casino

Yesterday I was volunteering at the casino. I was cashiering, thus able to watch all the activity and make some sketches in my new book.

A couple of the croupiers:













A gambler who sat at the same table for about 3 hours, and did not come to cash in his chips before he left, so I can only assume he lost all his bets:




more gamblers:




And some of the people with whom I was working:























Here in Calgary the casino situation works like this:

People go to the casinos every day and night to lose their money. (ok, yeah, they win some too, but you know the overall odds)
Non-profit organizations enlist volunteers to cashier and count the money, run chips to & from tables, etc. There are hundreds of organizations who do this, so much so that each one gets only a couple of nights every 18 months or so - it is a coveted way to raise funds!
The proceeds are tallied quarterly and split between government, non-profits and the casino itself.
I believe the gov't gets 75% and mostly puts it into social, education and arts initiatives, etc. The remaining 25% is spit 50/50 between the casino and the non-profits who provide the volunteers.

So in essence, our gamblers are supporting the arts, whether they realize it or not!