Punto banco is very profitable for casinos, although the slim house edge (see Chapter 3 for more on house edge) combined with big bets may seri¬ously affect the earnings of publicly traded gaming companies if a few whales —extremely wealthy gamblers who risk, lose, and win in the millions — have a hot streak at the tables.
The heavyweight of baccarat, Aussie billionaire tycoon Kerry Packer, damaged the bottom line of the quarterly financial report at the MGM casino in 1997 by winning $20 million over several days of play. Giddy over his big win, Packer, the whale among whales and one of the great¬est bettors of all time, tipped one cocktail server a house (he paid off her mortgage).
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