|
HE GAVE a tip of $6,000 and asked for "aunty" croupiers to serve him, possibly to avoid talk that may surface if the croupiers were young and pretty.
And in the two days he visited the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) casino, Taiwan pop star Jay Chou reportedly lost $2million, an unnamed source told Lianhe Wanbao.
Chou, 31, was in Singapore to perform in July.
It is understood that the Mandopop singer visited the MBS casino in the wee hours of the morning, after performing at two of his three sold-out concerts at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The pop star played only baccarat and placed generous bets of about $100,000 to $200,000 each time, the source, a casino regular, told the Chinese daily.
But it was not all losses for Chou.
Once, the crooner reportedly won $20,000.
That was when the generous Chou then gave out a tip of about $6,000 after his win, recalled the source.
The source said Chou was also similarly generous with his tips even when he lost.
It was befitting of the mega star who is reportedly worth a cool $115 million.
The source said the hugely popular singer, who stayed at Swissotel The Stamford during his visit, was swiftly led by staff into its VIP room the minute he entered the MBS casino.
He recalled: "There were also several bodyguards standing outside the room keeping watch, ensuring that strangers couldn't enter. It was very grand."
One of those who accompanied Chou on his trip to the casino was Mr John Ho, head of entertainment group Scorpio East Holdings, the organiser of Chou's three-night concert tour here.
The New Paper was unable to contact him at press time. Mr Ho was overseas and not reachable, said a representative from his company. But he earlier told Lianhe Wanbao that he visited MBS with Chou about "two or three times", while the singer was in town for his concerts.
He said: "He did lose, but I wasn't with him the entire time, so I'm unable to confirm how much he lost."
He also added he did not notice the amount of tips that Chou gave to the casino staff. Mr Ho, however, was quick to add that Chou remained professional throughout. The singer's visits to the casino never affected his stage performances and his good work attitude, he said. The unnamed source said Chou had several special quirky requests when it came to gambling. For instance, he observed Chou didn't want his croupiers to be young, pretty girls. Instead he preferred "aunty" croupiers to serve him.
The source, speculated the superstar, was perhaps just worried about stirring up gossip if a young woman was his croupier.
The source also observed that Chou would play only baccarat. The report on Chou's casino visit was picked by various Chinese media in Asia.
However, Chou's own company, based in Taiwan, has refuted the claim that he lost such a big amount.
A spokesman said: "Chou was invited by the concert organisers to go to the casino, but the amount he played was small.
"It definitely was not the amount of $2m that was stated."
| 
