Never Look Back ..

I really fancied the Titans to beat the Knights yesterday, and 1.65 that was available at the local bookies, seemed v generous, (not to mention the 1.80 on Betfair - thank-you),.

To get on, without the price collapsing (in a v thin mkt), I went on a bookie road-trip .. the first I had taken, for a very long time.

In all, I visted 5 shops .. and was absolutely stunned, at how they have changed.

15 yrs ago, I held 4 licences, and sold them .. for an equivalent £7000.

Today, at each location, they have queues at lunch-time, taking bets from locals, mainly on soccer, which has become the local lottery. The bets taken, are not big .. maybe an average £2 per stake, but, the volume/profit margin is unreal ..

If I had those licences today, they would be worth £1m.

Oops.

(( I should say, in the interim 15 yrs .. 4 of my former colleagues have either committed suicide, or been gunned down, at work .. so, its not a total picnic ))

If u won the Lottery ..

I was watching the domestic T20 game, between the Titans and Dolphins, blissfully winding up the @sunfoildolphins tweeter, who, has a hard job, tweeting good stuff, as the side is pretty crap, when I came across a link, to an article written in The Econmist, about Lottery winners.

Before I address that, I have to say, how much fun twitter is.

Part of the bliss, is that, when u use a #, with a name, like #sunfoildolphins, everyone, can see that tweet, if they perform a random search, on #sunfoildolphins.

This is great, as, although someone can block, other tweeters, they cannot block #, so, your comments will be seen everywhere.

I have travelled, often many hundreds of miles, to watch these games, and if I feel a player is under-performing, will target the sides tweeter, to complain.

They can do nothing, and usually, do not fight back.

Its great fun.

Anyway, the lottery ..

It appears, Britons are a nation of lottery lovers, but, pretty stupid (in general), about the way they play.

The chance of winning, is about 1 in 14 million, and if I won, I would like to think, I could not have to work for a few years.

Some 10,000 people each week, play the numbers, 1,2,3,4,5,6.

If this was to hit .. they would win .. £700 each .. pretty sad.

Low numbers generally, should be avoided, as people often use birthdays etc .. Most people would be better off, turning the lottery ticket upside down, and then picking numbers.

Oddities do occur .. I recall, in 2010, the Israeli National lottery, pulled the same 6 numbers, twice in a month. Because, there was a different 'powerball' number, winners, got paid big, each time .. but, the odds of those 6 numbers hitting, twice, are something like .. 1 in 4 trillion .. something akin, to finding life on Mars.

Posted with Blogsy

Backing of Players

For some time, it has been 'normal' within the poker community, for players to sell pieces of themselves, for certain high-stake tournys.

For example, for a $10000 buy-in event, a player may sell 50% of himself, normally, at a small mark-up .. to cover his/her experience/expenses.

If they guy wins, or cashes, u get a share of the win, depending on how much u have bought.

I have never backed anyone in the US .. thou have backed in the UK, so, have no idea, what the tax rules are for the US.

A poker site has just been created,

http://www.pokerbosspro.com/

which now does this, thru a website ..

I wouldnt be interested, just yet, but can see a day, when professional gamblers are backed .. thou, transparency, is a MAJOR problem.

Handle with care ..

Debts etc

Been a busy few days, with the cricket, and managed to come 10th in the Monday tourny, thou my heart wasnt really in it.

Had my share of 'run-good', and some enjoyable verbal sparing with my nemesis, (who came 8th), but, with the cricket workload, going thru the nite .. at one stage, u could watch 23 hrs of cricket on sky, back to back, its too much, for an oldie.

In the last few days, the Gambling Commission have suspended the Gambling licence for cricketbetlive.com,

http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/gh-press/news_archive/2013/suspension_of_operating_licenc.aspx

which, I hope, is just a temporary set-back for them .. as, they seemed good people, and money on desposit appears to be safe .. unlike other companies, which went bang, and didnt pay.

I am in the process of moving, and went thru some old papers, which really should have been thrown out, years ago.

Some memories were revived, when I found an uncashed cheque, for £2000, from someone, who has now died of cancer. He has a brother, (who also owes me money) .. but thats another story.

I never really expected to get paid .. from either .. they were friends or associates, who, asked, and when u are flush, its really hard to say no.

Gambling debts are always troublesome .. and there are often, more than 3 sides to a story.

I remember reading the autobiographies of both Kerry Packer (once, the richest guy in Australia), and Bill Waterhouse (the Biggest Bookie in Aus) .. and, how disputes arose, and were maybe settled .. I suspect, only they will know. If you are a bookie, its often said u have to win twice .. beat the horse, and then get paid .. and, its v true.

As a further digression, a favourite story about Kerry Packer :

Before he sold his corporate empire, on a Saturday, when he went racing, he had a personal limit, of how much he could lose .. $1m, after he sold, he had no limit (Aussie bookies pay a % of hold, so, he could only lose what bets they would accept), but, this limit would have been .. say $20m.

Anyway, this was before, and went racing to his local Sydney track ..Randwick.

He had a bad day, and by the 5th race, has lost his $1m, so, called his driver, to take him home.

Kerry was a big framed guy .. whose staple diet was hamburgers and milkshakes .. and on his way home, no doubt mulling over the day, asked his driver to stop at a deli, so he could get a sandwich.

Now in Aus, there are lots of take-aways .. but, he happened to find one, that was just closing - but, he barged in the door.

The manager, politely told Kerry .. we are closing .. but, Kerry insisted, and asked for a chicken sandwich, .. which would have been easy enough to prepare, as the ingredients were not yet packed away.

For some reason, the manger and Kerry, had an argument, and the manger, told him to go next door .. literally, and finally, Kerry acquiesced, and did just that.

Next door, he gets his chicken sandwich, and pays the guy, $10,000. The guy, not unnaturally, says, "whats this for" ? ..

Kerry says .. "Just do me a favour : Tell the guy next door, what I paid you, for a chicken sandwich"

Cricket saturation - random thoughts

I have had a few people contact me, on why I seem to always make profits. My general reply, is, that's the general idea ..

People who are not making profits, generally, are doing the wrong things.

There is so much cricket, u have a vast array of markets to choose from, and specialise in a form of cricket, u understand. A lot of the markets, have a bias, which sometimes is incorrect. To recognise which .. Takes some experience, but, u will get there, if u look hard enough.

I spend a lot of time reading, away from cricket, and am presently enjoying Barry Greenstein's book - "How I made my first Million from Poker".

In it, he tells, how important it is, to keep your mind fresh. With so much cricket, it's sometimes hard to keep awake, let alone, find new lines. I agree with him, 100%, that u need to take regular vacations, away from the TV, to avoid getting stale, and think about things. Your brain is a very powerful tool, but, it's often busy, doing other stuff. By switching off, u might get a "a ha" moment ..



Sitting at an airport, I just had a "a ha" moment.

It arose, as I was thinking about the value of playing random cards, against premium ones.

That's the only clue.

In future, I will assign a value, "F", to limited over games, and some Tests. F will always be a whole number. The 1st person to correctly deduce, what F is, wins .....

5th in Poker Tourny last nite