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Matched Betting Extra Place Horse Racing - January 21 Profits - £4,707 on top of Full Time Job

Hi all,
I thought I would share my profits for Matched Betting Extra Place Horse Racing for Jan 21. January 2021 has turned into my best month of Matched Betting since I started way back in Summer 2018. This months profits are roughly £4,707. A life changing figure for many and a great figure seeing this is achievable on top of a full time job. Matched Betting is the only decent side hustle I have actually found, compared to doing hundreds of boring online surveys...yuck! (Unless you are a good business person / have 5 lodgers / lots of family money etc.) To see some of my other Matched Betting profits you visit my site: https://cashontheside.co.uk/
I will be investing some of my profits this month in ETF/Shares and putting into house improvements like a new drive way. In addition with Cheltenham horse festival coming up in March, I will be increasing my bank to cover liabilities.
The bulk of my profits came from Extra Place racing, large underlayed winners and BOG (best offer garuntee). Variance was certainly on my side this month and I must have had at least 10 large winners which won upwards of £1600 pounds per bet. As I underlay my bets I made more profit than If I had fully layed of the bets. About 5% of these profits came from low risk casino. After you have completed all welcome offers...in Matched Betting. Ep's become a gold mine...and I truly recommend them to anyone.
Some more of my bets this month illustrating underlayed bets and ep:
https://cashonthesidecouk.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/winnings4.jpg
https://cashonthesidecouk.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/winnings.jpg
https://cashonthesidecouk.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/another-winner.jpg
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Images of one of my bets illustrative of Best offer guarantee: https://cashonthesidecouk.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/136707133_10159536662702922_8507610622687908137_o-1.jpg?w=544
For those who are starting out on their Match Betting journey in 2021 these sort of figures are achievable to you once you have experience….unfortunately this will not come overnight! I do put a lot of time into it..between 2-5 hours a day, 7 days a week sometimes. For the average person you could earn at least £500 a month.
To learn more about Match Betting please visit my article Boost Your Income with Matched Betting. Alternatively you can start an Odds Monkey free trial where they will teach you step by step and give you the calculators you need: odds monkey trial https://www.oddsmonkey.com/affiliates/affiliate.php?id=64754(affiliate) or www.oddsmonkey.com. (non affiliate)
To those with a little more experience who want to learn about Matched Betting Extra Places you can visit my guide here Extra Place Match Betting tips here or I have copied and pasted it all below.
For those with Matched Betting Experience - my guide and tips to Extra Places:
What is Extra Place Matched Betting?
Extra Places can be a very lucrative technique to learn. Extra Places are available for us to do pretty much every day, increasing the appeal. Extra Place Offers are available to all customers. This means that even if you get gubbed with a bookmaker, in most cases, you can still make money with them by Matched Betting on their Extra Place Offers.
Extra Places are considered an advanced reload offer, as they not risk-free. However once you have gained some experience on more basic horse racing offers, you can start to take advantage of the lucrative profits available. It may sound complicated but as soon as it ‘clicks’, it becomes simple. Essentially we are taking advantage of the bookies and exchanges paying out if the horse you have backed comes a certain ‘place’ in a race e.g. 4th.
Extra Places combined with additional offers such as BOG (Best Offer Guarantee) can mean additional profits. For example, you back a horse at odds of 15 and then the starting odds move up to 23. If that horse wins you win an extra x8 on your bet. You can see some real life scenarios I found of Extra Place combined with BOG below. Depending on the size of the underlay, profits below would range up to £3,000+

What is a ‘place’ in horse racing?

Quite simply a ‘place’ is the position the horse finishes a race in. For example if a horse wins a race it comes 1st, if a horse comes 2nd its 2nd. In some races with a large number of horses some bookies will pay out if a horse finishes the race in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th position. Horse Racing festivals such as Cheltenham or Ascot are particularly well known for this.

What is an ‘Extra Place’ in horse racing?

