence of this alignment for many years. Most people will go about their day as if nothing is different. However, some people will take this day very seriously.

image via wikipedia

Some people like to go to the casino and gamble on certain days such as this one. They consider the alignment of numbers to be a sign of good luck. July 7th has always been a busy day for gamblers. The casinos will be especially busy on this day with people trying to cash in on this lucky day. The 10th slot machine from the door and the 10th machine on each row will be especially popular. Everyone will be betting on the number 10. The 10 o’clock hour will see a frenzy of people trying to cash in on this lucky day.

The people who do not live close to casinos will be buying lottery tickets. Sunday will be a busier than normal day at the stores selling lottery tickets. People will be trying to cash in on the number ten. Where will I be on this day of good fortune? I will be at home, a little richer than most of the people who leave the casino that day. I will be counting my blessings that I did not waste my money on superstitions.

Image via Casino Review Bank

Over the years, Slot Machines have become very popular in casinos. Most people, when they enter a casino, are afraid to play Poker or Black Jack, and jump right into a Slot Machine. They believe that a Slot Machine is random. However, Slot Machines are not random.

Depending on where you live, there are different laws that govern the payout of Slot Machines. Some laws are 78%, 69% or 85% payout. Which means, for all the money that goes into the Slot Machine, 78% of it has to eventually be payed out as winnings, over a certain period of time. It doesn’t mean that if you put 100 coins into the Slot Machine, you’ll get 78 coins back. It means over a certain period of time, that 78% of coins will be given back. Because there are  laws that govern the payout of Slot Machines, it should be enough to convince everyone out there that Slot Machines are not random, but they are actually preprogrammed to pay out at certain intervals.

Image via Wikipedia

One method that is used to trick people into playing Slot Machines, are the Skill Stop models. Most people believe that you have a say on where the drum stops. For example, if you place your coins in, pull the lever, and press the three buttons, you might see “Bar, Bar, and a fruit”. That makes the person playing think that he or she almost won. However, the Slot Machine is programmed to trick people into thinking that they almost won.

After reading this, I hope you learned that you shouldn’t play Slot Machines, as they are pretty much impossible to beat. It is impossible to learn the pattern of the pay outs.

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In my hometown, we voted on several issues.  One particular issue was the casino debate on whether or not we should allow casinos in the state.  On one hand, a group of people feel it is a “bad” thing to have for it will drive people to a terrible addiction of gambling and lead those people to a life of poverty.  Now that is a terrible extreme to refer to when debating on the issue of a casino in the state.  However, I do understand that there are some people who love to gamble and may not know how to “control” themselves.  But that certainly is not at fault of the state should a casino be built.  In fact, if they are so addicted to gambling, they are just going to go anywhere to part ways with their money. Why blame the casino for losing your money, let alone the State? If that’s the case, then I want to blame the convenience store that gave me my lottery tickets and I did not win anything.  So there!

Now on the upside of this issue, it can drive over millions of dollars back to the state and also employ over 15,000 jobs.  To me that is a great incentive for a casino.  Why not have a casino that can offer jobs to thousands of people who are currently unemployed and finally make money to put food on the table? And why not give people the opportunity and let them choose if they want to gamble or not? All this hype and for what? This is now the 2nd attempt to put this issue out there and to let the people vote.  On the first go around, the issue failed (obviously, it’s an issue again!).  But now it’s back on the ballot and the people get to decide once again on whether we can gamble instate or have to travel out of state.  At the last standing on the votes, it looked like it was in favor to have the casino built.  I am for this issue and just feel that it is about time to allow people to gamble instate and to keep the money here for a change.  Sure it may be fun to travel on occassion to Vegas, because as we all know, what money we lose in Vegas is obviously staying in Vegas! But let’s stay here at home and lose our money, should we lose. But if we should win, they Yeah! We’re ahead!!

Voting is a right and should be expressed if you are able to get out and do it.  Whether rain or shine, cold or warm, you deserve to make a difference in what you feel.  There is really no right or wrong here.  Sure, there will be people who will disagree with what you have to say, but only in America do we have these choices.  So I say, vote and express yourself.  Because your one vote could honestly make all difference in what you believe in.  And who knows, that what you vote for, could actually win!  Go vote and best of luck to all!

There are those bent on pleasure, whatever that pleasure might be, and pleasures take a variety of forms. There are those who are plotting mischief, but that too, for them, is a form of pleasure. There are those, whose thoughts drive them, lusting after sexual adventure. There are those, seemingly more simple in their wants, who just seek euphoria and see that fuelled by alcohol and, possibly, by drugs. All these, to some degree or another, anticipate the excitement of shared revelry, some the testosterone enhanced drive of sexual combat or, physical adrenaline surge of combat and swaggering self-aggrandisement.

When they have recovered from its effects, the next day, they will perhaps reflect on what a good time was had by all and look forward to the next weekend of indulgence, seeing not the depravity, the dissipation and the waste.

