The Advantage Players: Gambling In The Sky?

Fifteen years ago, online poker was booming, and I seemed to spend half my life flying from New York City to Las Vegas, chasing down stories on the Andrew Robls and Daniel Negreanus of the world.

On one of those flights, aboard Virgin America, while jostling to a coach class seat, I encountered Tom “Durrrr” Dwan. He was settling into first class, of course. We exchanged greetings, talked about an interview we were trying to schedule, and he agreed to come back to where I was sitting, once we were up in the air. The idea was to do the interview en route to Las Vegas.

It was an on-again/off-again affair that actually made for a cool story. Either using the airline’s Wi-Fi or a connection gadget of his own for a FullTilt hookup, he edgily waited for certain players – i.e., fish – to log on. Picking his opponents wisely and nipping away from me to play cards against them, he put himself in a position to earn more money over the course of a flight than a lot of people on the plane took home in a year.

I remember thinking how cool – how very Vegasy – it would have been if we all could have been gambling. Hitting an NFL betting site or feeding slot machines at 35,000 feet would be a great way to kill time on a flight.

Considering the fact that the slot machines at Harry Reid International Airport in Sin City are said to generate some $30 million per year in winnings from passengers with chump change to blow before or after their flights, there is a hunger for it.

Maybe those seat backs with their video terminals that play increasingly lame movies can be put to good use by being connected to online casinos? They’ll make it interesting to watch the sporting events that we can tune in on and video blackjack or roulette – played with points or cash – will get us primed for hitting the tables.

The carriers’ executives should be licking their chops for this.

Spirit Airlines, a not great flyer in the US, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Turning the jets into in-air casinos might provide a last gasp for the beleaguered carrier. American Airlines posted a $149 million net loss for the third quarter of this year. Maybe it’s time for AA to bring a house-edge to the sky.

If the idea sounds nutty, it’s not exactly untried. In 1997, Swissair offered in-flight video gambling on non-US routes. There were crude versions of slot machines, keno, and some kind of a lottery. Stakes were as low as $1.00 and the most you could win was $3,500.

Then things got a little too hot.

It is believed that wires in the cockpit, which fed the entertainment system (which included gambling), caught fire and brought down the plane. It crashed into the ocean. Tragically, all passengers on board perished.

In-flight gambling was never again instituted, though Ryanair and Virgin have both floated the idea without much follow through.

I’m rallying for someone to make it happen and waiting for an over/under on minutes of turbulence. Go for the over and bumping through the sky will never have felt so good.

Michael Kaplan is a journalist based in New York City. He is the author of five books (“The Advantage Players” comes out in 2024) and has worked for publications that include Wired, GQ and the New York Post. He has written extensively on technology, gambling, and business — with a particular interest in spots where all three intersect. His article on Kelly “Baccarat Machine” Sun and Phil Ivey is currently in development as a feature film.

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