Still coming down from the 3 days in Vegas. Let's just say I am not Billy Walters. Especially interesting in this profile is what they wait until the end to bring up that Walters finds sports betting much more legitimate than Wall Street, and a lot more transparent for people to play. And boy is he right.
A few other thoughts.
1. I actually did quite well in the sports book on Saturday, hitting the Steeler cover and going around 5-2 in college hoop. But then I decided that I had the hot hand, stepped up my stakes (not much, like $20-$25 a game), and promptly got drilled on the Bears-Seahawks over/ under, North Carolina hoops (F-U Roy Williams), and the Pats-Jets upset. The lesson as always, stay humble before the gambling gods.
2. Sunday also got me at the craps table. Much like a lot of risk-taking in America, I found myself stuck between putting in enough resources to have the freedom to play the way I wanted, and having to stay within my budget and not having to constantly borrow from the ATM. Much like the giant gamble known as being middle class in the American economy, I tried to do a bit like both, and didn't win. Not surprisingly, craps is like other investing where the free market becomes a whole lot freer when you have the cash available to throw around. Otherwise, you're constantly measuring the bets and figuring out how much more you can lose before you have to settle and/or quit. Frustrating.
3. The preverse Vegas incentives- our room was largely paid for by a member of our group who literally puts in thousands of dollars (and tens of hours) at $5- $10 slot machines. As a result of this borderline goofy/irresponsible behavior, he gets comped huge amounts of materials due to the business that he takes over to the casino properties. If you're throwing money into the machines or on the table, you'll get free drinks, instead of paying the $8-$12 you gotta shell out for individually (we ran this racket watching games at the bar with the $1 video poker machines, not so bad if you get the chance). On the other hand, if you play it calm, stay within a reasonable budget, and don't gamble 4-5 figures, you're just an average plebe who probably pays full price for everything. Seems a bit sad that responsibility is almost punished, but then again, this is a country that taxes capital gains (i.e. gambling on assets and paper) at a lower rate than income (i.e. actual work), so maybe it's not crazy at all. And another example where maybe Vegas is more honest than Wall Street or D.C.
And last but not least, and at some risk of jinxing things Sunday, I will make the following statement:
4. The people who still think Ted Thompson chose wrong by going with Rodgers over Favre sound about as dumb as people who cling to supply-side economics and deregulation as a way to cure our economy's ills. Sorry, I think reality has settled those arguments, and you just sound worse the more you insist otherwise.
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