The Casino in Monaco

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I recently went to France with a couple of friends to visit our friend.

Our friend was on a year-abroad study at Nice University so we travelled to the French city in search of some much needed sun.

After an overcast first day, we spent the second day of our trip on the train.

Why were we on the train? Well we were on a day-trip to Italy and Monaco. Two countries and a principality in one day - most exciting.

After the initial journey to Ventimiglia in Northern Italy (we explored some large rocks in the sea and sunbathed on a pebbly beach), we travelled back in the opposite direction to the glamorous surroundings of Monaco.

The minute we got off the train, I knew we were in the right place. The train station itself is a behemoth - bright rows of lights, wide-platforms and wooden furniture.

We made our way along the Formula 1 track and towards the famous casino in Monte Carlo.

After worrying over a potential dress code, we bravely entered the majestic palace of gambling.

We walked into the main hall, after getting a ticket and putting our bags away, where we scouted the games on offer.

Two of my friends went to the machines and played poker and 21 and after much gambling, their ten euros were gone.

I was anxious to play roulette. If you have followed my life for a while then you will remember I regularly went to the casino in Reading.

I spotted an empty table and tried my best to read the French explaining the rules. It stated that to play low-odds games the minimum bet was 25 euros whilst high-odds games were 5 euros.

After setting myself a limit of 10 euros, I asked the dealer for two 5 euro chips.

Knowing that I had nothing really to lose, I placed the two chips on different numbers - my lucky number 5 and a random number which turned out to be 30.

The ball spun and it landed on my lucky number. I let out a whoop - not a great look in one of the most classy casinos in the world - and double-checked. It had definitely landed on number 5.

I got my winning chips, immediately walked to the payout point and left the casino with 175 euros.

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