Taiwanese Celeb Ya Tou Once Lost S$25K At A Las Vegas Casino; Gambled For 5 Full Days To Make Her Money Back

Taiwanese celeb Ya Tou, 35, recently spoke about experiencing gambling fever at a casino in Las Vegas.

Ya Tou, who was a guest on a talk show, said she holidays in Las Vegas every year. Once, she was recognised by a casino promoter, who tried to convince her of the “perks” of collecting points.

“[The promoter] said if I gather enough points, I’ll get a free stay at the hotel,” she recalled

Ya Tou was immediately tempted by the offer, after all she usually spends her time in Las Vegas playing at the casino anyway.

“On top of [the free hotel stay], if you accumulate 10 thousand points, they will give you US$5K (S$6.7K). That’s enough to cover the price of an air ticket!” she added.

That was when things started to go south for her.

Ya Tou initially planned to accumulate her points slowly over the course of her seven-day trip. However, she had terrible luck and lost NT$600K (S$25.4K) in the first two days.

As a result, she spent the rest of her time at the casino trying to recoup her losses.

“From [the second day] on, I completely disappeared from my husband’s line of sight. I didn’t go to the swimming pool and I didn’t eat, I just stayed at the casino table,” said Ya Tou.

On their last night in Las Vegas, her husband tried to talk Ya Tou into giving up but she was insistent on winning her money back.

They had plans to watch JJ Lin’s concert that night, but she was so fixated on her goal that she “did not care about their plans at all”.

“After having dinner, I stayed at the casino from 9pm until 1pm the next day. I didn’t eat or sleep.” she recalled.

The dealers and staff at the casino were perplexed by her behaviour. One even approached Ya Tou to ask if she wanted to take a rest, or if she needed help ordering food.

Ya Tou, who at this point, was already in too deep, rejected their offer.

She eventually accumulated 10 thousand points and received the US$5K reward by the end of her trip. However, she still lost about US$2K (S$2.7K).

“It seems more tiring than working an actual job,” said the show’s host after hearing Ya Tou’s story. We totally agree.

Photos: Ya Tou/ Facebook