Blossoming Future in Sri Lanka
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Bally’s Colombo General Manager of Operations Simon Best. Interview by Bill Healey
ri Lanka is well known as a treasure for international tourists, with its rich colonial heritage, bountiful beaches, tea plantations, mix of religion and culture, and much more. In this issue we catch up with Simon Best, General Manager of Operations at Bally’s Casino Colombo in the heart of Sri Lanka’s capital. You’ve been in the casino gaming industry for more than three decades. Your roles have taken you to various unique locations around the world. What
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led you into the industry? Sheer accident. I had been travelling around Europe for a year with a friend working on the boats in the Aegean and then in the USA working in Florida followed by a return to London for a winter break. We had three months before going to Spain to again work on the boats as we had both been heavily involved in sailing where we grew up in Cornwall and even entered into the Cowes yacht race in 1976. I saw an advert for the Golden Nugget Casino in Shaftsbury Avenue, London for trainee Dealers and it was paying £99 a week so I thought that would be