Win-a-lot Casino

Win-a-lot Casino

Logo since 2020
Type	Pop-up casino
Industry	Gambling Satire
Founded	10 November 2018
Founder	Zabëlle Skye
Area served	Principality of New Eiffel (formerly)

Win-a-lot Casino is a dormant—formerly annual—jocular or satirical pop-up casino in the erstwhile Principality of New Eiffel. It was conceived by Zabëlle Skye, then-Prince of New Eiffel, by at least 10 November 2018, and became a minor cultural icon of the micronation. It hosted two events in the Main Building in New Leeds, the largest city of New Eiffel, on 12 November 2018 and 16 November 2019 respectively. Though further events were planned between 2020–2022, including a café for the Rugbull season, the casino has been dormant since.

The grand opening commenced on 12 November 2018 in an upstairs room of the Main Building in the largest New Eiffelic city, New Leeds. The opening had multiple slot games held on an iPhone, including spin wheels, card draws, dice throws and multi-way slots, as well as a physical target shooting and beer pong. Win-a-lot Casino's second event took place on 16 November 2019 in the Council Building—the name used by His Royal Mail Service for Skye's bedroom and office—in the Main Building. It hosted a digital slot machine, spin wheel and physical roulette wheel, and card games such as blackjack and poker.

The casino aired four promotional videos, often to the theme of music by French band Caravan Palace. Caravan Palace's "Maniac", the second song from their second album Panic, was the theme song for the second event.

Conception

The idea and influences behind Win-a-lot Casino are obscure. It was conceived by Zabëlle Skye, then-Prince of the Principality of New Eiffel, by 10 November 2018. The first evidence of its existence comes from its first logo created that day by Skye at 2 a.m. Skye regularly created business ventures for personal development, particularly focusing on film and culture. Win-a-lot Casino would be the first of many satirical but concrete (real) ventures created by Skye for public entertainment, followed by the likes of Jinxx Fashion—satirising luxury fashion—on 17 December and Biggo Banks—satirising banking—on 17 January 2019.

He wrote a comedic theme song for the casino on 10 November in the evening, which took 14 minutes to complete. Sung in an upbeat tone, the lyrics are overtly promising. The song was performed by Skye alongside his younger brother Janus Smith, and followed by a disclaimer read by Skye which was sped-up to the point of being intelligible. The lyrics are as follows:

Win-a-lot Casino / It's a scam for us 'cause you win too much / Win-a-lot Casino / Get more money in a day than we do a year / Win-a-lot Casino / New Eiffel's first and only casino / Win-a-lot Casino / No disclaimers or tax only fun!

The disclaimer at the conclusion of the singing is as follows: "Some games may be impossible win, some games may also not give you 100 percent of your earnings; taxation is also included; there is absolutely no fun; also, there is no age restriction so we can make more money; also, your prize may never be rewarded to you; Win-a-lot Casino will not be responsible for anything to do with you and will reserve the right not to give you your prize."

Grand opening

Logo used during the grand opening event

Preparations for the opening ceremony began on 10 November 2018, which included the finalisation of the digital games and their winnings and their odds. The grand opening commenced on 12 November in the late afternoon, in an upstairs room of the Main Building in the largest New Eiffelic city, New Leeds. The opening had multiple slot games held on an iPhone, including spin wheels, card draws, dice throws and multi-way slots. The cost of playing the games, and all of their winnings, were in Łight Net (ŁN), a currency de facto used in New Eiffel at the time.

The spin wheel cost ŁN15 to play with two chances of landing on ŁN5 and one each of ŁN10, ŁN15, ŁN20 and ŁN100. Its larger variant, Mega Wheel, cost ŁN10 and had improved odds. In What's the Time?, a player had to guess the current time. It cost ŁN5 to play with a prize of ŁN50. Lucky Slot was a multi-way slot with similar odds to Spin Wheel, except it cost ŁN20 to play. In 7 Dice, one had to pick a number between one and six and throw seven dice. Costing ŁN15 to play, a player would earn ŁN5 for every die which landed on their chosen number. Card Draw was a game wherein one had to guess a randomised playing card from the standard 52-card deck. The price to play was ŁN10 with a prize of ŁN250.

