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Your Top Five Casino Hates

ASKS John Grochowski: "What Would Make You Write Off a Casino?"

"How bad would the experience have to be for you to vow never to set foot in the door again?"

At a guess, the Casino Anorak says the bad experience would involve losing money. But, then, if you lose too much you may want to win it back and that would mean retuning to the casino and... Well, you get the idea.

Grochowski, a Chicago-based gambling journalist, garners the opinions of his friends.

One says that he wants to smoke but with the Illinois law forbidding it, he is put out. Give him a casino with clean carpets and plentiful ashtrays and he is as happy as a puppy in a pile of toilet rolls.

And casinos should try to keep machines free of cigarette ash, especially in the slot machine coin collection trays.

It's a customer service matter. If staff are polite and on hand to help, then the casino experience is enhanced.

You can even put up with bad food if it comes on time, is fresh and the waitress doesn't plonk it down in front of you and offer the aggravating: "There you go."

That's a pet hate of your writer's. And he has many more. Hates can be irrational and petty, but such is the way of irritations.

And I wonder what you want from a casino. Only a fool or a dreamer would expect to win every time.

The Casino Anorak's Top Five Things that would keep him from returning to a casino:

5. Dirty gaming tables
4. A dealer who smirks
3. A DJ saying "Make some noise"
2. Plastic glasses

And the all-time top hate:

1.The Canadian blackjack player who screamed "Hit me!", which caused me to panic and lose too much money.

What are your casino hates?

• Poker
• Poker Anorak