The Thing about Gambling

It seems gambling is everyone's favourite activity.

My family for one , loves gambling. Every year when we meet up for occassions like Year New and Christmas , they end up playing 21 over the dinner table while "kids" like my sister , my cousins and I find our own entertainment - which, most of time, came in the form of the game heart attack.

True to the name of the game, it is an adrenaline pumping 5 minutes of action, comparable probably to bungee jumping . The game is simple. Initially, both have the same number of cards. Upon the start of the game they both flip over their first card and then stack them consecutively. For example:

"1,2,3,4,5,6,5,4"

Once both stacks have the same number , participants are required to shout "heart attack!". The one with the slower response gets all the cards. But then, my jaw would have dropped and my hands , clammy with cold sweat.

We haven't gambled for anything. Yet.

But it doesn't only apply to my immediate family. My grandfather religiously brings up the teletext screen every Sunday at about 7 plus to check his 4-D results.

"Tiao Ji la. Jump number la," he would inevitably say every week only to buy the same number the next week. My grandmother is always amazed at the energy he displays when he goes about his weekly gambling routine.

My father had previously bought his car-plate number every week for probably well over a year. When he won, he gave almost everyone a treat. I believe if he were to do his sums, he would have probably only broken even given that he lost consecutively for 48 weeks.

Lore has it that, a lucky little bird flew into the house when I was little. Seeing its auspicious significance my father brought out a bottle with numbers written on crushed sheets of paper. Holding the bottle relatively close to the bird, it became the Lo Han of yester-year. My father actually bought and won.

Come to think of it, I seem to remember doing the same thing for my father on my birthday. My father didn't win though.

What opened my eyes to the world of gambling were the events that transpired a few weeks ago. Friends around asked me for my professional opinion on the outcome of the legendary match between AC Milan and Liverpool. I felt it weird that they should come to me when the only accomplishment I know for a soccer player is Beckham's movie ages ago, Bend it like Beckham.

"Beginners luck mah!" they explained, as if it would up their chances of winning.

"Liverpool," I decided. With a name like that, you couldn't lose. Especially to Alternating Current Milan.

Liverpool won.

I'm told the odds were 1-100 at half time for bookies. There was no chance in hell Liverpool would win.

Now, if I had laced a $10 bet on liverpool at half-time that would amount to...

*counts fingers*

$1000 of cold hard cash. Just like that.

My friend won though. I think he must have felt pretty pleased with himself since many rooted for AC. He came to us a few days after.

" I lost my wallet," the visibly depressed guy said.

"Did you exchange your ticket for your prize money?" someone interjected, hoping to making it better.

"yeah. " Some looked less worried. Maybe a treat.

"but..." his voiced trailed off.

" The prize money was in the wallet."

An audible sigh resonated in the room.