There were two games that were purposefully near-impossible—Score and That Date. In Score, a player would have to guess a random number between 1 and 1,000; in That Date, one would pick a date between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 1999, giving a total of 36,523 different outcomes. The price to play both games was ŁN5 with a prize of ŁN85 for Score and ŁN150 for That Date. The grand opening also had two physical games improvised on 12 November before the grand opening—beer pong and target shooting. The top prize for beer pong was an iPhone 5 if one shot all six targets in a row.

Second event and cancelled follow-ups

Win-a-lot Casino's second event took place on 16 November 2019 between 9:25–9:42 p.m. The venue was the Council Building—the name used by His Royal Mail Service for Skye's bedroom and office—in the Main Building. It hosted a digital slot machine, spin wheel and physical roulette wheel, and card games such as blackjack and poker. The venue was decorated with colourful flowers and lights of various bright colours. The theme song, which played on a loop, was "Maniac" by the French band Caravan Palace, the second song from their second album Panic. Skye chose the song because Caravan Palace was his favourite band at the time, and he thought "Maniac" sounded appropriate for the tune of a casino. Over ŁN135 was given out, which reportedly lost the casino money. This would be Win-a-lot Casino's final event.

On 22 August, prior to the second event, it was announced that Win-a-lot Casino would be holding a "restaurant-themed" spin-off event. Smith Restaurant had planned to host Win-a-lot Casino's Win-a-lot Café in March 2020, however said event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After New Eiffel dissolved on 1 November, the casino remained in existence within the United Kingdom. However, its 2020 and 2021 main events were also cancelled by Skye citing lack of motivation and interest from his family. Around August 2021, a second attempt at Win-a-lot Café was planned for the 5th Rugbull Season between February and April 2022, but it also ultimately never took place. Win-a-lot Casino has been dormant since, though it still exists.

Promotional videos

A screenshot from the promotional video for the second event, in which the casino owner lifts up his bed to reveal a secret casino

Several promotional videos were released for the casino. The first, made for the second event, was created on 16 November 2019. Shown from the view of a police body camera, the commercial follows police officer Mike unsuccessfully investigating the owner of Win-a-lot Casino's residence for evidence of illegal gambling. After he leaves upon being asked for a search warrant—which he does not posses—the owner of the casino lifts up his bed to reveal a secret location for gambling, consisting of flashy lights, games and an annoyed customer. The owner reassures said customer that the pause was of no concern, and that he should resume gambling. This is then followed by a compilation of the casino with "Maniac" playing in the background, consisting of customers gambling and playing card games.

The second promotional video, made for Christmas, was released on 14 December. It concerns a gambler who repeatedly loses money at roulette from a casino run by a menacing staff. He eventually leaves, distraught, declaring that the game must be rigged to which a staff member proudly confirms that it is. The gambler then discovers Win-a-lot Casino online and finds the building, where he is warmly welcomed by a staff member. In the next shot he leaves the casino holding several banknotes. The featured song was "Newbop" by Caravan Palace, the seventh song from Panic.

Two additional promotional videos were created in 2020, but were never publicly released. The first consists of slow-motion footage of coins falling onto a person's head to Caravan Palace's "Pirates", the twelfth song from Panic. The second commercial consists of two clips; one captioned "Life before Win-a-lot Casino" and the second "Life after Win-a-lot Casino". The first shows officer Mike arresting a public drug abuser. In the second clip, the drug user enters Win-a-lot Casino through a hidden entrance, leaving with cocaine marks on his nose while holding several banknotes. The featured song, which plays in the second clip, is "Wonderland" by Caravan Palace, the fifth song from their third album <|°_°|>.

See also

• Surrealist Art Gallery—another pop-up event in New Eiffel