Saturday, December 20, 2008

Hiding Out


I know it's been a little quiet around here, but you all are probably also absorbed in holiday preparations. Mine involve writing and changing the menu, and wondering what I really should clean. I aint wrappin or givin presents. My Visa is finally at $0, and I want it to stay there.

I've finished my holiday video but am completely exasperated trying to convert it to a file format that I can upload to youtube. Probably tomorrow I'll post a link to it directly in Flash. I have so many video/animation programs that you would think this would be an easy thing, but it's not. And you'd find it incredibly boring to read the trail of bread crumbs I have to go through to render my flash animation in a youtube acceptable format.

My mother's condition is yoyoing around. Tonight she said she'd seen the movie "Home Alone" at the Saturday screening and it was extremely frightening and had ruined her day. Last night she sounded okay, but the night before she didn't know she was talking to me and told me how inadequate Sally was around nurses.

But today was a lovely day. We went to Hollywood Park to watch and bet on the horse races. Dinah came too. I've been reading a "for Dummies" book on betting on horses, recommended by a prominent racing blogger, and I SCORED! I won more than $200 on minimal bets, because I'd learned new ways to place bets. I explained some of it to Dinah and she scored too. We also got free fleece jackets that say Hollywood Park.

Actually it wasn't the dummies book that really clued me in, though it explained a lot.

As I was watching the horses in the saddling area (while Jon took the jackets to the car, and before Dinah showed up), a woman much older than me, (is that possible?) came up and told me the secret of winning these races. She said she has a friend who wins thousands of dollars every day with this technique. She kept poking me in the shoulder, and "pickpocket" crossed my mind, except she didn't look that together. Anyway, I followed what she suggested and won $50 on a $4 bet. When I thanked her later, she looked pissed. When I pointed her out to Dinah, Dinah thought she looked entirely crazy. When this picture was taken, I'd already started winning but Dinah hadn't started following my technique.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

What IS the technique?

"Inadequate" around nurses?

I'll bet "Home Alone" IS scary.

So glad you enjoyed the salad! I'm taking it to more and more gatherings this season....

Linda Davick said...

I detect happiness & joy in those 2 faces.

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

What's the technique?
I'll tell you how to get the best slot machines if you tell me how to bet on horses. I'm going to Los Vegas in a few days...!

Anonymous said...

Your system beats the Bernie Madoff scheme, anytime. 4 pays 50. Wow. You needn't share the recipe, but we are wondering.

Sally said...

Here's what the technique is:

You find a horse that's a heavy favorite to win with really low odds, and you think it's likely to win also.
You bet it as an exacta wheel.

Say the horse is number six.

You bet exacta wheel 6 with 1 through 5. This means you think 6 will come in first, and any horse in the field, 1 through 5, will come in second.

Then if you want to take it farther you make a second bet of exacta wheel, 1 through 5 with 6. This means, any horse except 6 will come in first and 6 will come in second.

Of course, if 6 drags himself down the track and finishes out of the money, neither ticket will do anything for you.

But if you bet win place show on a horse that's a favorite with low odds, you won't make nearly as much as with these bets, and they don't cost any more.

In Dinah's last win, she bet an exacta box, putting three horses she liked in it. As long as two of the three finish as first and second, in any order, she wins a decent payout.

This may be hard to follow. It took me a while to get up to speed with some of these expressions.

Anonymous said...

OK honey, but remember favorites only win a third of the time. Maybe. Get that third right (with the low odds?) and you've got it. I'm so glad you won. Waste it (the winnings) if you haven't already. Cheers all around. Does your mother like the track? Will she enjoy your victory, and how you happened upon it? I hope so.

Anonymous said...

at first I thought you were talking about an X-acto knife....

Anonymous said...

Your crazy lady tipster reminded me of the crazy lady who sat next to me at a matinee in London. It was a comedy and every time I laughed she'd poke me and glare. Turned out she was a homeless person who figured out how to sneak in the theatre.

I think crazy people are pissed when you act rationly?

Maybe your crazy lady wanted a percentage?

Sally said...

My mother was very cheered by the news of our racetrack wins, anon. I know it's not a guaranteed system, but just so nuts that a crazy lady would tell me something like that, I'd turn around and do just what she said, and I'd win a bunch of money.

I thought about giving her a prize but she seemed so hostile when I went up to her afterwards.

You have to watch it with weird people poking you, because it could be part of a pickpocket scheme. My mother was pickpocketed at our wedding! I've been a victim too.

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