A Night At The Casino

As 'Im Indoors has been snoring very loudly I'm up, have completed and submitted my census form online, and have time for a quick blog. I would have preferred to have been snoozing myself, especially as I stayed up late catching up on Silk episodes and the clocks have gone forward an hour, but that's life.
I've had a really busy couple of weeks, so I'm going to go back to just over a fortnight ago. It seems like months ago so much has happened since!

I follow Pride of Manchester on Facebook, and the website keeps me up to date on what's going on in the area, and what special offers are around. I noticed a competition to win an outing to the launch of a new menu at a casino in Manchester - Circus Casino. Not only have I never been to a casino, but I've always said I never would go to one. The idea frightens me and I think of the debt, not the glamour. I once heard from the family of someone who, with great intentions, went to a casino (not for the first time) the night before the annual holiday. He had ideas about doubling their spending money. Of course that didn't happen, and the family found out when, a couple of days into the holiday, the guest house landlady informed them that the cheque had bounced. I found that so sad. However, I decided to enter as a) it might be a nice meal and b) of course I wouldn't win anyway.

On the Wednesday I got a message to say I had won, and the launch was the day after. I would (along with a guest) attend a champagne reception, sample the new menu while listening to live entertainment, and then get to 'hit the tables' with a complimentary £5 chip. I had to make a few quick childcare arrangements, but on the Thursday myself and Debbie set off on the tram to see what it was all about. We went thinking we had nothing to lose, although I must admit I was a bit sceptical about it all. We found the Circus casino, had our photo taken, and were given a whistlestop tour while we passed through the floor to get to 110 Restaurant. The casino is all underground and is huge - the biggest in Manchester. We were passed to our host at the restaurant, given a glass of champagne and shown to a seating area where we could listen to a woman playing a grand piano and singing. It was all very nice, but I still thought we could be in for a timeshare style presentation about joining the casino. We'd got a glass of champagne though so we were happy.

I was completely wrong about the evening. It was great, and we were really looked after. We didn't have a sit-down meal, but instead we had a steady stream of beautifully presented mini sized versions of the new menu items brought to us. I'm funny about my meat, but as the food was bite sized I could try all sorts of things I wouldn't normally consider. Belly of rare breed pork with teriyake marinade and glazed pak choi, ham-hock terrine, savoy cabbage and home-made piccalilli and roasted rump of lamb mini shepherds pie are all things I wouldn't have entertained, but they were all gorgeous. I wouldn't have liked to have a full meal of them, but they were still very nice. There were also things that I couldn't have eaten plenty of. The pan seared king scallops, fresh strawberries and vintage balsamic, treacle cured salmon, rocket, cucumber and fennel pickle, and baked sea bass fillets with chorizo, roast peppers and pak choi were absolutely delicious. The vegetarian amongst us was given plenty of green pea and asparagus risotto, crumbled feta and white truffle oil and baked portobello mushroom, Stilton rarebit and aubergine caviar. The desserts were just as nice, and we were brought out chocolate brownie and strawberry skewer with pistachio ganache, lemongrass pannacotta, coconut ice cream and pineapple shooter and banana parfait, toasted marshmallows and chocolate fondant. We had decided that this would be a night out on a budget and we would only spend on fares, so we were relieved when our glasses were regularly topped up with champagne. We were able to go and get a top up if a refill wasn't nearby too, although unfortunately (for us) we drank them dry and they ran out towards the end of the evening.

I had expected the food to be a bit processed and mass produced, but it was beautiful and very reasonably priced. A 3 course meal with 3 choices for each course is just £12.50 from Sunday to Thursday. We got some vouchers for that menu but with a £5 gaming chip and a glass of champagne, still for £12.50. It is definitely worth a visit for a meal and you don't have to be a member. It is somewhere a bit different. We checked out the wine menu too. I had expected that to be extortionate, but obviously people having a drink or two is good for business so you can get a bottle of wine for as little as £10.75, with lots under £20.

Towards the end of our time in the restaurant area I felt a bit uncomfortable. We'd seen a couple of familiar faces that we couldn't put names to (X Factor types), but then people who seemed very well known started to come in. These we didn't recognise, and I think they may have been well known for 'other' reasons in Manchester. They were given an incredible amount of attention from the girls working there, and although they didn't look affluent, a LOT of money was around. The girls working there (I want to call them hostesses to I'm sure that can mean something else too, and they were hostesses in the old fashioned way) were all very thin, had very short skirts on and wore heels that were a minimum of 4 inches high. Yes, I am only jealous, and they were interesting to watch. We decided to leave, but not before we got our free gaming chips.

We were both given a £5 chip. This was a 'special' chip that couldn't be exchanged for money. It had to be played. We had a wander, and it was getting busier by this time. I didn't see any James Bond types as I had imagined. I haven't seen Casino Royale but I had a picture in my mind. Some people were dressed up and there were some suits around, but the majority of people were at best casually dressed. There was lots going on, with dozens of roulette wheels, lots of slot machines, and tables that I have no idea what was going on at. There were security cameras everywhere, and a bank of screens where security could see exactly what was going on at each table. Around the edge were coffee-type tables, and these had card games going on at them. We decided on roulette, and we had been told that all we needed to do was put one of our chips on odd, one on even, and we were guaranteed a £5 real chip as we would win. We watched for a while to try to work out what was going on. At the roulette table we chose there were about 6-8 people playing each spin, and they put loads of chips down. Again I had no idea what was going on. As the wheel was spinning more chips were put in strange places. Some were across 2 numbers, and some where 4 numbers crossed. I'd seen the roulette wheel scam in The Hustle but it didn't give me a insight into all the rules!

The chips that were being played had different coloured edges, presumably to denote their value. We had the lowest of all chips and that was £5, so there must have been hundreds of pounds gambled on each spin of that roulette wheel. On the first spin we watched no-one won anything. I was fascinated, and a bit saddened. I am certain that these people weren't secret millionaires. The casino was on Portland Street, very close to China Town, and the majority of the people there appeared to be of Chinese or Asian origin. The majority also seemed like normal people, who shouldn't be gambling with their bill money. We were surrounded in thousands and thousands of pounds, but I couldn't see the glamour. All I could see was the debt and devastation that must be going on for at least a few of the customers. Perhaps it was having the gambled holidays spends story in my mind that did it.

Anyway, we played our chips, one odd and one even, and we got our £5 chip. I don't think the other players were impressed as us 2 joining in, but we were over the moon to have come with nothing and end up with a fiver. I can see how people do get sucked in to it all, as we decided we would gamble again. We put our chip on odd (it had to be odd with us really) and waited. You'd have thought we'd won millions when the ball landed on odd, but we the had £10. What to do next was a bit of a dilemma, but this £10 would buy us a round of drinks at the pub afterwards so we quit while we were ahead. We went to the cashier and got a crisp £10 note - not bad for a few minutes work.

Off we went, very pleased with ourselves, we met a friend visiting from Switzerland and took him to Sam's Chop House for a drink and to see the new life size bronze Lowry statue. That finished it off nicely. The night was certainly an experience, and although I'm not tempted to go gambling I would definitely go to Circus Casino again, for a meal and to people watch. Start looking at the Pride of Manchester website as there are regular competitions, and as I found out there ARE real winners and the prizes are well worth having.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-12524755