Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Replacement Refs Cost Charles Barkley Big

Wow. If I had that kind of money, I would never have become a gambler. My ass. When I was still in the game, I would have lost all that and then some.

__________________

So a lot of people had money on the Packers on Monday night, and a lot of people lost that money when that last call went in favor of the Seahawks — the swing in Vegas was as much as $9.2 million, according to Vegas Insider (via The Big Lead). And worldwide, the swing was as much as $300 million, says R.J. Bell of Pregame.com.

A large chunk of that was wagered by a Mr. Charles Barkley, and yes, he had the Packers. And he is not amused. Barkley stopped in to talk on The Mike Missanelli Show on 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Barkley:

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this mad in my entire life. I got robbed [Monday] night.

“I’m just angry. I love to gamble, I can live with winning and losing, but I don’t ever want to get jobbed like I did [Monday] night. I’m going to give you a quick synopsis. Everybody is going crazy over the catch, but I got screwed on the roughing the passer, I got screwed on the pass interference, I got screwed on the interception and I found out today that they actually have a real official in the replay booth who could’ve overruled that? I got screwed four times and that makes it even worse.”

By Rick Chandler

26 September 2012, From Off The Bench (Offthebench.nbcsports.com)

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Three in a Row Straight Up on the Roulette Wheel!

This story makes me want to start gambling again!

Straight Up: 3 Times In a Row in Roulette

Copyright © 2006 -by Mack E. Green, roulette player and former Roulette Croupier



In Roulette, it's easy to make a few bucks betting even money. But as a player begins to seek higher rewards, it becomes much more difficult. Inside odds of 2-to-1, 8-to-1, 17-to-1 and finally 35-to-1 wear out and grind down even the biggest bankrolls. Roulette, it is fair to say, "ain't the easiest game in the casino."

I was playing during what must have been The Beau Rivage graveyard shift. Even for a weekday night it seemed particularly quiet. No big action at the Craps tables. No high rollers working at the Blackjack tables either. But that was certainly not true for the Roulette table. That's where I was; playing Roulette. A gorgeous brunette walked over and dropped a twenty dollar bill in front of the croupier. She seemed to be a bit nervous, but that's not unusual for first-time gamblers. The croupier, working alone, made her change in four casino five-dollar chips, per her instructions. She then put three of the four chips into her purse, and placed the remaining chip straight up on number thirty-six. It was a long-odds bet (35 to 1) and probably her last before she returned to whatever city the next morning.

But as luck would have it's way... She hit it. Unfazed, the croup scraped off the remaining bets, mine included, and went over to his house five-dollar chips. Pausing, he turned to her and asked "Want that colored-up, ma'am?" "Yes, please." was the answer. The croupier sensed she wasn't going to play out $175. in red, so he paid her one black ($100.) and 3 green ($25.per chip).

Our brunette heroine wasn't done just yet. She let the red $5.00 chip ride on number 36 again. And again she hit for $175.00. Generally speaking, to hit a number straight up, the odds are about 38 to 1 against you. To hit a number straight up twice in a row, the odds are over 1,400 to 1. But here she was, collecting another big win off a puny red chip. Not only was she winning big, she was staying cool as a cucumber. No screaming. No whirling around. She just stood there waiting for the croup to complete her payout.

And what did I do? Did I "shadow" her play, and make myself a big wad of money? Nope. Not me. Stubborn 'till the end. She was incredibly lucky, but I chose not to share in the wealth. I played half a dozen inside numbers in the "First 12" and made absolutely zippo for my efforts. Funny how that works. People simply want to play their own game, regardless the outcome. Me included.

In what can only be described as a surreal turn of events, the buxom brunette left her same five-dollar chip on the same lucky number 36 for the third straight time. The croupier and I must have thought the same thing... "Not again, lady. No way." I bet accordingly, several numbers away from number 36, and quietly waited for the spin.

Now, a croupier has seen many lucky things in his job. And hitting a number straight-up is no big deal. But it definitely got his attention when the ball stopped dancing around, and hit number 36 for the third straight time. "Very nice." he said to the brunette, and got a friendly grin in return. He paid off the same way. The brunette placed the chips into her purse again, this time picking up her winning five-dollar chip, too, and left for the cashiers cage.

Total number of bets: 3.

Total won $525.00.

Total tip to the croup: $0.00.

The amount of money I made shadowing her bet(s): $0.00.



The odds of hitting three numbers in a row: 54,872 to 1.

Copyright © 2006 -by Mack E. Green, roulette player and former Roulette Croupier

Mack wrote this story for TrueCasinoStories.com

Lipshitz 6

Lipshitz 6
Reading T Cooper for Christmas

Punk Blood

Punk Blood
Jay Marvin

Breath, Eyes, Memory

Breath, Eyes, Memory

Anonymous Rex

Anonymous Rex
Reading Eric Garcia for Christmas

Vinegar Hill

Vinegar Hill
Reading A. Manette Ansay for Christmas

Nicotine Dreams

Nicotine Dreams
Reading Katie Cunningham for Christmas

Junot Diaz

Junot Diaz
Pulitzer Prize Winner!!!

