Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Karabiner]

Are you getting another Beemer, tikay? Or have you decided on something else?

I believe he is getting one of those Smart cars recommended by Greenpeace as part of his "Save The Moles" campaign.

[tikay]

Are you getting another Beemer, tikay? Or have you decided on something else?

I believe he is getting one of those Smart cars recommended by Greenpeace as part of his "Save The Moles" campaign.

SAVE THE MOLES!

Ralph, you've jogged my memory. Did you know - from your scallywaggy London days - a geezer called Harry Diamond? He died last week, his Obit was in The Times, he seemed a right character. And where was the top photo taken, any idea? The dark-haired bloke could almost be you, 50 or 60 years younger, in fact.

[Karabiner]

Harry Diamond ? No I can't say that it rings a bell Tony, but it inspires a bit of digression...

That last pic of the character in the flat cap looks a lot like an old racing man known as "Lights" who frequented the snooker hall upstairs in Windmill Street directly opposite the theatre that famously "never closed".

His son "Johnny Lights" still makes a book today I believe.

I could tell you a few stories about that snooker hall, I used to be Patsy Fagan's first backer in London after he arrived aged eighteen having just won The Irish Youth's Championship. He was some player then.

[tikay]

Are you getting another Beemer, tikay? Or have you decided on something else?

Yup, almost the same again. I bought it "sight unseen", from Regards. He said "what do you want?", I was pretty fussy, I said not bothered, but it must be black, it must have cruise control, & it must have cup-holders, & he then just went & found it for me.

ALL cars should be black by Law, peeps with white cars need shooting, it's so vulgar. And if they have personalised number plates AND white, well, that's so tacky & lacking in class.

It has 5,000 on the clock - same as the last one when I got that - & is almost identical, though this one is an "M Sport", though I fancy the "M" bit is just badging. John added a few extras for me, plumbed in a bluetooth tom-tom etc, & I think it cost exactly the same as the previous one. The insurance was an extra £16 a year, so not too bad. I have lifetime no-claims bonus, so my insurance is pretty reasonable. It does 49.7 MPG, so better than the old one, by 10%.

It's more powerful, though I have not noticed that. I don't screech away from lights, & I just poodle at 70 or 80 max on the Motorway, even at 3am, & I'm gentle on brakes & throttle always. John even threw n a bottle of wine & a box of chocs. Bargain eh?

Sytners are really good at "presentation". The wine & chocs, ridic really, but a nice touch, & when I went to collect the car, it was siitting in a little "presentation bay", all on it's own, to make the punter feel special. Which the punter pays for, of course.

But I'm very pleased with it. It's smells nice, & is all shiny.

I wonder if I'll ever have another one? This one is scheduled to last 3 years, so it's an even money shot I guess.

[tikay]

Harry Diamond ? No I can't say that it rings a bell Tony, but it inspires a bit of digression...

That last pic of the character in the flat cap looks a lot like an old racing man known as "Lights" who frequented the snooker hall upstairs in Windmill Street directly opposite the theatre that famously "never closed".

His son "Johnny Lights" still makes a book today I believe.

I could tell you a few stories about that snooker hall, I used to be Patsy Fagan's first backer in London after he arrived aged eighteen having just won The Irish Youth's Championship. He was some player then.

Wow, I knew Patsy - even played him twice.

There was a snooker hall in Acton, they had Friday midnight knockkouts, & Jimmy White - still at school then (or not at school, to be correct, he was a serial truant), & Tony Meo, both from south of the river at the time - Tooting I think - both played it regularly, as well as Patsy. This was just befoe snooker "exploded" on Telly, maybe early or mid 70's?

I drew Jimmy one night, & got 7 blacks start, lol. He smashed the pack from the break but went in-off, 4 points to me. He then cleared up to the green in one visit......

Patsy was good - VERY good - & you must have cleaned up on him until word got out, yes?

[Cottonbud]

Lovely car Tikay! You looked pretty balla in it driving off to work last Saturday! I Fancy the young birds will be crowding round you soon asking you to pop your bonnet!

[tikay]

Lovely car Tikay! You looked pretty balla in it driving off to work last Saturday! I Fancy the young birds will be crowding round you soon asking you to pop your bonnet!

Lol - says James who has a Porsche!

[tikay]

Harry Diamond ? No I can't say that it rings a bell Tony, but it inspires a bit of digression...

That last pic of the character in the flat cap looks a lot like an old racing man known as "Lights" who frequented the snooker hall upstairs in Windmill Street directly opposite the theatre that famously "never closed".

His son "Johnny Lights" still makes a book today I believe.

I could tell you a few stories about that snooker hall, I used to be Patsy Fagan's first backer in London after he arrived aged eighteen having just won The Irish Youth's Championship. He was some player then.

I love stories about those sort of characters Ralph.

I googled "Johnny Lights" & found this gem - clock these names!....

Twenty years ago, the betting ring still held on to some Runyonesque charm. The bookmakers kept their money in leather satchels, known as hods, hanging from their joints - a metal sheet onto which the odds were written - and stood on wooden stools. Tic-tac men signalled prices and bets from one end of the ring to the other. Inheritance of the pitches was strictly hereditary - would-be bookies had to wait for families to die out to have the chance to price the odds.

It was old-fashioned, for sure, but vibrant. The term “a licence to print money” still applied to on-course bookmaking, certainly on the big days and the bank holidays. And on quiet days, the big bookmakers were able to manipulate the course markets, in particular by shortening the odds on the favourites by placing bets just before the race started. Thus the off-course firms were happy, the on-course firms were happy and the punters, it seemed, had plenty of ready cash to lose.