Now we’ve understood what a place is in horse racing you may have probably already guessed what an ‘extra place’ is going to be! An ‘extra place’ is where the bookies add one (or more) additional places to their standard place classification on a particular race. For example they may offer to ‘pay 7 places on a race’ instead of the standard 3 places. The ‘extra place’ in this instance cover 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th.
What are my Extra Place top tips?
  1. Some of my biggest profits have come from big underlayed winners and BOG. I typically underlay most of my bets by about 20% sometimes more. If you are starting out I would underlay on the place only by about 10% to play it safe until you learn more.
  2. Don’t bet on more places than a bookmaker is offering. E.g. If the bookmaker is offering 4 places don’t bet on more than that.
  3. Whilst your learning, take horses on implied odds of at least 12 or more on a match of 80%+.
  4. Look to keep qualifying losses down. E.g. for £100 profit, £5 ql.
  5. Please note, the best odds are typically found between 10 minutes up and to race time. You have to be quick on your ‘toes’…learn to walk before you run etc. Start out on easy horse racing officers before doing extra places.
  6. You will need a bank of at least £1000+ for your exchanges, ideally more. The more you have the more of the field you can cover. You can do EP with several hundred in your exchange but you won’t be able to make bigger profits.
  7. Be consistent, don’t take risks, don’t chase your losses and learn from matched betting extra place forums.
  8. Keep the Odds Monkey up throughout the day...and check for good matches.
  9. Use Bookies Boosts to increase your odds and matches.
  10. Do not give in to your fear of missing out on offers…Tomorrow is another day.
  11. Have at least a dual monitoscreen setup. It is important to be able to see exchange, books and calcs.
How do I find Extra Places offers?
I use the the Odds Monkey Extra Place Matcher to find the best opportunities for profit. The Matcher is explained in the below video.
https://youtu.be/oOKAdiSJidg
I am also a regular visitor of the active Odds Monkey community forums. You can sign up for an Odds Monkey free trial today here today https://www.oddsmonkey.com/affiliates/affiliate.php?id=64754 www.oddsmonkey.com (non affiliate). Odds Monkey provide you with the all guides, calculators etc. I have been a member for over 2.4 years now.
Feel free to get in touch or ask below if any questions.
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Analysis of the 1st Trailer (Jan 2021) of Raya and the Last Dragon

