Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[The Camel]

I was asked, on a Betting Thread, why I was always seen lurking on all the Betting Board stuff. I replied,l & there were questions off the back of it.

My Post read like this, & I'll reply to the questions afterwards......

"....I'm afraid I have gone the whole nine yards, & a bit more besides, punting, during my life.

I started with regular punting on the horses in the Betting shops, in fact, I can date it almost to the day - I did my first lump in the 1974 Derby, on a horse that could not possibly win - Snow Knight, Bryan Taylor was up top, (the horse was trained by Peter Nelson), & was thrown from the animal in the parade ring, & the horse then played up shocking going down. No way he could win, of course. He cantered up @ 50/1, & I did a week's wages.

I got heavilly into the horse in the next 20 years, I was a Member at Cheltenham, Newmarket, & Southwell (!), & I subscribed to all the usual punters gumf, mainly Timeform Racecards, etc. In fact, I had the honour & pleasure to meet both Phil Bull & Reg Griffin on numerous occasions, & I was a sort of regular visitor at Timeform House in Halifax.  I doubt I failed to have a bet less than 10 days in 20 years, during which I learned a lot, & lost even more.

Dogs, too, at one stage, I was dog racing 5 or 6 nights per week - White City, Hackney BAGS (Saturday mornings), Haringey, Walthamstow, Wimbledon, Hendon, Watford, & in later years, Slough BAGS etc. I adored Slough as a track, in fact. I done my money in these punting forecast doubs & trebs, 112 x 10p Forecast Doubles, da de da.....

Later - much later, I discovered Spread betting, groan.....I adored it, & it gives me a tingle even to this day to think about the buzz it gave me. I was with IG Index, & back in the day, what a punter had to do if he wanted to punt "unlimited" was produce a Bank Statement every 3 months proving they were "good" for £50k. So I did that, & loved it. Every Monday, settlement was by cheque. Trust was still around then!

Then I had 2 shocks, days apart.

First up, I was on the Arsenal one Sunday afternoon up @ Old Trafford, on something called "Supremacy", I think I was on at £500 per goal, or whatever. It was carnage - 6-1, I seem to recall. I had plenty of chance to "get out" (you just reversed the bet to get out) but like the fool I am, I hung in, & did the lot, the fat end of £3k as I recall.

Days later, I was a Guest of IG Index at a "private" Golf weekend, @ The Belfry. This was not long after, or before, the Ryder Cup was held there, I think. I booked in & was given a "King Suite", in it was a complete wardrobe of new golf gear, also a note that my Tee-Time on the Saturday morning was 9am, on the Brabazon Course (THE best course @ Belfry).

I toddle up @ 9am the next morning, & there on the tee was Sam Torrance & Ken Brown. "Oh, sorry Guys, thought I was booked for 9am" sorta thing. And I was - I had 18 holes with those two, err, "duffers".

Later, I thought it through, why would IG be so nice to me? A quick look at my Statement confirmed the inevitable. That Golf Weekend had cost me the fat end of £30,000......

The very same week, I discovered Poker, & I snap gave up punting. I think I may have wagered a total of £100 since then, just on Corporate days out at York Races with SB&G etc, nothing else, not a bean.

Snap "cured"?

Not really!

I still yearn to punt, it's like alcholism, or gambling anon, the bug never leaves me, but so far, I've resisted.

My current desire is to mess around on the exchanges, Betfair utterly fascinates me, the maths & logic seem right up my street, but so far, I've managed to resist.

Whether I can continue to resist is another matter altogether. But make no mistake, I've won & lost fortunes gambling. And I do mean fortunes. I'm not proud of it, not at all, but I've never borrowed or stolen to punt, but I have sent myself skinto several times, & dug myself out - by working, not punting - each time. Don't really wanna go down that road again, not at my age!

So yes, I still love to see what's happening with the punting, & have a little smile to myself when I see "idiot betting" - folks doing short-priced accas on football & horses etc.

I tried the "other side" as a youngster too, & took a "Settling Course" with Wm Hill (this was pre Computers or even Genies) which I passed, I think I scored 99.3%, & they offered me a job as a LBO Manager, but I wanted to own my own Shop, so I declined. Then began 5 years in trying to buy a second hand" LBO, & that's a story in itself, believe me.

Now, I have ended up in a lovely place, I work in poker, & work for a "Gaming Site". Every day, I get several updates as to our Sky Bet liabilities, who we want to win, who we want to get beat, then @ 9am the next morning, on the very dot, I see all the numbers, which are midnight-midnight daily, & split into each sport, & each of the "arms" of SB&G. And the daily poker "margin", we look to keep making better numbers, obv, & these are split into each format - so that gives me a kick, a buzz, too, as the Company is stunningly successful. (Ignore all the "SB&G is shit" nonsense, the business is incredible).