Then there were the racecourse characters, the minor celebrities who rubbed shoulders with minor villains: the Dodger, Johnny Lights, Jimmy the Wig, Peter the Builder and Tony the Hat. Tick-Up Stan stood outside selling marked racecards. Johnny Raf had been in the Royal Air Force and supplemented his income with a little shoplifting, as did Bob the Dog. Some names were geographically accurate, such as Windsor Ted, but Bristol John was from Birmingham, Manchester Mark was from London, and Geordie Alan came from the north-east but was not a Geordie. There was also a young taxi driver from north London called Paul, known as Paul the Cabbie.

[Claw75]

Tooting I think

yup both from Tooting, as are both my parents. One of my aunts used to knock about with Jimmy back in those days, and Tony Meo lived a few doors away from me when I was growing up.

[tikay]

...and the same web page - which is a rather odd thing, seemingly devoted to Ladbrokes (I never realised they had closed their Paddington Casino - & took an £11 MILLION write down on it over just 2 years, lol!), I spotted this, relevant because we were discussing Betfair recently.....

Betfair launched on Oaks Day in June 2000, with a mere 36 people striking bets on the fillies' Classic at Epsom. Since then it has grown into the most influential betting platform in the British market. One of its innovations was to give punters the chance to bet after a race has started, right up to the end of the event. Sure, other bookmakers had experimented with in-running betting, but none could offer, as Betfair could, the chance to bet immediately at the click of a mouse......

Betfair was born in 1998, when Andrew “Bert” Black met Ed Wray at a party and expounded his idea of a person-to-person betting website. Both men had backgrounds in the City - Black had managed a hedge fund and Wray had been on the trading floor for JP Morgan. It was a time of boom and bonuses, so when they decided to try the idea, raising the capital wasn't a problem.

Black, now 45, has always been a punter. If someone else had begun Betfair, he would be betting with them. As it is, he is co-founder of a company that last year had a revenue of nearly £240m and a profit of £30m. Betfair has 1,350 employees and what chief executive officer David Yu describes as “more transactions than all the European stock markets put together”. It has branches worldwide (but not in the United States, where internet gambling is illegal). Black himself owns a string of racehorses.

When I first started going racing regularly, in the mid-80s, bookmakers obtained their initial prices - known as the “tissue” - from odds compilers. The big firms had their own tissue men but the racecourse bookies tended to rely on private individuals. Now, Betfair supplies the “tissue”, with players offering backs and lays on the site the night before.

And it has created a new kind of gambling careerist. “Now my skill is being able to predict the fluctuation of the markets,” says Paul, “and that is down to my history as a punter. I can work out what the punters are going to back, what horses are going to shorten, and what are going to lengthen in price; which jockeys and trainers they follow and which ones they reject. Most of my bets lately have been on market moves.”





 

Fair play to Mr Black - such a simple idea, born, presumably, of lateral thinking. And that growth, in 9 or 10 years, must be almost google-like.

I bet the bookies wish he never thought laterally......

[Chompy]

LOL, modern cars should be white, like hairpieces and cats. This ain't the 1920s Mr Ford!

[tikay]

Tooting I think

yup both from Tooting, as are both my parents. One of my aunts used to knock about with Jimmy back in those days, and Tony Meo lived a few doors away from me when I was growing up.

Really?

He was, even then - he'd be 16 or 18 I think, a little oder than Jimmy I seem to recall - very dapper, very smart, almost dandy-like. He was one of Barry Hearn's first ever signings at Matchroom, just after SD, but Jimmy went another route.

[Claw75]

Tooting I think

yup both from Tooting, as are both my parents. One of my aunts used to knock about with Jimmy back in those days, and Tony Meo lived a few doors away from me when I was growing up.

Really?

He was, even then - he'd be 16 or 18 I think, a little oder than Jimmy I seem to recall - very dapper, very smart, almost dandy-like. He was one of Barry Hearn's first ever signings at Matchroom, just after SD, but Jimmy went another route.

yeah this would have been early 80s-early 90s - he was slightly older than my parents. That was in Morden rather than Tooting (bit posher like, when you've made good, coz it's technically in Surrey innit). Tony lived in a big extended semi with his family and we lived in the mock tudor terraces backing onto it

[tikay]

LOL, modern cars should be white, like hairpieces and cats. This ain't the 1920s Mr Ford!

You HAD to bite, eh?

BTW, NEXT Friday - not tonight - Lisa, Orford, myself, and a chap called Kitty Lea will all be doing the £75 Freezeout at Luton.......

I was thinking of going tonight, but I've decided to swerve it I think.

[tikay]

"Elsadog/popdog" - who dates back to Tribeca & the 1808 gang - won the SP Main last night, for a few grand - he is a TOP bloke, & has been Posting on blonde a little recently. Lives near Ruabon I believe, & I could tell you a fascinating stiory about Quarry Tiles made in Ruabon, but even Tighty might think that was too OTT.

Also, more blondeite news, the SP Total Player thing is down to 3, & 2 of them are blondes - Nutter5932 & DanTB10, both of whom were with me in Vegas last year, having won packages. Terrific lads, both of them, play within their means, never borrow or get staked, & make a very nice living. I don't mind who wins TP, but either of those two lads would be good representatives of the Company & brand. Well done, & good luck, them.