Roulette tales
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:30 am
Every fortnight I give the Chief a little treat by taking care of transport and allowing him to combine the day's work with a handful of San Miguels, it's also nice to give the Disco a run out and the Chief is partial to a run around suburbia and urbania in the Disco. We had a decent schedule for the day and at around 5pm we were bang on target in relation to where we wanted to be, as it was 5pm though it was decision time - enter the rush hour traffic or park the Disco up and avert from the schedule and see what we may come across in the city centre. As we were discussing what to do next, I mentioned that I wouldn't mind watching the Stoke v Valencia game as I had invested a financial interest the previous evening. Betting while I'm in a period of work is normally a strict no no for me, but I felt the 7/4 available on Valencia was such an underestimation of their true chance that I needed to do something about it. I have seen Valencia play a few times recently and came to the conclusion that they would be too classy for Stoke even though the Europa Leauge can sometimes throw up strange results, I struck £1000 on them and also put £1000 on under 2.5 goals making a max potential return of £4750. Anyway, it was decided that we would go and have a bite to eat and then go and watch the game, the Chief didn't take much persuasion with regards to watching the game as his ears tend to prick up when he finds someone has had a significant bet. He takes a keen interest in the outcome and I think being someone who abstains from gambling, he likes to live the experience of other people's bets as if they were his own.
After we had parked the Disco up, we decided to go to a new Tapas bar along the road, the Chief heard the establishment was serving up fresh food with good ingriedients and so it proved to be. We enjoyed a nice meal while discussing our schedule for the following day and then got on our way to find somewhere to watch the game. We were going to head to the nearest suitable pub but the Chief mentioned one of his old friends had taken over as manager of a betting shop about half a mile across the city, the idea was to go there and see the Chief's buddy and hopefully the match would be on one of the screens. The match was just about to kick off and as we arrived at the betting shop I could see through the window that the game was being shown on a large screen, the Chief went in and I nipped to the Starbucks opposite to get a couple of a couple of hot drinks. As I ordered the hot drinks the girl who was serving me seemed to be giving me strong eye contact, she was a decent package and judging by her eloquent manner she seemed to be from a satisfactory pedigree. We made some small talk and this led to her asking me if I had a significant other half, I replied 'Yes, she's called Valencia' My thoughts were another night, another time.
As I entered the betting shop the Chief was sat down with his manager buddy and the conversation was in full flow, the effects of the San Miguels that the Chief had earlier consumed were still apparent and he was in good form, the betting shop manager seemed to appreciate this and their banter and rapport were in perfect harmony. As the betting shop was empty the manager continued to sit with us while I followed the game closely, Valencia had started well and I thought they should have little trouble in finding a goal before half time. A few minutes later a couple of lads walked into the shop and my attention was drawn to them straight away, the Chief also reacted in a similar way to me on their entrance. They were both in their late 20s and were courting the Stone Island look and one of them did indeed have a mid length winter jacket on from that very label which can't of come cheap. My own particular thoughts on them were initially ones of brashness and cockiness but they also seemed to have an evasive and anxious demeanour about them. Straight away they went towards the roulette machines and as they walked I heard a jingle of coins, I looked at their pockets and it was blatantly obvious that various pockets were housing excess coinage. The Chief had probably interpreted the purpose of their presence that bit sharper than me, being his speciality and all, but they were both now stood on seperate fobt's waiting for the roulette to load up with a concentrated anticipation. The Chief whispered to me 'They're in for the keybets' as both of them seemed disappointed when the roulette game had loaded up, they quickly switched to the other terminals and repeated the procedure. Around thirty seconds later one of the lads said to the other in a mock Pakistani voice 'Lets get ready to part-ay' as he broke into a body movement that somewhat resembled Peter Crouch's robot dance. The other lad said 'This is fukin smokin mate' as they ascended into a self congratulatory and celebratory mood. Just at this very point Valencia took the lead as Mehmet Topal hit a 30 yard screamer.
