I was raised by my father. My father was a gambler. When I was 14 my father had an incredible lucky summer betting on baseball. He had worked out a system that won 90% of the time. I didn’t realize it at the time. When my father went on a hot streak he would become very quiet. I think he feared if he talked about it the spell would be broken and he would lose. Yes, he was like every other gambler, he was very superstitious.
Like I said, I didn’t realize how well my father’s system had been working that summer until he started renting a different Ferrari every other week. And then we started dining at much more expensive restaurants. And then he started buying me top notch designer outfits. I never asked my father about all the money. I respected his superstitions. I knew he would tell me when the time was right.
It was in mid September when my father dropped by my high school to pick me up and take me home. He wasn’t driving a Ferrari. And he was much more talkative on the ride home. It was at this point I knew his streak was over. And I knew he would tell me all about it.
It was while we were eating dinner that he explained the baseball betting system to me. And I’ll never forget the glint in his eye as he told me the system he had created. He was very proud that he had thought it up. His system was very basic and was not based on odds or who was pitching. His system was based on human nature.
This is what he told me.
“Pam, the way I figured it was that the best time to place a bet on a baseball team was after they came home from a road trip. And you never bet the first game they are at home but always the second game. The way I see it is that these ball players have been on the road for a week or two, they’ve been eating restaurant food, they’ve been staying up late drinking and screwing around, it takes its toll. Now they get home to their family life, some home cooking, time with their kids, and they are more relaxed and they get a good night sleep. The second game at home, it doesn’t matter how good the team is that they are playing or who is pitching against them these boys are going to win.”
My father made a lot of money that magical summer with this system. But then it ended. And that system never worked again for him.
Copyright Pamela Pompeii. All rights reserved.
Pamela Pompeii is a leader in a new breed of stylized journalism.