Rise of London Gambler. Second edition. Serik Jumanov
bets lost! How could it be?? I don’t get it! I just don’t get it!!!”
John went out for a smoke and Mike joined him. They sat in a backyard garden as usual. It was nice and silent here, apart from street noise. John really liked smoking here where nobody could disturb him.
“Thought about finding a job? Maybe you should try FOREX or stock-market again?” asked Mike.
“No, no way. Turnover in bookmaker industry is three times larger than in FOREX market. By the way, it also makes me think that somebody fixes the matches. It’s a big-big money, and there is always someone struggling with club budget etc. A temptation is high, and people are weak usually. If there are known black dealers in FOREX market – which is three times less than bookmaking one – then how many match fixers are there? I don’t know for sure but I suspect that there are plenty of them.”
“Well, up to you, man, whatever you think. If you need a job, I can ask my friends, maybe they can find something for you.”
“Thank you. I am trying too, but all I found by now is a job of a part-time football coach. I will have to conduct training sessions on Saturdays – exactly when we have our games for Fulham Compton – I really need to choose, but I wanna play since I promised Darren, remember? And I really wanna play!” said John.
“By the way – it’s good you reminded me – I talked to those guys you wanted for our team. Rickets, who you said is perfect for a left midfielder, and that tall guy, his nickname is Stix (not sure if it’s right for us to call him so), Jay Jay and Gareth are ready to play for us, but they cannot pay for playing in the team.”
“Wow, it is great news! Darren told me he is bringing one central defender from Fulham Compton third team since the guy is frustrated to be in reserve all the time. I feel that we’re gonna have a hell of a team!”
November 5, 2011
John moved to another flat in a neighbourhood to share a room with Pakistani guy called Emil who worked in a fast-food shop on the ground floor. In the past six months they met in the shop frequently, and one day John saw an ad saying Emil needs a roommate. Rent was £200 per month which was a good deal for him. Emil seemed to be a nice guy, and John decided that he hardly could find a better roommate. Emil was not interested in football but was fun of cricket. He also was a practicing Muslim, a moderate one, not a fanatic, so John had no problem with it. One evening Emil made Pakistani tea which was tea leaves boiled in milk with sugar, and they started talking about religions since they both had something to share.
“What are you doing all the time? Betting? It is not good, brother. Betting is a sin!” said Emil.
“Look, Emil, I believe there is a Creator. Since we live in the world which exists then someone or something created it. The world is like heartless mechanism. For example, the gravity. Anything just drops on the ground, right? No matter, you’re a saint or an evil doer, you just hit the ground. So, I am just not sure the Creator has intelligence and there are heaven and hell etc. Look at this world! How perfect is it? Do you think it may be created by an intelligent and wise person? Yes, laws of physics and mathematics are flawless, but what about society? You know it better than me!”
“Yes, right. But it is people who make society messy. God made everything perfect, it is people and Lucifer spoiled everything. It’s why.”
“Okay, do you remember who Lucifer was? One of the angels, right? Who was created to worship the God and had no own will – unlike humans. Just like a computer. Just programmed. How come he started having his own will?? Can you imagine the computer having its own will? Can your cell phone start having its own will?!”
“Well, I don’t know…”
“So, do you see my point? This is only one of my questions. It’s why I am not into religions. I trust something I can check using experiments or observations. People should have critical thinking, right? I can’t say I fully trust modern physicians too, but they have a more analytical approach to everything, they check and double-check their data and conclusions, it makes me trust them more, but I cannot say they are absolutely right in everything. You know, they develop own vision all the time, they don’t get stuck with dogmas etc.”
“So, what you wanna say? Scientists are right or religions are right?”
“Let’s say, none of them. The truth is somewhere in between, I suppose. I hope in the future they will come to a common solution. At least now they have one common point – definitions of God and energy are just about the same. God was there and will be forever and so is the energy. You can say I believe in energy. Not sure the energy has intelligence, though. Thus, there is no sin, but active and destructive actions since energy cannot judge you. You just get your energy and accumulate it, or you lose it, and that’s the only punishment you get”.
“So, you mean, saintly life is a spending your energy in right way which helps you accumulate more energy?”
“Good point! Probably, yes. Frankly speaking, I’ve never thought what a saintly life is since I don’t dare to be a saint or something. Wait, I need to do something.”
John looked at his laptop and placed the bets on odds he just has found attractive, and relaxed.
“By the way,” he said. “Investing is not a sin, right? You can say I invest in my bets. Any investment involves risk, so it is some sort of gambling, don’t you think? And if investing is allowed, then what could be wrong with betting? I’m not gambling blindly, I’m working hard to analyze the games and make my ‘investments’, but in the other form only! Also, this is absolutely fair business, no cheating. I win money, but it’s not easy. I take risks to lose, and for reward, I get a chance to win some money. It is absolutely similar to investing – except the fact that I am not producing any material or tangible asset. Frankly speaking, this fact is confusing me to some extent, but don’t the shareholders do the same? They invest money only, and then share the profit if they are lucky.”
Friday evening, November 25, 2011
John and Mike entered the room with plastic bags full of food and drinks.
“Hey, Emil, salam aleikum, bro! Get up, let’s celebrate! This is my friend Mike, you probably saw him in your shop.”
“Oh, aleikum salam, brothers!” Emil shook hands with Mike and looked at the bags amusedly. “Today you have a birthday or what?”
“No, just having a tea with my best friends! I’m celebrating my big victory, man!” laughed John.
“You won money?”
“Yes, man! £6,000 in one bet!!! Miracles happen, you see?” smiled John.
“OK, tell us, John! How did you make it?” asked Mike impatiently.
John took his laptop and switched it on.
“See, it is the history of my bets. I found two matches, which looked pretty interesting. These teams often concede the goals in the second half and lose the game even if they are winning after the half-time. I bet on so-called half-time/full-time result – it’s usually the highest odd offered – and the number of corners kicks. There were two matches, so it makes a 4-fold bet. Total odd was 5,848. My stake was £1 only – it’s all I could afford at that time.”
“25… 3… 17… 4…” murmured Mike, watching the screen. “You are a genius, man! You are a fucking genius!”
“Oh no, this is all about being sharp-eyed, Mike. Thank you anyway,” replied John, smiling.
“I will