$12,500 Cocktail Stunt Nearly Costs Casino $32 Million

This story was published more than 8 years ago.

A PR stunt that would see the world's most expensive cocktail in the world served to New Zealand millionaire James Manning nearly backfired for Crown Casino in Australia, as the casino nearly lost $32 million in a scam.

The incident occurred at the Club 23 bar inside Crown Casino in Australia in 2013. New Zealand millionaire and gambler James Manning was set to set a Guinness World record for having the most expensive cocktail. The drink was dubbed "The Winston" and is a cocktail that uses 858-vintage Croizet Cuvee Leonie cognac, a very rare and expensive drink.

Manning went to the casino, but had ulterior motives. Once inside the casino, Manning conspired with a VIP services manager at the casino to game the system. He proceeded to go on an incredible "lucky" streak wherein he won $32 million on just eight hands. The winning hands were suspicious, so the casino staff decided to take a closer look at the security tape, wherein they realized the VIP manager was tipping off Manning on the hands.

Once the ruse was discovered, Manning and his family were kicked out of the casino in the middle of the night. Fortunately for him, the casino's management decided not to press charges.

As for the record setting drink, Crown Casino opted to find another buyer to purchase the beverage and pull the stunt off (although the drinker did not actually pay the bill).

The full story about this heist gone wrong can be read at the Sydney Morning Herald.

About the author

Jeremy Wilson // Senior Editor
Jeremy Wilson
Jeremy has senior editorial responsibilities across all areas of the site. He lives in Sydney, Australia and has been working with Casino Listings in various roles since its inception in 2007. His go-to game is Blackjack.
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usbarbadosslim93
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3 July 2015 - 1:18pm
#1

CL-Ed, were you the one who stepped up and ended up having this cocktail? 🙂

auCL-Ed
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6 July 2015 - 4:09am
#2

Hahah no, but I heard some guys talking about this on the radio last week. The casino pulled a swifty and paid for their own drink just to get into the record books. They should really be removed from being the record holders, although with such stupid and specific records, who really cares?

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6 July 2015 - 3:50pm
#3

Yeah, I agree there are some incredibly stupid records out there and it seems like people can come up with a record just to say they have one.

Last week on television there was a guy who set the world record for smashing watermelons with his head on a table in under a minute. Pretty dumb.

auCL-Ed
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6 July 2015 - 11:23pm
#4

Hahah yeah my kids love watching this show called Officially Amazing where it is all about people setting world records. One of them asked me the best way to get a world record and I said something like think up something stupid that no-one else has done and call Guinness.

My personal "so ridiculous its great" favourite was the man who set the world record for blowing bubbles while having a live tarantula in his mouth. Look it up on youtube if you're not squeamish!

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