PRIVATE GAMBLING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22368, 15 September 1934, Page 13

PRIVATE GAMBLING

LONDON’S HOUSE PARTIES

LONDON, September 6.

There has been so much quiet gambling in London that the recent raids on private gambling houses are not surprising, states the Daily Mail. In the last raid the Countess Mandeville, formerly Miss Nell Vere Stead, prominent Australian society woman, was among those fined.

Many of the houses are run so carefully, preserving the appearance of private hospitality, that it is impossible to obtain information to justify raiding, says the paper. Drink and oth- refreshments are provided as freely as if the gamesters were being entertained by a private host. Admission is only possible bv private introduction, and the clientele consists o i regular visitors, largely women. The minimum stake at roulette in the afternoon is 1/-, and in the evening 2s 6d, but the players are discouraged from playing the minimum. Police recently received complaints that crooks were fleecing women of charity organisations who were giving roulette parties. They also victimised one of the committee, who found that he held £IOOO more counters at the end of the evening than at the start.