Fifteen years in the past, on-line poker was booming, and I appeared to spend half my life flying from New York City to Las Vegas, chasing down tales on the Andrew Robls and Daniel Negreanus of the world.
On a type of flights, aboard Virgin America, whereas jostling to a coach class seat, I encountered Tom “Durrrr” Dwan. He was settling into top notch, in fact. We exchanged greetings, talked about an interview we had been attempting to schedule, and he agreed to come back again to the place I used to be sitting, as soon as we had been up within the air. The thought was to do the interview en path to Las Vegas.
It was an on-again/off-again affair that really made for a cool story. Either utilizing the airline’s Wi-Fi or a connection gadget of his personal for a FullTilt hookup, he edgily waited for sure gamers – i.e., fish – to go online. Picking his opponents properly and nipping away from me to play playing cards in opposition to them, he put himself ready to earn extra money over the course of a flight than lots of people on the airplane took house in a 12 months.
I bear in mind pondering how cool – how very Vegasy – it could have been if all of us may have been playing. Hitting an NFL betting website or feeding slot machines at 35,000 ft can be an effective way to kill time on a flight.
Considering the truth that the slot machines at Harry Reid International Airport in Sin City are stated to generate some $30 million per 12 months in winnings from passengers with chump change to blow earlier than or after their flights, there’s a starvation for it.
Maybe these seat backs with their video terminals that play more and more lame motion pictures may be put to good use by being linked to on-line casinos? They’ll make it fascinating to observe the sporting occasions that we will tune in on and video blackjack or roulette – performed with factors or money – will get us primed for hitting the tables.
The carriers’ executives must be licking their chops for this.
Spirit Airlines, a not nice flyer within the US, lately filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety. Turning the jets into in-air casinos may present a final gasp for the beleaguered service. American Airlines posted a $149 million web loss for the third quarter of this 12 months. Maybe it’s time for AA to carry a house-edge to the sky.
If the concept sounds nutty, it’s not precisely untried. In 1997, Swissair provided in-flight video gambling on non-US routes. There had been crude variations of slot machines, keno, and a few form of a lottery. Stakes had been as little as $1.00 and probably the most you may win was $3,500.
Then issues obtained slightly too scorching.
It is believed that wires within the cockpit, which fed the leisure system (which included playing), caught hearth and introduced down the airplane. It crashed into the ocean. Tragically, all passengers on board perished.
In-flight playing was by no means once more instituted, although Ryanair and Virgin have each floated the concept with out a lot observe by.
I’m rallying for somebody to make it occur and ready for an over/underneath on minutes of turbulence. Go for the over and bumping by the sky won’t ever have felt so good.
Michael Kaplan is a journalist primarily based in New York City. He is the creator of 5 books (“The Advantage Players” comes out in 2024) and has labored for publications that embrace Wired, GQ and the New York Post. He has written extensively on expertise, playing, and enterprise — with a selected curiosity in spots the place all three intersect. His article on Kelly “Baccarat Machine” Sun and Phil Ivey is at present in growth as a characteristic movie.
