?Place your bets....Place your bets? ? the sound of the dice clinking together from under the Crown and Anchor tent.

Operating Crown and Anchor tables can be a hit or miss opportunity say the operators who confess they are in it for the entertainment value rather than the money.

Veteran Crown and Anchor operator Richard Sousa said that some tables do better than others and, since gaming machines are now gone, he expects more business around the tables this year.

Mr. Sousa has been going to Cup Match for 42 years and has been a regular at the Crown and Anchor tables either playing or operating throughout that time.

?Once I realised it was profitable I ran my own,? said Mr. Sousa.

A loyal Somerset fan, Mr. Sousa ran his table for a number of years with his son Ricky.

When they were working together they operated three tables at once.

?After my son quit playing I only ran one table,? he said.

Mr. Sousa operates his table with Glen Flood and Chance Mclean since his son retired after 24 years.

He said there was much more money to be made at a Crown and Anchor table in the past.

To get a table at the venue, operators must first rent their spot.

Mr. Sousa said that the cricket club rents an allotted space out to the concessionaire, who this year is Eddie Welch, and then the concessionaire splits up areas of about ten by 12 feet for table operators to rent for between $900 and $1,000. This year tables will rent for $950.

Mr. Sousa said the club may get more than one person interested in a spot and, in that event, there would be a bidding war for it.

He added that the Somerset Cricket Club has been renting out tables themselves for the past ten years but have decided on renting them out to a concessionaire this year.

It is normally more profitable for the club to rent out the space to a concessionaire, he added.

Most concessionaires have one or two tables of their own that they run and in total their are usually 16 to 20 different tables to play, he said

However, in past years there have been upwards of 30 tables at Cup Match.

He suspects the number of tables may continue to decline as older men fade out because younger men just do not seem have any interest in operating.

Owner of Docksiders Pub and Restaurant Reid Young has been on hiatus for the past four years from operating his Crown and Anchor table, but is excited to be back this year.

He said that he normally makes a profit and noted that those that operate the tables have good years and bad years.

Running a Crown and Anchor table is taking ?a chance?, he said.

Mr. Young said it is important to ?create an atmosphere around your table?. And in order to do this you need to give away lots of free beer, he said.

Kenneth Burgess, who?s father helps him run the table, said: ?You definitely need to make people feel comfortable and relaxed and create an exciting atmosphere.?

If you do this he said people will gamble more and you will get repeat customers.

Mr. Burgess said that some years the profits are better than others. ?It is a business like any other business,? he said.

?The only guarantee is if you make people happy they will continually patronise your table.?

Mr. Burgess said it is very rewarding when he is approached by people who have said they had a good time at his table.

When asked if he had ambition to concession one day he said that he was going to do it this year but this year he will be doing this part by possibly operating as many as four tables.

?Crown and Anchor is just like cricket ? it is a rich part of Bermudian tradition.?

Mr. Burgess said the biggest customer win seen at one of his tables was $4,000.

He said Crown and Anchor is an occasion where people let their hair down and where black, white, and Portuguese people integrate.

Rick Olson, who has been running a table for the past ten years, is not doing it this year but said he may change his mind in a few hours.

Mr. Olson said he enjoys running Crown and Anchor tables and that it has always been lucrative for him.

For gamblers, however, he said the odds are terrible.

Last year Mr. Olson said one of his customers won about $7,000 over a few games and then ?got the hell out of there?.