I cannot imagine living without the thrill of a punt, be it regular betting, poker, whatever, so I've fallen pretty lucky now, to be honest. I have a pretty impressive library of Bloodstock books, & books about legendary punters, etc. The whole scene just thrills me to bits.

I'm probably a candidate for Gamblers Anon, in truth, except that I'm in remission, & have been for a decade or more. The urge is still there, though, I just satisfy it in other ways. I've never lost money at poker, never made much, either, I just play small-ball, & nick a bit here & there, nice & quietly, whilst the kids shout & scream if they have a winning night, & tell me I cannot play, because I'm over 40, bless them.

Sorry for the overly long reply - as you can seee, I have a bit of a passion for punting....."

That's quite an amazing coincidence.

My first ever bet was 10p each way on Snow Knight in the 1974 Derby.

Only difference I was 6 and you must have been about 37.

Happy New Year Tony!

[paulhouk03]

welcome back camel

[ripple11]

welcome back camel

[GreekStein]

Wiiiii keefy eefy orkins!

[tikay]

Ooh, lots of stuff to reply to, thanks. I've just finished the Live Show, & I need to head north tomorrow, so mostly offline, but I'll catch up soonest.

Life is good.

Camel - welcome back, now get yer arse back across to the Sports Boards.

Oh, before you go - Joey Barton cliffs please?

[jakally]

Quick congrats to Jakally, who is involved next door in something of a "Cash 4 Points" challenge.

In 4 days, he has somehow accumulated a whopping 10,600 points, which is above the MONTHLY threshold to become a Priority Club member. (He already is, of course). What's more, from rumour I hear, he has made a tidy profit doing so, too. It's quite something when an "oldie" can live with the hotshot kids, beat them even, & still giq.

He could end up with north of 50,000 or 60,000 Points this month, enough for a huge C4P payment, & a tidy lump of profit on top.

MBN to be Mr Giblin, but it could not happen to a nicer chap. He has, quietly, become something of a statesman like "elder" both on blonde, & next door, & I doubt he has an enemy on either. A wise old sage indeed.

Thank you, you're too kind.
60,000 points gets me the prize bundle, so that's how many I will get.

Before I new about this promo, I booked a couple of days in London for me and The Wife, towards the end of the month.
Less than ideal timing, and not sure the Lappy would be welcome on the trip, so am hoping to have it done and dusted before we go.

Oh, and more degenerate gambling stories please.

[redarmi]

That's quite an amazing coincidence.
My first ever bet was 10p each way on Snow Knight in the 1974 Derby.
Only difference I was 6 and you must have been about 37.

Happy New Year Tony!

It really is amazing how many punters started on that horse especially given its price on the day.  Looking back I am not sure how I missed the coup.......oh yeah I wasn't born yet!!!!  It is a sad indictment of my life that when I read stories like Tikays my first thought how much an account like that could be worth!!!

[Bad Beat]

 I was just reading that and thinking:

 "What a coincidence - The Camel had his 1st bet on that". He was seven I think.

 If you'd like some more coincidence, the last time I ever played golf was on the Brabazon course at The Belfry in 2001. I played so badly I decided to give up.

 I was attending as part of the IG Index golf day as a sports trader for IG Index (worked for them from 1999-2004).
 

[rex008]

More bridge porn:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16434200

Impressive.

[tikay]

Oh, & added to that, Ralph......

I don't actually recall, but I do know the Match was on a Sunday, & "settling day" was Monday (as a@ Midnight Sunday), so maybe I was in the hole for a few thou that week, & needed to "gamble" to get out of it.

It was a regular occurrence, the Sunday spin up.

Sunday 25/02/2001.

Amazing, nearly 11 years ago. Trust you to know the exact date!

[tikay]

Quick congrats to Jakally, who is involved next door in something of a "Cash 4 Points" challenge.

In 4 days, he has somehow accumulated a whopping 10,600 points, which is above the MONTHLY threshold to become a Priority Club member. (He already is, of course). What's more, from rumour I hear, he has made a tidy profit doing so, too. It's quite something when an "oldie" can live with the hotshot kids, beat them even, & still giq.

He could end up with north of 50,000 or 60,000 Points this month, enough for a huge C4P payment, & a tidy lump of profit on top.

MBN to be Mr Giblin, but it could not happen to a nicer chap. He has, quietly, become something of a statesman like "elder" both on blonde, & next door, & I doubt he has an enemy on either. A wise old sage indeed.

Thank you, you're too kind.
60,000 points gets me the prize bundle, so that's how many I will get.

Before I new about this promo, I booked a couple of days in London for me and The Wife, towards the end of the month.
Less than ideal timing, and not sure the Lappy would be welcome on the trip, so am hoping to have it done and dusted before we go.

