Remember my post on “betting on boxing”?

Well, a great opportunity has come up for a local fighter (Jermain Taylor) and Bernard Hopkins. This means if I can drum up enough local supporters for Taylor I may be able to make some money off of Hopkins losing!

This is an old betting technique that I learned from a friend. It leverages odds with the ignorance of most people. The best way to explain this is through a modern example.

Let’s look at the upcoming Mike Tyson/Kevin McBride fight. If you look in the paper or at a sports book, it looks something like this:

Heavyweight Fight – Washington DC 06/11/05 23:00 ET
Mike Tyson -1000
Kevin McBride +600

What this means is -1000, – refers to the fact that he is favorite, and + refers to the underdog… So, -1000 means you lay $1000 to win $100. And +600 means you lay $100 to win $600.

So, let’s take a gambling scenario and say you bet $1000 on the underdog, meaning you stand to win $6000 (a net profit of $5000). Then, you go to the bar and listen to your friends talk about Tyson being washed up and no good. You tout that he is the best there ever was and try to convince everyone at the bar to bet you that Tyson wins (straight up). So, in summary, you have $1000 on McBride with the sports book and $1000 on Tyson with your friends.

Now, lets say that Tyson wins.

1. You look cool in front of your friends and collect $1000 from them
2. You pay the sports book $1000

All in all, your net profit is $0

Now, lets say that Tyson loses.

1. You look like an idiot in front of your friends (until you tell them your plan) and pay out $1000 to them
2. You get paid by the sportsbook $6000

All in all, your net profit is $5000

Now, I know you think that finding someone to bet you $1000-straightup is hard to do but go to bars and you’ll find a lot of idiots with money they would rather burn. Also, sometimes you’ll find the ideal fight like Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield.

Breaking Vegas is a great television show that I record on my TIVO every Tuesday night on the Discovery Channel. (A good overview of the show and it’s upcoming titles can be found here) This show highlights some of the most novel cheaters in the history of Vegas. Of the three I’ve seen, I’ve been really suprised to see how they get out of the business. You’d expect that most of these people get black-listed using the well-known Las Vegas blacklist but in actuallity these people usually end up quitting!

Sure, they get a little heat from the pit bosses but at the end of the game, it ends because they’re tired of it! I’ve spoke with many poker players at casinos that play to make a living! They usually look about 20 years older than they actually are, black lungs, grey hair, and see day-light every 3 days… it’s rediculous. I’ve got freinds that would die to gamble everyday for the rest of their lives, but stories and life experiences have taught me that the grinders live no life of envy.

I love to gamble and hate to lose. That’s why I continue to play the game. I hate playing games that I lose at. So, I either keep trying until I get better or give it up all together. In January of 2005, I lost at the casino for a record setting 3 times in a row. I realized that I wasn’t getting any better so I decided to give it up. Not give up gambling, but at least give up learning consequences at the casino.

Since leaving the casino I hope to find a couple of tips that will allow me to win at gambling more consistently. This usually means taking advantage of other people’s ignorance or human error. But, always remember that a life of gambling is no life to desire. Even the people who win on a consistent basis end of leaving it.