Gambling Thread

[Driftwood]

All apps. Only Fanatics hasn't limited me.

So you are like the fat guy at the all you can eat buffet.

 

[swingline]

'Tis no human. 'Tis a remorseless eating machine!

 

[Driftwood]

I've recently became intrigued by the online thing. I've been exploring FanDuel and laughed when I saw you can bet Jai Alai. Going back to my dog track days, that ship's crooked as hell.

 

[tapintoamerica]

I've recently became intrigued by the online thing. I've been exploring FanDuel and laughed when I saw you can bet Jai Alai. Going back to my dog track days, that ship's crooked as hell.

Way, way back in the day, my dad played jai alai when he lived near a fronton in Connecticut. Probably the one next to the airport. He was a tennis player and a damned good one in his youth. In the winter, he would serve as a tomato can/emergency fill-in when one of the various South American imports would throw his rotator cuff out or fail to make it through customs, etc. I'm not sure of the specs, but the purpose was to keep the gambling money flowing. I don't think my dad knew too much about that stuff except that it was shady. Rumor had it that the precursors of Whitey Bulger's Winter Hill Gang had their hands in it.

 

[Driftwood]

Way, way back in the day, my dad played jai alai when he lived near a fronton in Connecticut. Probably the one next to the airport. He was a tennis player and a damned good one in his youth. In the winter, he would serve as a tomato can/emergency fill-in when one of the various South American imports would throw his rotator cuff out or fail to make it through customs, etc. I'm not sure of the specs, but the purpose was to keep the gambling money flowing. I don't think my dad knew too much about that stuff except that it was shady. Rumor had it that the precursors of Whitey Bulger's Winter Hill Gang had their hands in it.

Don't know about Yankee frontons, but in Florida, all the players were out doing coke and banging hookers until the wee hours, so the outcome was decided long before it ever started. Unless you were juiced in, Jai Alai was a sucker bet.

Oh, and if you would have asked me about Jai Alai in Connecticut, I would have gone to my grave thinking that was a sucker bet.

 

[ChrisLong]

A few times we went to the fronton at the old MGM (now it's Bally's) in Vegas. It just seemed weird to be cheering for No. 3. Like the guy didn't have a name. "C'mon 3, kick 4s ash."

 

[Webster]

The latest Michael Lewis podcast episode was way too cutesy of a resolution

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

The latest Michael Lewis podcast episode was way too cutesy of a resolution

Resolution of what? Is this a serialized podcast?

 

[Webster]

Resolution of what? Is this a serialized podcast?

No — the episode had him stake his 17 yer old son and a friend with $5k to sports gamble to teach him that you can't win in the long run. I won't spoil how it ends up but it was very hokey

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

No — the episode had him stake his 17 yer old son and a friend with $5k to sports gamble to teach him that you can't win in the long run. I won't spoil how it ends up but it was very hokey

Cool. Want to listen to it, but didn't know if I needed to start way back when.

Reminds me of my trip to Seneca Allegany casino recently. Hour south of Buffalo. Played BJ at a table with a woman who said she is in the Buffalo bowling Hall of Fame. Her husband was saying how their son hit a parlay the day before that paid $21 on a $1 bet. They were very proud. Then she chimes in with a haven't you ever heard of closing the goddam door, we place the bets for him, he is 17, we are teaching him responsible gambling. I said, give him some beer, teach him responsible drinking. She said he has never had a drink, and their 21-year-old daughter has never had a sip of alcohol. The dealer said he never had a sip of alcohol either -- he gulps it down.

The kid's picks lost that day.

 

[playthrough]

Don't know about Yankee frontons, but in Florida, all the players were out doing coke and banging hookers until the wee hours, so the outcome was decided long before it ever started. Unless you were juiced in, Jai Alai was a sucker bet.

Oh, and if you would have asked me about Jai Alai in Connecticut, I would have gone to my grave thinking that was a sucker bet.

I loved Jai-Alai. When I worked in middle-of-nowhere Florida I'd sometimes go to the frontons in Orlando or Ocala. They were never crowded. The best were the railbirds who would know everything about each player and ride them mercilessly. So much laughter.

And yeah, nothing like watching a guy climb a wall for a catch better than anything you'd see on SportsCenter, then a minute later drop one that your toddler would catch. Naaaaah it wasn't rigged.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I loved Jai-Alai. When I worked in middle-of-nowhere Florida I'd sometimes go to the frontons in Orlando or Ocala. They were never crowded. The best were the railbirds who would know everything about each player and ride them mercilessly. So much laughter.

And yeah, nothing like watching a guy climb a wall for a catch better than anything you'd see on SportsCenter, then a minute later drop one that your toddler would catch. Naaaaah it wasn't rigged.

My late former colleague George Kimball said of jai-alai, "you're going to bet on a sport where all the athletes are out there speaking a language nobody but them can understand?"