High Rollers beat the casino at Greenbrier

There’s an old saying that goes, ‘the House always wins‘.

And this isn’t far from the truth, because lets face it, the house does win more often than not.  How else do you think those massive structures and all the staff running around inside them are financed? So when we hear about a casino that’s taken a bit of a beating at the hand of some big winners it does bring a smile to the face. And last month at West Virginia’s Greenbrier Casino Club this is exactly what happened.

July was one of the casino’s busiest months since opening just on a year ago in terms of both patrons through the door and action at the tables.  This was largely thanks to the resort’s hosting of the Greenbrier Classic from July 25 to 31 – a PGA Tour sanctioned golf tournament with a $6 million prize purse.

I bet Greenbrier resort management were licking their chops at the prospect of 150 or so deep-pocketed professional golfers (but novice gamblers)  and a few thousand golf fans enjoying their casino’s hospitality.  And no doubt most dropped some coin.  But according to West Virginia Lottery reports, the casino lost $293,893 on its blackjack tables, $97,491 on its baccarat tables and $51,135 on roulette for the month.  All due to big wins by a few individuals.

The exact amounts won and the individuals in question weren’t disclosed of course.

The wins must have been very big to put the casino in the red considering all other action at the tables…7 figure sums are surely conceivable.

As the identity of the high roller(s), I don’t want to start a totally unsubstantiated rumour, but join the dots on this…

• a certain PGA pro known for his aggression at the casino tables was on the Greenbrier Classic starters list;
• that same pro missed the cut, leaving him with an unplanned, spare weekend at the end of July;
• his first name starts with a ‘J’;
• his second ends with a ‘Daly’.