Oh, and more degenerate gambling stories please.

Good luck with the quest for 60,000 Points, quite a nice package coming your way if you get there, I gather. No wonder Greeky calls you the richest bloke in Belper.

More degen stories? Hmm, I don't have many of mine, but I'll be Posting some really degen gambling stuff shortly, & I don't mean kids stuff, this will be the real deal.

An oddity from last night's Show.

There was a player called "ArniesArmy", so I threw out a question to the viewers (as we were on Sky Sports @ the time, on-message ftw), "anyone know who that refers to?"

Within minutes, the first e-Mail answer arrived, geezer said "yeah, it was Arnold Palmer, & how dare you say he had a goddam awful swing, remember, I've seen yours, which is the worst in the world".

The sender? Tony Cooper! Royal Ormonde Past Captain to Past Captain, that'll not feature on too many TV Shows.....

I've not seen Tony in years, but what enthusiasm he had. He used to drive a big Jaguar, & had retired from working at Rolls Royce Hucknall, as I recall, lovely guy. We all used to go across to Skeggy two or three times a year, you too, jeez, the wind used to blow there!

I can barely believe he was watching the Show.

[jakally]

The sender? Tony Cooper! Royal Ormonde Past Captain to Past Captain, that'll not feature on too many TV Shows.....

I've not seen Tony in years, but what enthusiasm he had. He used to drive a big Jaguar, & had retired from working at Rolls Royce Hucknall, as I recall, lovely guy. We all used to go across to Skeggy two or three times a year, you too, jeez, the wind used to blow there!

I can barely believe he was watching the Show.

I bet sometimes you can barely believe anyone is watching you.....

Lovely chap, Mr Cooper........... despite being a Sunderland supporter (IIRC).

[tikay]

I was asked, on a Betting Thread, why I was always seen lurking on all the Betting Board stuff. I replied,l & there were questions off the back of it.

My Post read like this, & I'll reply to the questions afterwards......

"....I'm afraid I have gone the whole nine yards, & a bit more besides, punting, during my life.

I started with regular punting on the horses in the Betting shops, in fact, I can date it almost to the day - I did my first lump in the 1974 Derby, on a horse that could not possibly win - Snow Knight, Bryan Taylor was up top, (the horse was trained by Peter Nelson), & was thrown from the animal in the parade ring, & the horse then played up shocking going down. No way he could win, of course. He cantered up @ 50/1, & I did a week's wages.

I got heavilly into the horse in the next 20 years, I was a Member at Cheltenham, Newmarket, & Southwell (!), & I subscribed to all the usual punters gumf, mainly Timeform Racecards, etc. In fact, I had the honour & pleasure to meet both Phil Bull & Reg Griffin on numerous occasions, & I was a sort of regular visitor at Timeform House in Halifax.  I doubt I failed to have a bet less than 10 days in 20 years, during which I learned a lot, & lost even more.

Dogs, too, at one stage, I was dog racing 5 or 6 nights per week - White City, Hackney BAGS (Saturday mornings), Haringey, Walthamstow, Wimbledon, Hendon, Watford, & in later years, Slough BAGS etc. I adored Slough as a track, in fact. I done my money in these punting forecast doubs & trebs, 112 x 10p Forecast Doubles, da de da.....

Later - much later, I discovered Spread betting, groan.....I adored it, & it gives me a tingle even to this day to think about the buzz it gave me. I was with IG Index, & back in the day, what a punter had to do if he wanted to punt "unlimited" was produce a Bank Statement every 3 months proving they were "good" for £50k. So I did that, & loved it. Every Monday, settlement was by cheque. Trust was still around then!

Then I had 2 shocks, days apart.

First up, I was on the Arsenal one Sunday afternoon up @ Old Trafford, on something called "Supremacy", I think I was on at £500 per goal, or whatever. It was carnage - 6-1, I seem to recall. I had plenty of chance to "get out" (you just reversed the bet to get out) but like the fool I am, I hung in, & did the lot, the fat end of £3k as I recall.

Days later, I was a Guest of IG Index at a "private" Golf weekend, @ The Belfry. This was not long after, or before, the Ryder Cup was held there, I think. I booked in & was given a "King Suite", in it was a complete wardrobe of new golf gear, also a note that my Tee-Time on the Saturday morning was 9am, on the Brabazon Course (THE best course @ Belfry).

I toddle up @ 9am the next morning, & there on the tee was Sam Torrance & Ken Brown. "Oh, sorry Guys, thought I was booked for 9am" sorta thing. And I was - I had 18 holes with those two, err, "duffers".

Later, I thought it through, why would IG be so nice to me? A quick look at my Statement confirmed the inevitable. That Golf Weekend had cost me the fat end of £30,000......