As I regained my composure after the Valencia strike the Chief revealed to me that the two lads were chasing a max pot on the keybet roulette, I have liitle knowledge of these and the Chief was more up to date in this area than myself. The key bet players had now lowered their vocal tone, and the fobt now commanded their full attention, not long after one of them asked the manager 'what time you closing' To my surprise, Alan the manager replied '11 tonight lads' as I thought it would of been a closing time of 9.30 or 10. For the following hour I paid little attention to the terminal as I watched Valencia record a victory and land me a profit of £2750, the Chief said 'not a bad wage for 90 mins work' as I felt fairly pleased with myself for the correct judgement. As I glanced over to the roulette terminal that the keybet players were fixated on, I noticed their demanour had altered, the taller one of the two seemed to be worked up as he tried to do every action at ultra speed and he seemed to be in a habit of talking to the terminal and sticking his fingers up at it. He said 'Tight greedy fukin wanker' as he gritted his teeth and redness started to appear in his face, the other lad was quieter, but he had a look of despair and emptiness in his face, the Chief whispered to me 'That lad looks haunted' The situation soon became clear as we realised they had diverted from their keybet only pursuit and were now doing max bet spins with the quieter one seemingley bank rolling the operation, to say he looked like a disgruntled financier is an understatement as he presented a look that he may well be about to team up with an electric chair. The taller lad who seemed to be making every decision was now constatly directing a tirade of verbal abuse towards the machine as he used terms like 'fukin rapist' 'conjob' 'its fukin fraud this' He was also starting punch the buttons and screen and he said to the unit 'come on then, you want ya bastard go?' He was also doing something very strange, something that tickled my and the Chief's fancy, as he pressed the button to start the spin he was covering the display up with his hand, but was trying to sneak a look under his hand, he seemed like he couldn't bear to look but was somehoe trying to conquer it. There were various significant emotions on display here, one of nervousness followed by anger resulting in an apparent and overwhelming helplessness.
The Chief and I should have been on our way by this point but there was no way we were going to leave a venue that was providing so much entertainmment. The turn on wasn't so much the financial deficit that the terminal had inflicted, as seeing people lose isn't what we're about, it was more about the storyboard scenario packed with emotion that could rival any offering from the motion picture industry. Coinage had been getting loaded on to the terminal and also an abundance of notes had gone in during the time that had elasped, trips to the cash machine had been made and any estimation of losses would certainly toll up into four figures, I'd say around £2500 if I was pushed. It was now fast approaching closing time and desperation was setting in, murmurs of 'going to the casino' were heard and the taller one said 'Am I fuk going to bed on this' as Alan announced it was closing time. They finshed up and walked out and presumably made their way to the casino, the Chief did say something naughty as he fancied going to the casino for a continuation but it was an early start the next morning so we decided against it. Just for the record, the keybet pot wasn't landed and the Chief said 'So glad I packed in gambling all those years ago'
After we had parked the Disco up, we decided to go to a new Tapas bar along the road, the Chief heard the establishment was serving up fresh food with good ingriedients and so it proved to be. We enjoyed a nice meal while discussing our schedule for the following day and then got on our way to find somewhere to watch the game. We were going to head to the nearest suitable pub but the Chief mentioned one of his old friends had taken over as manager of a betting shop about half a mile across the city, the idea was to go there and see the Chief's buddy and hopefully the match would be on one of the screens. The match was just about to kick off and as we arrived at the betting shop I could see through the window that the game was being shown on a large screen, the Chief went in and I nipped to the Starbucks opposite to get a couple of a couple of hot drinks. As I ordered the hot drinks the girl who was serving me seemed to be giving me strong eye contact, she was a decent package and judging by her eloquent manner she seemed to be from a satisfactory pedigree. We made some small talk and this led to her asking me if I had a significant other half, I replied 'Yes, she's called Valencia' My thoughts were another night, another time.
