Betting everything on black

In almost everything I do in my life, I take the outcome, analyze it and apply it to other areas of my life. I’ve always had an instinctive introspection for as long as I can remember in a semi-successful attempt to stop learning “things the hard way.” Either way, I always have something new to think about.

I spent the weekend playing the ponies. I’ve always loved gambling. Luckily, my miserly instructs are stronger than my gambling fever so I’ve been able to keep it under check. But, you know how it goes – you get on a streak, get a hot tip or get bored and next thing you know, you are betting on horse racing all day.

After doubling my money on Friday’s BoSox vs Seattle and making 20x my money on a single race at Louisiana Downs, I settled in and made slow and steady progress on the Los Alamitos, Saratoga and Del Mar racetracks. When you’re on a roll like that you have two distinctly different, yet evenly strong thoughts that go through your head:

Overpowering Thought #1: Booya! I’m on a roll! This can never end!
Overpowering thought #2: I better stop before my luck runs out.

Anyone who has done any type of gambling – especially sports betting – will attest to the devil and the angel on your shoulder, telling you opposite things. Another thing a sports better will tell you (and I would imagine it’s the same with penny stock traders or amateur forex speculators) is that it’s a nerve-racking hobby. You place a bet or series of bets that will either break the bank or send your kids to college. And then you wait. Sometimes you wait hours and sometimes it’s only 30 minutes, but it’s always a painful wait. I have found two ways to take the edge off of these wait times: running and more gambling.

So, once again the devil on my shoulder won, as he always does despite my having learned most life lessons “the hard way.” Avarice, envy and pride won out as I placed an obscenely sizable chuck of my weekends’ winning on a single spin at the roulette wheel. If I doubled my money, I would be set. If I lost, well, losing wouldn’t happen.

I clicked SPIN and closed my eyes. I opened them and looked at my monitor. My money was gone!

After that, I quit and went out to dinner and saw a movie with my girlfriend. Old adages and proverbs whizzed through my mind in an attempt to glean a lesson from my profound and sad loss.

Slow and steady.
Tortise, not the hare.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Waste not, want not.

With something new to think about, I went to sleep.

Today I woke up early and read the news before heading off to work. I read the story of Ashley Revell, a Londan man who sold all his possessions, even his clothes, flew to Las Vegas and bet $135,300 on a single, double-or-nothing roulette spin. He won $270,600 and walked away.

So it does happen.

What is the real lesson here? Whenever I wax philosophical about the meanings behind life or ways to live and hold my life in the context of the world I come up with the same thing: There are no hard and fast rules for life, except that life can and will change in the blink of an eye. Boundless choices are around every corner and it’s up to us to accept every treasure and consequence.

Whether you are betting everything on red or sitting at the Everest base camp looking up at your icy grave, one thing is certain. Fortes fortuna iuvat; fortune favors the bold.