Normally, land-based casinos appeal to a general clientele, offering games that are ideal for a wide range of budgets. High rollers are normally confined to small areas of land-based casinos, but Star City changed things up recently. Over the course of the Rugby World Cup, the Auckland casino took great measures to appeal to high roller guests.
All VIP gambling was moved to the fifth floor, which was isolated from the rest of the casino. The only way into the area was via a controlled elevator that would only work for those with the appropriate access cards.
Players were able to wager up to $150 000 a hand and spend up to $4 million over the course of the weekend. These marked the highest limits that any land-based casino in Australia and New Zealand had ever seen.
Those in attendance were local millionaires and billionaires as well as international VIPs. Because of the immense social and financial status of guests, the local gambling commission was worried that patrons would be too intimated to approach patrons if they noticed suspicious or dangerous gambling behaviour. The casino’s operator, however, assured them that staff in the VIP rooms were trained at a higher level and able to deal with such issues.
