THE BEGINNING
20 years ago I thought I had found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Using data from the website Racing Greyhounds, I had determined that my edge was far superior to most recreational gamblers and I could make a fortune betting on dog races. Racing greyhounds showed average speed, which direction the dogs broke out of the box, and which dogs were fast out of the box but slowed near the end, and which dogs broke slow but then turned on the gas near the wire. Aggregating all this info, one could get a vision of how the race would play out. I studiously made my pics at 10 different dog tracks throughout the US for a month, not wagering any money, but just seeing how my pics would do. I was pleased that my results were quite impressive. Of course, what I did not realize, was that had I put money into those pots, the payout numbers would have changed and been diluted.
I triumphantly made reservations for Las Vegas and was going to spend five straight days of gambling and betting on all the dog tracks in the US! Based on my win rate from the previous month, I was anticipating making five to $10,000 a week, up to 40,000 a month!
I stayed at the Luxor, and the night before had arduously made all my picks for 10 different tracks and races.
When I walked up to the sports book window, with my racing greyhounds spreadsheets clutched in one hand, and my money in the other, I started to rattle off of my pics to the teller. I wanted to bet around $100 a race. The boss stood behind the teller and was watching me, looked me over, and then said you are limited to just $10 per race!
I literally laughed because I thought he was joking. This was VEGAS for god sake‘s! Highrollers, limos, presidential suites, huge bank rolls! You are telling me I can’t bet more than $10 on a freaking dog race? Not to be deterred of my 10,000 weekly profit goal, I made all my $10 bets, and then decided to walk to the next casino and make my pics there. I was met with the same response there. I ended up walking to every casino on the strip and placing my bets.
On the second day, I tried another strategy. I went to Bally‘s, which had a large sports book, and tried to make multiple wagers at different windows. I thought if I could make a $10 wager at six or seven different tellers, it would save me walking all over the city and I could possibly reach my goal. It became unsustainable, because not only did I have to surreptitiously go to all the tellers to place the bets, but then I had to go to different tellers to cash out my wins! The boss saw what I was doing and told me if I did it again he would ban me from the casino!
At the end of my trip, I had blisters all over my feet from the miles of daily walking, my legs were toast, and my calculations must have not been accurate because I had lost $800!
As I went to the airport, I was exhausted and crushed that my great endeavor to use my mind to outsmart other gamblers, and to win tons of money without really working was gone.
But at the airport I received the only good news of the week. I was upgraded to first class!
I settled into my plush seat next to a man who was dressed in a white suit with a white cowboy hat. He looked like a combination of John Wayne and Colonel Sanders. Our flight attendant was a woman in her 50s with a remarkably good figure. I noticed she seemed to give particular attention to my neighbor and once we were airborne I said to him, you are certainly getting the star treatment, I think she likes you! He laughed. I continued, in a lower voice, and you know, for an older lady, she really takes good care of herself! He looked at me and I good-naturedly winked at him, and then he said, that’s my wife.
I was flustered and apologized, but he just waved his beefy hand and said don’t worry about it.
In between drinks and hot towels, he told me that he got free flights to Vegas because his wife was the flight attendant, and they owned a condo there, and he loved to play poker. He told me he was not a winning poker player, but he played blackjack to win money to bankroll his poker game. I told him It was nice that he got lucky in blackjack so he could play poker. He told me the blackjack was not luck. I said of course it is, it’s gambling. He looked squarely into my eyes and said, there are ways to win, trust me. As we got off the flight he said when you get home, look up Bj21.com on your computer. You will find everything you need to know right there.
This is nice story. But how true?