The idea of a casino high roller has been around for a very long time. It has become a firm aspect of pop culture, particularly through movies like the James Bond franchise, which simultaneously give us glimpses into casino glamour and, arguably, also a false impression of what it’s really like.
Yet, there should be a sense that the old-world glamour of being a high roller has been transformed. Yes, you will still get comped rooms in Vegas when you spend big at the tables, the limos will still pick you up at the airport, and you’ll get all kinds of perks, but in some ways, it is a dying art form.
One reason is the rise of online casino gaming. If you want to talk about famous high-rollers today, you might cite the rapper, Drake. The Canadian is renowned for his big bets on sports and casino games. But where does he do them? On online streams with legions of fans watching.
Streamers Can Play For Millions Online
Indeed, it has become a growing trend, and not an uncontroversial one, to see high rollers play casino games online via a stream. Sometimes, these players are based on unlicensed or cryptocurrency-based websites, which has raised the ire of gaming regulators, especially as many of these streamers are followed by teenagers.
Secondly, there is the question of transparency. It might be okay for James Bond and the movie’s villain to stride up to a casino and exchange a suitcase full of cash for chips, but the truth is that regulations these days mean you might have to provide a source of wealth information before you can sit down and play. Background checks are now very common, as casinos could lose their licenses if there is evidence of money laundering or similar activities.
The Old-School Personal Touch is Disappearing
Another aspect, albeit broader, is the demise of the hands-on, old-school personal touch at major casinos. You won’t find pit bosses looking at you playing on the tables, making a judgment that you are worthy of the VIP treatment. They will calculate your value in other ways, often through a digital points system of your spending habits. Indeed, it has been widely remarked that many Vegas hotels are offering digital concierge services; the personal touch is disappearing.
Of course, that’s not to say that high rollers no longer exist in land-based casinos. Moreover, it marks the demise of the romantic idea of the high roller. Relationships between the high-rolling player and the casinos are carefully managed. The casinos must weigh the value of each customer, and they do so through detailed calculations of ROI. On the players’ part, they must demonstrate transparency and freedom from criminality.
In Macao, which has overtaken Las Vegas as the epicentre of global casino gaming, there have been huge crackdowns on casino junkets, leading to high-profile arrests. A casino junket is an organised trip to a venue, usually reserved for ultra-high-stakes players. They are especially popular in Macao, where they fly in high rollers from other parts of South Asia and mainland China. The junkets themselves aren’t illegal, as they are simply VIP trips, but the activities have been put under intense scrutiny, especially after the arrest of Alvin Chao in 2021.
Casino Resorts Have Diversified
One of the most interesting consequences of these changes is the diversification of the entertainment in and around casino hubs like Las Vegas. Today, if you take a plane to Harry Reid International Airport, you can almost guarantee that the majority of the people on the flight will be young. Their goals in Sin City are not to gamble, although they probably will end up doing just that, but rather to head to the nightclubs, pool parties and EDM festivals. You can easily drop $5K on a decent (but not the best) table with bottle service at a hotel pool party, and you can argue that that’s where casino bosses see most of the profit, not the gaming tables.
In the end, the romantic high roller has gone the way one would expect: more digital and less flexible in terms of what they can do with their money. That’s pretty normal, mirroring society at large. If you have the means, you can still call ahead and be treated as a VIP at the best and most prestigious casinos in the world. But they will want to know who you are and, most likely, where your money comes from.