Maybe there are others, tyros in the art of revelry, who, with sinking feelings, view with dread anticipation the night ahead. Not relishing a long evening and a longer night in the company of those hardened to it and who, single minded, set on it, who drag them along in their destructive, shouting, leering, jeering wake, seek desperately ways out of bravado entrapped bondage.

Ears assailed by thud and shriek of music unmusical and stomachs assailed by too much lager. Unaccustomed to the pace, like landsmen new recruited to the sea. Not used to the motion, they feel sick and out of place. As the evening, raucous, lingers on, they are wishing all the time for it to end, or for escape. They grin feebly, as, too afraid to say “no!” they resign themselves to sitting out the long hours of shouted talk without conversing, drinking without pleasure and without thirst and trying, without interest while attempting to show the semblance of interest.

Some of these, as those sickened by beer, or by cigarettes at first, then, on becoming accustomed, are at last addicted, getting a form of pleasure from their shameful enslavement, achieve acceptance. They achieve acceptance by accepting the norms of the group and, with acceptance, they find relief with a certain pleasure and reassurance. One of the crowd, they become like the crowd. The crowd defines them and confines them. It makes them by breaking them.

What relief! They shout hoarsely as the rest. They laugh at the sordid sleezy jokes and they engage in the vapid, ugly conversation in the world of the coarse and the inane.

Others, perhaps stronger, though not realising their strength, reject, though fearfully and with trepidation, the vulgar pleasures of the mass. They cannot betray themselves into copying the language, the humour and the mores of the friends who are not friends. They need to remain aloof from the vulgarity and the seedy, sordid world of the popular night out. If, by chance, they find themselves in such company they shrink form the jokes the remarks the coarse display of ignorance, vicious and insensitive, as it is.

Maybe in the noisy smoky ambience of casino, pub or club, they find a friend at last to share discussion not lewd nor cruel. Perhaps they make excuse, “not feeling well,” or with unaccustomed courage walk out in disdain from the crude and quarrelsome badinage, the ugly face of entertainment.

Outside, a queue forms at a hole in the wall which disgorges money. Money to be wasted, money to be poured down throats in a vain search for happiness as elusive and as ephemeral as ice in Summer or joy in hell. The queue is orderly and courteous since it is but eight in the evening and things have not yet warmed up.

People, secretively, press buttons and take wads of cash to spend on brief euphoria for this is what they have worked for all the week. Next to them but a yard or two away, the homeless, invisible to insensitivity, huddle for warmth in doorways. They wrap blankets round them or a sleeping bag to keep out the chill. The chill that strikes upward from the stones for city stones are hard and cold and this is a desperate fight for survival against the elements and the cold hard callousness of the “caring” state.

Tonight two girls sit in the near doorway, one is very young. I find later that she is pregnant. this information she volunteers, one does not ask if one is to be trusted. They are drinking from a bottle. It may be water but I suspect it is to keep them warm and to chase away the dread realities of cold hard life on the pavements and the city streets. City streets where gaiety, fuelled by alcohol, mocks girls attempting warmth in a shop doorway, or make innuendoes dark, suggestive, loathsome, as laughingly they spurn the helplessness and the mute appeal.

More usually one or more men of various ages share the doorway but only one, middle aged and tough; long used to the harshness of the streets, but vulnerable all the same, sits in another, nearby doorway. As if in mockery of their state, the shops display for sale, clothes and jewellery of luxury and for ostentatious display well beyond the pockets of even the moderately well off. Conspicuous consumption there for sale to the masters and the mistresses of vice. For those who deal in drugs and who have bodies and souls for sale or for rent.

By the older man a used plastic MacDonalds box, discarded but put to use, by him to beg for pennies, while all around the crowds drink lager for many pounds. These unfortunates are invisible to the pleasure seekers who outnumber them by their hundreds. They are bypassed and ignored as bypassed and ignored by the state, they eke out dull and lonely existence in the chill of early Spring waiting for the Summer sun, the Winter dread forgotten for a while.

Are we blinded to such scenes or do we rationalise and tell ourselves they are but drug or alcohol addicted and must learn to give up these nauseous habits, get a job and find somewhere decent to live and so respectable become?

Are we blinded? How do they respectable become, or how to get a job without a home without address; The Big Issue their only lifeline in the rain and chill of Winter’s night?

Are we blinded? If so, by what? The addictions we condemn are also all our own, as we our pleasures seek, with euphoria in a bottle, or a pill; and then make jokes as if these things were on another world.

Across the road on other, lone girl sits and begs. Shunned by the others, they say she has a home and only begs for “gear” to buy. It may, or it may not be true. She sits and begs who ought to have a job, a family, a home and love. While along the pavement stagger two men, middle aged. Old enough to be the fathers of the girls they are, but stagger drunk . Not too drunk to be unaware, just a little unsteady on their feet. Not too unsteady to watch a girl not yet ready to be ground down by despair. Though blind to desolation in a doorway, they eye her, leering and stare salaciously. Unsteady on their feet and with their morals almost gone they turn and totter off giggling disgustingly . The burning lust in their eyes makes one frighteningly aware of the elemental forces fermenting not far below the surface of our increasingly disturbed society. They may as well be slavering and drooling. Drink has dissolved that casing of respectability which holds in check the libidinal drives within, and which keep caged the beast in its once safe guarded den.