As I entered the betting shop the Chief was sat down with his manager buddy and the conversation was in full flow, the effects of the San Miguels that the Chief had earlier consumed were still apparent and he was in good form, the betting shop manager seemed to appreciate this and their banter and rapport were in perfect harmony. As the betting shop was empty the manager continued to sit with us while I followed the game closely, Valencia had started well and I thought they should have little trouble in finding a goal before half time. A few minutes later a couple of lads walked into the shop and my attention was drawn to them straight away, the Chief also reacted in a similar way to me on their entrance. They were both in their late 20s and were courting the Stone Island look and one of them did indeed have a mid length winter jacket on from that very label which can't of come cheap. My own particular thoughts on them were initially ones of brashness and cockiness but they also seemed to have an evasive and anxious demeanour about them. Straight away they went towards the roulette machines and as they walked I heard a jingle of coins, I looked at their pockets and it was blatantly obvious that various pockets were housing excess coinage. The Chief had probably interpreted the purpose of their presence that bit sharper than me, being his speciality and all, but they were both now stood on seperate fobt's waiting for the roulette to load up with a concentrated anticipation. The Chief whispered to me 'They're in for the keybets' as both of them seemed disappointed when the roulette game had loaded up, they quickly switched to the other terminals and repeated the procedure. Around thirty seconds later one of the lads said to the other in a mock Pakistani voice 'Lets get ready to part-ay' as he broke into a body movement that somewhat resembled Peter Crouch's robot dance. The other lad said 'This is fukin smokin mate' as they ascended into a self congratulatory and celebratory mood. Just at this very point Valencia took the lead as Mehmet Topal hit a 30 yard screamer.
As I regained my composure after the Valencia strike the Chief revealed to me that the two lads were chasing a max pot on the keybet roulette, I have liitle knowledge of these and the Chief was more up to date in this area than myself. The key bet players had now lowered their vocal tone, and the fobt now commanded their full attention, not long after one of them asked the manager 'what time you closing' To my surprise, Alan the manager replied '11 tonight lads' as I thought it would of been a closing time of 9.30 or 10. For the following hour I paid little attention to the terminal as I watched Valencia record a victory and land me a profit of £2750, the Chief said 'not a bad wage for 90 mins work' as I felt fairly pleased with myself for the correct judgement. As I glanced over to the roulette terminal that the keybet players were fixated on, I noticed their demanour had altered, the taller one of the two seemed to be worked up as he tried to do every action at ultra speed and he seemed to be in a habit of talking to the terminal and sticking his fingers up at it. He said 'Tight greedy fukin wanker' as he gritted his teeth and redness started to appear in his face, the other lad was quieter, but he had a look of despair and emptiness in his face, the Chief whispered to me 'That lad looks haunted' The situation soon became clear as we realised they had diverted from their keybet only pursuit and were now doing max bet spins with the quieter one seemingley bank rolling the operation, to say he looked like a disgruntled financier is an understatement as he presented a look that he may well be about to team up with an electric chair. The taller lad who seemed to be making every decision was now constatly directing a tirade of verbal abuse towards the machine as he used terms like 'fukin rapist' 'conjob' 'its fukin fraud this' He was also starting punch the buttons and screen and he said to the unit 'come on then, you want ya bastard go?' He was also doing something very strange, something that tickled my and the Chief's fancy, as he pressed the button to start the spin he was covering the display up with his hand, but was trying to sneak a look under his hand, he seemed like he couldn't bear to look but was somehoe trying to conquer it. There were various significant emotions on display here, one of nervousness followed by anger resulting in an apparent and overwhelming helplessness.
The Chief and I should have been on our way by this point but there was no way we were going to leave a venue that was providing so much entertainmment. The turn on wasn't so much the financial deficit that the terminal had inflicted, as seeing people lose isn't what we're about, it was more about the storyboard scenario packed with emotion that could rival any offering from the motion picture industry. Coinage had been getting loaded on to the terminal and also an abundance of notes had gone in during the time that had elasped, trips to the cash machine had been made and any estimation of losses would certainly toll up into four figures, I'd say around £2500 if I was pushed. It was now fast approaching closing time and desperation was setting in, murmurs of 'going to the casino' were heard and the taller one said 'Am I fuk going to bed on this' as Alan announced it was closing time. They finshed up and walked out and presumably made their way to the casino, the Chief did say something naughty as he fancied going to the casino for a continuation but it was an early start the next morning so we decided against it. Just for the record, the keybet pot wasn't landed and the Chief said 'So glad I packed in gambling all those years ago'