Quote Originally Posted by Fenster View Post
Beginners luck is just about how everyone gets hooked gambling, whether it be skillless slot machines, horses or sports. I'm not a pro gambler, far from it, my maths aren't sharp enough, but keep records of my bets and "know" exactly what i'm doing. I can spot someone who knows what they're doing and a clueless chancer miles away.

However, first time betting horses on my own, I turned 5 bucks into about 500 without a single idea what race reading/handicapping/form was, few months later I was walking in the betting shop with my wages then exiting 5 minutes later penniless, lending money, then betting all that away too. Glory days.


My grandfather was a lifelong horse race bettor. Not a very good one, but persistent as hell. He truly enjoyed it, bless his soul. I lived with my grandparents during my senior year of high school, and I'd try to give my grandfather advice on picking horses. I would study the horses and their records... find out who the jockeys were going to be... look at weather forecasts. Finally, I would make recommendations to my grandfather, who promptly then took some random numbers out of thin air (or his latest "foolproof system" of picking horses), and made the bet. Most of the time neither of us was right. Once in a while he'd win, which of course would fuel his habit for another 5-10 years, and so on and so forth.

My favorite stories were when he'd be at the betting line at the track, ready to pick "X" or "Y" horse... and then someone would say Pssst... hey buddy... "Golden Shadow" in the 5th. And my grandfather would invariably change his pick and his original pick would win.... and we'd all hear about it for weeks. Or else he'd pick two horses on the "Dupleta" (two consecutive races), and their numbers would come out reversed. (For instance he'd pick a 5-8 dupleta, and the winning combo would be 8-5). He was always missing by "THIS" much..... LOL.

Wonderful memories.