Are we seeing here the breakdown of a culture? Is this the dissolution of a strong and mighty nation where once courtesy and kindness reigned and where the fond compelling memories of loved and respected womanhood, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and cousin, kept the beast safely chained. Love, respect and honour made it a taboo that women should be so treated and certainly, young girls were protected as well as respected. What has become of us that the night is filled with lewdness, that minds are a swirling sea of lust and delight is taken in the shame and degradation of those who were once, perhaps wrongly, put on a pedestal.

Round the corner a group of five middle-aged women, all tarted up for hunting the hunting males in their Friday evening finery, huddle in a circle. They are in deep and earnest discussion but their voices already have the strident shrillness of girls on the prowl. The conversation is both serious and private but is such that one cannot help but overhear a certain amount. I have to confess, though not accustomed to eavesdropping, my ears do prick up and I hear something of what they are saying.

In the shadow of the University building they argue about the best techniques with which to entrap their quarry. Sexual conquest is the subject. One of them, presumably the matriarch, long experienced at such games with many scalps hanging from her belt, hastens to warn the others. “You have to let them make all the running, don’t let them think you’re too eager.” She relishes her position as counsellor and guide to the other, less experienced girls, not girls. Perhaps she is just seeking to impress the others; who knows? Possibly she could be just passing on some old saw of wisdom picked up in other such conversations where she was once the tyro and an older woman there held court. It is all very sordid and one is sorrowful that the desperate search for happiness yields such barren results and gives such scant glimmers of satisfaction. A Friday night spending energy and money with lust inflamed by drink and drugs; where happiness, as rare as a dodo on some remote island in the Pacific or Indian Oceans, eludes all in the frantic desperate quest. Its shadow flickers enticingly among the bottles behind the bar or around the feet of the girls miniskirted at the tables and on the disco floor.

All this while the sun sinks into the darkening sea and the gloom of night casts its shadows longer across the square except where artificial light dispels the gloom with its frivolous fairy sparkle. The bright orange of the afterglow is shut out by the clouds which roll up in heaps from the west and threaten rain and wind to come.

Boys on mountain bikes invade the square ducking and weaving among the older folk. Their pleasure in their skills, they do wheelies and show off a variety of tricks and stunts. Harmless this, the boys conscious of their audience perform more for themselves than for the older youths who not a year or so ago left mountain bikes behind and bowed to the more pressing challenge of the libido and the manlike achievements of the bottle and the can. Would they had stayed upon their toys and pranced and danced and rode around avoiding all the crowds and groups of older boys grown young and immature. It won’t last long. A group of girls, still puppyish and not made up, shriek with pleasure as the boys brush past and call with mocking or with half hopeful challenge. Too soon the boys, the mountain bikes put away to rust in some dark shed, will, with clumsy skills challenge and call the girls, as they too with clumsy skill, soon honed, respond with laughter and with jeers all calculated to entice and to allure.

One last look and a doorman turns away a punter. Professional hardness wearing wearily, they scan the crowds for trouble with practised and cynical eye. They have seen it all before. The swagger and the eager questing look, the challenge and the bitterness half hoping for a fight and half afraid. They lookout for these, high on drugs or drink, desperate with new-found strength to flex their muscles and to challenge those who wear authority and menace like a shroud. They have heard it all, the macho talk, the abusive language and the taunts. It makes no difference to them. It is all part of a night’s work; and for eight pounds an hour it is not to be concerned too much about. “Sorry! Sir.” “No! The management’s orders.” A pause, a protest. “No Sir! I’m sorry!” Polite, remote but firm and exuding menace the doorman or doorwoman prevails and the punter slinks away, determined, one day to have his or her revenge. One dark night!

Truth be told, there are already more or less 4,750 casinos worldwide.

A Little Bit of History

A closer look into the history of the term would reveal even more interesting information about casinos.

For one, the term “casino” originally referred to a small house or a villa especially built for pleasurable activities on the grounds of larger Italian villas or palazzos. Examples of such casinos include the ones in Villa Farnese and Villa Giulia in Italy. In the contemporary Italian language, the term refers to a closed house or a bordello, while the house of gambling itself is spelled casinò and pronounced with an accent.

In the 19th century, the term evolved to refer to other buildings that are open to the public and are designed for fun activities, like sports and gambling. An example is the Newport Casino in Rhode Island.

Not all casinos were utilized for gaming though. The Copenhagen Casino in Copenhagen is an example since it was known to be a theater and a hall for public meetings in the period of 1848 Revolution. The Hanko Casino in Finland, too, was not used for gambling then. Instead, the Russian nobility used it as a banquet hall and is actually a restaurant now.