Here we are at the beginning of another football season, which means, for many, the beginning of another season of degenerate gambling. And when I say, "degenerate," I mean, at noon he goes 0-2 and he's down $220. He figures he will get it back, so he doubles down at four o'clock. He starts drinking. He loses. Now he's down $440. Well, he thinks, he can't keep losing, right? So he doubles down again on the 8 o'clock ESPN game and throws in an extra $200 to get some winnings out of the day. He loses. Now he's down $1080, and it's near midnight, and he's drunk and panicked and feeling that nauseous swirl of anxiety every moment, slurring to his bookie: "Give me $2200 on Hawaii." Nevermind that it's a toss-up game he would never have even thought about betting back at noon. And here he is betting it, just to get back to even.
Now, we certainly hope the above scenario isn't a regular Saturday narrative for any of our readers. And, of course, we in no way endorse anything that is illegal. This is purely a business stimulator. But the path to a million is on the other side of the jump.
So you want to be a millionaire. It doesn't take all that much. A friend and I have bandied this idea about for years, but if you've got $110, a casino that is willing to take the action, and 15 right answers in a row, you're there.
Record
Bet
To Win
New Total
1-0
$110
$100
$210
2-0
$210
$189
$399
3-0
$399
$359.10
$758.10
4-0
$758.10
$682.30
$1,440.40
5-0
$1,440.40
$1,296.40
$2,736.80
6-0
$2,736.80
$2,463.10
$5,199.90
7-0
$5,199.90
$4,679.90
$9,879.80
8-0
$9,879.80
$8,891.80
$18,771.60
9-0
$18,771.60
$16,894.40
$35,660.00
10-0
$35,660.00
$32,099.40
$67,765.40
11-0
$67,765.40
$60,988.90
$128,754.30
12-0
$128,754.30
$115, 878.90
$244,633.20
13-0
$244,633.20
$220, 169.90
$464,803.10
14-0
$464,803.10
$418,322.80
$883,125.90
15-0
$883,125.90
$794, 813.40
$1,677,939.40
The above is calculated with the casino charging the usual 10% juice, but were you able to find a casino that would charge just five percent, only 14 straight winners would be required. My friend and I each doubt that once we got to 10-0 that we would have the guts to keep going. Do you? Let's play along this year. Each week, place one good pick from that week's slate of games in the comments section of a post I will put up. Let's tantalize ourselves with the magic of "What If?"