I am not one for gambling. In fact the nearest i come to gambling anything is that odd lottery ticket i buy when there is a huge jackpot - £1 that will get me nowhere in reality but as they say you have to be in it to win it, so once in a blue moon I do just that, buy a £1 lottery ticket.

Hubby is the same, though I know he has a sweepstake going on when he goes to watch spurs play with a few of his mates, but as he says that is just a fun thing really, nothing serious and he isn't one, like me, for making a habit of just throwing money away.

So you will be amazed to hear, or not at your will, that yesterday evening was spent in a casino in the company of a few good friends.

Now hubby has been a member of the casino before the new one was built in town. Purely because one of his friends, and at the time business partner, used to come up occasionally and take us out for a meal at a restaurant. But his hobby is gambling, not a big time gambler, but his way of entertaining wealthy clients is to take them to a casino. So on one such visit up here, he and Nig joined the local casino where Nigel and I watched his partner gamble away most of the money that he had in his pocket that evening.

His philosophy is Don't go to a casino unless you are prepared to lose, and watching him go about this is like watching a colonel plan a military operation. He sets himself an amount that he is going to spend there. He surveys the table and what is happening, he then decides which tables he will play at, and he isn't happy until he has lost everything he has on him at that time, all the money he has won plus the money that was in his pocket. He can afford to do it, otherwise, as he says, he wouldn't go and Nig and I watch on bemusedly, holding on to our hard earned cash and marvelling at how easily people do lose what they have on them.

it is a great place to people watch as well.

Anyway I digress. Yesterday was my friend's 41st birthday and she decided that we were going to spend it at the new Casino in town. She booked a meal, found out the entertainment was going to me a motown/soul singer, and there would be dancing as well, so off we went. the meal was ok, not great but reasonable for the price. The wine list was pathetic. A lot of it, myself and another friend had never heard off. We went for a Rose, but it wasn't very nice, and was amazed to find that none of the more popular californian, australian, French and German wines found in other restuarants were not listed.

The waiters/ress were ridiculous. One that took the drinks order. One to take the food order. One to serve it. One to clear away. One to serve the desert. Ask one of them for the bill and panic showed on her face. "The bill?" she said.
"Yes" said my friend, "you know the piece of paper that lists what we have had with the total cost on the bottom? Can we have that please?"

Off she goes, and we watched her while she spoke to the main manager who kept looking over at us as though we were trouble makers.

He then comes over with the bill, we smile at him in thanks, pay and walk away from the table.

Big screens all around showing a variety of sports, mainly football or the England V France Rugby game, so we prop up the bar and watch, cheer when England win and celebrate with a glass or two - though by this time I was drinking diet coke which was being handed to me without charge - think they thought I was a designated driver or something which I wasn't but who am I to tell them that lol:)

Then after putting the world to rights, we walked around the tables watching the people around us lose or win according to what their luck was like. A great chance to people watch, to marvel at how they were dressed and to listen into conversations on their lives - one of my favourite past times:)

Midnight arrived and I am tired. I have now lost my voice though I I haven't been shouting, it wasn't that noisy, and so Nig and I decided to start saying our goodbyes, wished the birthday girl a good birthday, and made our way out to find a taxi home.

Oh the Entertainer was trying his hardest to look and sound like Errol Brown, from Hot Chocolate, and failing miserably. The people on the dance floor provided more entertainment though, so many short skirts that left nothing to the imagination, but certainly got many a male to admire:)

Glad to say the only money spent was on the drinks and meal, nothing on the tables, we just watched others spend their hard earned cash instead, I wasn't prepared to lose any of mine:)