Cadillakin
06-03-2009, 12:03 PM
I used to know this guy at Santa Anita who played the numbers. He was heavily German accented, clean, always wore a nice coat...and didn’t carry a form. He wasn’t my friend but he sought me out, perhaps because he saw me a lot.. When he would approach me, he never said, "Who do you like" or "how's your day going," he would just start talking.. He didn't really need a response or any feedback... He’d rattle off a bunch of numbers, mumbling about this horse, number3, yesterdays 3rd race, blah, blah, blah.. Just sounds like nonsense. With the German accent, he is doubly hard to understand.. I’m thinking he’s slightly insane.
So one day, he comes up to me nearly foaming at the mouth.. Five races have been completed in the pick six and he nervously unfolds his ticket and shows me that he has the first five picked. Amongst those horses are some big, big, prices. In the last race, he has this really very bad horse singled. I tell him.. "Oh man, I think you got the wrong horse singled here." But he is not listening or caring what I say...He’s mumbling away and I’m trying to shoo him.. In fact, it was a wide open race but this horse was a no-chancer for me.. The only horse in the race that I thought didn't have a chance..
When I finally get him to leave, I tell my buddy, “Well, that crazy guys gonna make some money today, he’s got five and it’s looking impossible to hit six today.” I say; "That horse he singled ain’t got a chinamans chance." A 60-1 shot, that horse.
Well, the horse won by five, and this crazy dude takes down the whole pot by himself. $320,000, not to mention the consolations that paid 5K or so...I’m happy for the guy, he runs over to me and explains every move he made. The 5 horse, the 5th day, the 4 horse, and on and on. I didn’t understand a single thing he said, but I congratulated him and he bought me a beer. I heard he bought a house with his winnings.
Here’s another one for you to ponder; On the seventh day of the seventh month in the year 1977 at Hollywood Park, without realizing the significance of the date, I notice this incredible action on an outsider in the first race. He’s number 7. “What’s up with that,” I ask nobody in particular. A lady informs me it’s July 7, 1977. I say, “Oh.” I watch the race and to my surprise the seven horse wins the race at a grossly underlaid price. I look at the double payoffs to the 7 horse on the board and laugh... What a joke! This number 7 in the upcoming second race looks terrible on form. He wins.... Aaaargh! What’s going on here? The double pays almost nothing. Wow!
The crowd is all turned on to this magic.. They are buzzing.. They all realize the significance of what has happened. What happened next might even have been weirder..
In the remaining seven races, the seven horse was bet down in all of them. I mean bet down big! Ridiculously bet down! One after the other, I watched as the crowed pummeled them down to favoritism or nearly so.
Five of those #7's ran dead last, and one of them ran next to last… And in the one race where the seven horse didn't run terribly, there was an entry, the #1 entry. The second half of that entry broke from the seven stall and that horse ran last!
I know we all view ourselves as somewhat scientific in our approach to the game.. but there are things going on in this world that we can never fully understand... The German guy and the 7-7-77 phenomenon are good examples of that..
So one day, he comes up to me nearly foaming at the mouth.. Five races have been completed in the pick six and he nervously unfolds his ticket and shows me that he has the first five picked. Amongst those horses are some big, big, prices. In the last race, he has this really very bad horse singled. I tell him.. "Oh man, I think you got the wrong horse singled here." But he is not listening or caring what I say...He’s mumbling away and I’m trying to shoo him.. In fact, it was a wide open race but this horse was a no-chancer for me.. The only horse in the race that I thought didn't have a chance..
When I finally get him to leave, I tell my buddy, “Well, that crazy guys gonna make some money today, he’s got five and it’s looking impossible to hit six today.” I say; "That horse he singled ain’t got a chinamans chance." A 60-1 shot, that horse.
Well, the horse won by five, and this crazy dude takes down the whole pot by himself. $320,000, not to mention the consolations that paid 5K or so...I’m happy for the guy, he runs over to me and explains every move he made. The 5 horse, the 5th day, the 4 horse, and on and on. I didn’t understand a single thing he said, but I congratulated him and he bought me a beer. I heard he bought a house with his winnings.
Here’s another one for you to ponder; On the seventh day of the seventh month in the year 1977 at Hollywood Park, without realizing the significance of the date, I notice this incredible action on an outsider in the first race. He’s number 7. “What’s up with that,” I ask nobody in particular. A lady informs me it’s July 7, 1977. I say, “Oh.” I watch the race and to my surprise the seven horse wins the race at a grossly underlaid price. I look at the double payoffs to the 7 horse on the board and laugh... What a joke! This number 7 in the upcoming second race looks terrible on form. He wins.... Aaaargh! What’s going on here? The double pays almost nothing. Wow!
The crowd is all turned on to this magic.. They are buzzing.. They all realize the significance of what has happened. What happened next might even have been weirder..
In the remaining seven races, the seven horse was bet down in all of them. I mean bet down big! Ridiculously bet down! One after the other, I watched as the crowed pummeled them down to favoritism or nearly so.
Five of those #7's ran dead last, and one of them ran next to last… And in the one race where the seven horse didn't run terribly, there was an entry, the #1 entry. The second half of that entry broke from the seven stall and that horse ran last!
I know we all view ourselves as somewhat scientific in our approach to the game.. but there are things going on in this world that we can never fully understand... The German guy and the 7-7-77 phenomenon are good examples of that..