The very same week, I discovered Poker, & I snap gave up punting. I think I may have wagered a total of £100 since then, just on Corporate days out at York Races with SB&G etc, nothing else, not a bean.

Snap "cured"?

Not really!

I still yearn to punt, it's like alcholism, or gambling anon, the bug never leaves me, but so far, I've resisted.

My current desire is to mess around on the exchanges, Betfair utterly fascinates me, the maths & logic seem right up my street, but so far, I've managed to resist.

Whether I can continue to resist is another matter altogether. But make no mistake, I've won & lost fortunes gambling. And I do mean fortunes. I'm not proud of it, not at all, but I've never borrowed or stolen to punt, but I have sent myself skinto several times, & dug myself out - by working, not punting - each time. Don't really wanna go down that road again, not at my age!

So yes, I still love to see what's happening with the punting, & have a little smile to myself when I see "idiot betting" - folks doing short-priced accas on football & horses etc.

I tried the "other side" as a youngster too, & took a "Settling Course" with Wm Hill (this was pre Computers or even Genies) which I passed, I think I scored 99.3%, & they offered me a job as a LBO Manager, but I wanted to own my own Shop, so I declined. Then began 5 years in trying to buy a second hand" LBO, & that's a story in itself, believe me.

Now, I have ended up in a lovely place, I work in poker, & work for a "Gaming Site". Every day, I get several updates as to our Sky Bet liabilities, who we want to win, who we want to get beat, then @ 9am the next morning, on the very dot, I see all the numbers, which are midnight-midnight daily, & split into each sport, & each of the "arms" of SB&G. And the daily poker "margin", we look to keep making better numbers, obv, & these are split into each format - so that gives me a kick, a buzz, too, as the Company is stunningly successful. (Ignore all the "SB&G is shit" nonsense, the business is incredible).

I cannot imagine living without the thrill of a punt, be it regular betting, poker, whatever, so I've fallen pretty lucky now, to be honest. I have a pretty impressive library of Bloodstock books, & books about legendary punters, etc. The whole scene just thrills me to bits.

I'm probably a candidate for Gamblers Anon, in truth, except that I'm in remission, & have been for a decade or more. The urge is still there, though, I just satisfy it in other ways. I've never lost money at poker, never made much, either, I just play small-ball, & nick a bit here & there, nice & quietly, whilst the kids shout & scream if they have a winning night, & tell me I cannot play, because I'm over 40, bless them.

Sorry for the overly long reply - as you can seee, I have a bit of a passion for punting....."

A classic case of books and covers...never had any idea you used to be a big time punter! Incred story, please post an Eso Kral type story now and again, these kind of things make for very entertaining reading - especially for those of us that just don't sports bet. The perspective from the other side of the fence is fascinating

Books & covers? I think we are all guilty of that sometimes.

I would not say I was a big-time punter, just a long-time punter, until cured.

I have a nice degen punting story lined up, bear with me, thanks to a series of spooky coincidences today & yesterday.

What do you mean by your last sentence, perspective from the other side of which fence?

[tikay]

I was going to reply on the Tighty thread Tony but after reading your gambling post I thought I would reply in your diary.

I remember you telling me the golf weekend story once and I would have loved to hear even more of your punting memories, I love reading gambling tales. You must have had some great days in there too?

To have gone so long without a bet and knowing it was the best thing for you to do is a big achievement, really shows a strength of character I already know you have but in a different light. Stay off it mate, not only do you have to pick winners these days you have to get on in bits here and there and get paid afterwards. Far more hassle than it should be, you can make it pay through poker and that's far more relaxing and I know it brings you a lot of enjoyment too.

Thanks Phil, very kind of you, as ever.

Staying off the punting has not been a problem at all, in truth, I get the odd "niggle" to have a punt, but my life is so full of fun stuff, I've managed easily. Same with poker, in a way, I do nicely on the "othe side" of the Table, & have run obscenely well in Staking stuff, so although I'm not playing so much these days, it's clearly +ev! And for me less has been more - I just play poker when I fancy it, rather than because I need a "fix", and as a result, I enjoy it so much more, never enjoyed it more, to be honest.

If I may ask, are you still doing the same gig, that Golf market-making thing?

It's so good to have you back on blonde, it really is.

[tikay]

Hope you put a decent round in.

Sadly not, Ray, far from it.

I'll tell the story soonest, but for those that know their golf, the 10th @ The Belfry sorts the men from the boys......

This photo is from the green, looking back towards the tee (hidden behind that overhanging tree on the left of picture), but I have a better view of it in a painting of it I have at home, I'll see if I can Post it later.

I was talkng to Neil Channing today, & it seems likely that we were both there the same day, all those years ago. Talk about a small world.