Edwige Danticat

Edwige Danticat
New Year's Reading

Greed

Greed
This Brother Is Scary Good

One More Chance

One More Chance
The genius Is At It Again/The Rapper CHIEF aka Sherwin Allen

Sandrine's Letter

Sandrine's Letter
Check out Sandrine's Letter To Tomorrow. You will like it, I insist.

All or Nothing

All or Nothing

Editorial Reviews of All or Nothing

New York Times--". . . a cartographer of autodegradation . . . Like Dostoyevsky, Allen colorfully evokes the gambling milieu — the chained (mis)fortunes of the players, their vanities and grotesqueries, their quasi-philosophical ruminations on chance. Like Burroughs, he is a dispassionate chronicler of the addict’s daily ritual, neither glorifying nor vilifying the matter at hand."

Florida Book Review--". . . Allen examines the flaming abyss compulsive gambling burns in its victims’ guts, self-esteem and bank accounts, the desperate, myopic immediacy it incites, the self-destructive need it feeds on, the families and relationships it destroys. For with gamblers, it really is all or nothing. Usually nothing. Take it from a reviewer who’s been there. Allen is right on the money here."

Foreword Magazine--"Not shame, not assault, not even murder is enough reason to stop. Allen’s second novel, All or Nothing, is funny, relentless, haunting, and highly readable. P’s inner dialogues illuminate the grubby tragedy of addiction, and his actions speak for the train wreck that is gambling."

Library Journal--"Told without preaching or moralizing, the facts of P's life express volumes on the destructive power of gambling. This is strongly recommended and deserves a wide audience; an excellent choice for book discussion groups."—Lisa Rohrbaugh, East Palestine Memorial P.L., OH

LEXIS-NEXIS--"By day, P drives a school bus in Miami. But his vocation? He's a gambler who craves every opportunity to steal a few hours to play the numbers, the lottery, at the Indian casinos. Allen has a narrative voice as compelling as feeding the slots is to P." Betsy Willeford is a Miami-based freelance book reviewer. November 4, 2007

Publisher’s Weekly--"Allen’s dark and insightful novel depicts narrator P’s sobering descent into his gambling addiction . . . The well-written novel takes the reader on a chaotic ride as P chases, finds and loses fast, easy money. Allen (Churchboys and Other Sinners) reveals how addiction annihilates its victims and shows that winning isn’t always so different from losing."

Kirkus Review--"We gamble to gamble. We play to play. We don't play to win." Right there, P, desperado narrator of this crash-'n'-burn novella, sums up the madness. A black man in Miami, P has graduated from youthful nonchalance (a '79 Buick Electra 225) to married-with-a-kid pseudo-stability, driving a school bus in the shadow of the Biltmore. He lives large enough to afford two wide-screen TVs, but the wife wants more. Or so he rationalizes, as he hits the open-all-night Indian casinos, "controlling" his jones with a daily ATM maximum of $1,000. Low enough to rob the family piggy bank for slot-machine fodder, he sinks yet further, praying that his allergic 11-year-old eat forbidden strawberries—which will send him into a coma, from which he'll emerge with the winning formula for Cash 3 (the kid's supposedly psychic when he's sick). All street smarts and inside skinny, the book gives readers a contact high that zooms to full rush when P scores $160,000 on one lucky machine ("God is the God of Ping-ping," he exults, as the coins flood out). The loot's enough to make the small-timer turn pro, as he heads, flush, to Vegas to cash in. But in Sin City, karmic payback awaits. Swanky hookers, underworld "professors" deeply schooled in sure-fire systems to beat the house, manic trips to the CashMyCheck store for funds to fuel the ferocious need—Allen's brilliant at conveying the hothouse atmosphere of hell-bent gaming. Fun time in the Inferno.

At Books and Books

At Books and Books
Me And Vicki at Our Reading

Bio


Preston L. Allen is the recipient of a State of Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Literature and the Sonja H. Stone Prize in Fiction for his short story collection Churchboys and Other Sinners (Carolina Wren Press 2003). His works have appeared in numerous publications including The Seattle Review, The Crab Orchard Review, Asili, Drum Voices, and Gulfstream Magazine; and he has been anthologized in Here We Are: An Anthology of South Florida Writers, Brown Sugar: A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction, Miami Noir, and the forthcoming Las Vegas Noir. His fourth novel, All Or Nothing, chronicles the life of a small-time gambler who finally hits it big. Preston Allen teaches English and Creative Writing in Miami, Florida.