Why do High Rollers roll?

For the most part - because they can!

Keep in mind that I may be an anomaly among high rollers. I am not only a usually session winner, almost always a trip winner but also a lifetime winner at casinos.

But, even if I didn't tend to win, if I did take a hit for say, $50K (or even $250K) it would not affect my life or lifestyle whatsoever. I'd just pay it.

But, what drives other high rollers to show up at casinos, lose millions, and then come back just a short time later and do it all again? True, some of these guys are degenerate gamblers who end up in the toilet after losing it all. For example Alan Erlick of Louis Theroux: Gambling in Vegas fame, who plays and loses millions, and ends up a broke Uber driver. And then we also have Terance Watanabe who blew $127M - nearly his entire inheritance from his father's mail order toy company - in Vegas. I've come across many high rollers during my decades of play who blew themselves out and never returned. But many retain their fortunes - or have so much that they can't lose it all. And these guys get to enjoy all Las Vegas has to offer, year in, year out.

For the most part, a trip to Vegas as a high roller is unlike any other sort of vacation. It is a foray into a make believe world where the high roller is treated not just on par with the dollars he has available to risk at the tables, but - actually better than he could be treated even by paying flat rate for a comparable vacation retreat.

You see, it's not just that the high roller has the red carpet rolled out for him, it's that he partakes of the illusion that everything is free - that he is able to order and experience whatever he likes without paying for it. Sure, at the end of the day the average high roller ends up getting hit by way of losing with a bill that exceeds the value of the services he receives, but along the way, he's able to enjoy whatever he likes practically without limit without much if any thought to what it costs.

Beluga caviar in the suite? No problem. A $7500. bottle of wine? Why not. Two thousand (or larger) square foot suites for just two people or even for him just alone? Goes with the territory. Where else may anyone, even a rich man, order whatever he likes with impunity without having to dwell on the cost? Whatever he wants, he may order without a care or thought. The price doesn't matter.

And in the meantime, he's treated like - a cross between James Bond and the Sultan of Brunei - where his every wish is catered to, and he retains omnipotence - as long as his money holds out, which for many high rollers, is a very long time, if not indefinitely.

And the casino makes sure that reality never intrudes on the fantasy that they have set up for their big players. The ceilings in the high roller lounges (and the casinos in general) are always high, so that the player feels like he is reigning supreme above everything - never cramped with a wall over his head that makes it seem like it's just him against the casino. No questions are asked - just, here to serve you Sir! Mirrors. Are there any mirrors in casinos? Never! Who wants to look in the mirror and realize that he doesn't, in reality, look like James Bond (unless of course you're a handsome well dressed young devil like me, in which case the illusion is never shattered, mirrors or no mirror).

In all, a Vegas trip for a high roller is different from a Vegas trip for the average player. It is a foray into the unknown where significant sums may be won or lost - with an element of risk which elevates the trip beyond the mere casual. Beyond that thrill, the high roller knows he will be treated to an experience where it's all free this week, and only the gambling gods will let him know when his time's up. And if he plays his cards right - not so much in the casino, but in his business that funds his gaming - that end time may never come.

Grinders (some call themselves "Advantage Players") cannot relate to any of this. What? Play a game where you might not win, and end up paying for the experience? Why? But then people like this don't really get it. You will almost never find a grinder who has achieved any sort of extravagant success in his life. He's played it safe too often and has experienced, if not one failure after another, at a minimum - no greatness. These guys never learned that if you're too careful your whole life can become a fuckin' grind.