Analysis of the 1st Trailer (Jan 2021) of Raya and the Last Dragon
For those who want to see my analysis including the cultural references and basic info of the film from the Teaser.
Seri Bertemu Lagi (Nice to see you again) to those who are returning and Selamat Datang (Welcome) for the new. Finally, the new trailer for the movie has come (movie poster for the header pic) and I'm happy to see people who are excited to watch the movie! Now before I start the analysis, I would like to bring a few disclaimers:
{This won't be only about cultural references but also theories, studies, and speculations on the story, characteworld design, and animation since I am an Animator myself. The trailer fleshes out what the story is actually about rather than the Teaser that came out as a concept of the film and I understand to some, the trailer revealed too much.
For the History/Culture Purists, I would like to advise you to manage your expectations. The film will not be as accurate nor grounded to its historical references as the film, Puteri Gunung Ledang (available on Netflix to some regions, but I highly recommended the film as it is the prideful collaborative work of both Malaysia and Indonesia) and the historical period dramas. For those who are wondering, there are Southeast Asians who aren't happy with how we represented in the film by the teaser alone. Mainly with why the many ethnic groups of SEA are not shown especially with the distinct features of their clothing and accessories. Here's one of the examples, and I actually agree with what the individual said. Especially with Malaysians aren't happy that there isn't much representation and it wasn't one of the countries that the animation team went on their study tour for the film.. for reasons unknown, even though one of the writers is Malaysian-Born. And also agree with the theory that there might be fear of SEA countries fighting over it if it's specific to one country since there are disappointingly many over-proud netizens that harass and step-over the neighboring countries over ridiculous matters. It's not wrong to be proud of your identity and be patriotic, but not too much to the point of arrogance and in the end, shoot yourself in the foot by making what you represented look bad.
However! The film has established that it sets in a fictional/fantasy setting. So do expect that it won't be heavily rooted in its main source of references. It's not meant to be a documentary, it's not meant to be a periodic film. It's Disney, expect some fantasy fairy dust. Bidipi-Boopiti-Boop, let's hope it doesn't create any controversial dramas in the future.
I was already setting my expectations low since the teaser came out, since understandable that it's a Hollywood, American Production. Especially knowing Disney's principles in design, there are bound to be some alterations to fit in the writing, the production management, and budget.
But do not blatantly say that the team behind the film did not put effort and research into SEA cultures. [Article] Just because you're not familiar with it, it could be to someone else from other parts of SEA and probably need to brush up on your history and culture lesson. *ahem*
To be honest, if they go for modeling every intricate clothing and features, they need more than 7 years of development:
  • It'll take years of research to get every possible clothing design right, SEA has so many ethnicities. Take a look at Indonesia, the biggest country in the region. Oh, for a better depiction of seeing the ethnicities together? This is an amazing visual of it, featuring the cultural dances when they were hosting the Asian Games 2018 (seriously watch the full version of the Ratoh Jarou dance and the performances of all of their ethnicities coming together. It's beautiful and insane! Props to Indonesia. Mantap.) Okay, can you imagine trying to recreate all of that into multiple characters, a whole civilisation in ONE movie?? They need a lot of contacts with local designers, historians/curators.
  • Not only recreate them in 3D models but also trying to find the right textures. Getting the simulations of how every object moves, it's not just fabric here! There are pieces of jewelry, feathers, beads, and more! Tattoos too! But to create the tattoos, they have to be like snowflakes. Meaning every design must be different from each other because every design is sacred. For many ethnicities, the tattoo is the mark of their success, coming of age, beliefs, and identity.
  • Even if they do get the models and their simulations, there will be clashes in the lighting department to get the render to look right while still blending them with the rest of the scene. Like how Pixar had to create separate lighting for Bo Peep in Toy Story 4. But Bo Beep is one character, not a whole civilization.
  • Lots of lighting + simulation = A VERY LONG RENDER TIME!!! Disney needs to crack some serious money to get super mega computers and boy, their electric bills too.
This is why Frozen and Moana, (the movies that are made by the same production team) their extras also donned similar copy-paste clothing. Of course, you saw the technology they have and growing. But for this time around, having every intricate detail on extras is still a very difficult thing to do.
Speaking of Moana, some Polynesians are upset that it's not accurate, even offensive to their culture but some appreciate that it's a source of pride and made a huge representation. So fingers crossed that the positive will be the same for us with the upcoming film. For a further look at American-produced films about other parts of the World, here's a great video that explains it. If we really want to see an animation that embraces and rooted in our heritage and culture, I'll leave it to the local animation studios. The Southeast Asian Animation industry is growing since the majority of the projects are outsourced overseas, our skills have been cultivated and later we see local productions sprouting out. Getting better as time goes by. So please support your local artists!!
The last disclaimer, as for now the post may seem to be sparse since the main focus of the trailer is the story and characters. However, there are interesting scenes and subtle details in the trailer that are worth mentioning. Just like how my teaser analysis grew, I'll set out key points on the references I'm not familiar with and for you, the readers to help and contribute to this list. I highly encourage you to bring out anything I wrote wrongly or missed out on. I would also want to say again my gratitude to those who supported my teaser analysis and share the passion as I am getting to know Southeast Asian culture. It has been the highlight of my quarantine life and I can't wait to explore the neighboring countries in person. So let's start!}
END OF DISCLAIMERS
The structure of the analysis: We begin by going through each scene of the trailer in order (I recommended that it'll be more fun if you have the trailer playing out while reading this) and then there will be a separate one in the end about speculations and other factors. There are two separate posts below in the comments. One debunks the common criticisms and share my personal opinions. The other I will call a spoiler post that features more discoveries of the film outside the trailer.

|It began with the River Market|

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https://preview.redd.it/8t6b9p2imhe61.jpg?width=1907&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=563ec2289e1a942bf59d38100e9e3584100b3d0b
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- First things first, nothing else screams a Southeast Asian setting other than a river market! You might be familiar with the infamous ones in Thailand or maybe in Vietnam (excuse the music) or Indonesia! These places as of now of what I'm aware are the remaining river markets that still exist in the present time. There were some that existed in the Philippines, unsure about other parts of Southeast Asia. So please let me know if there are any.
- Speaking of the Philippines, have you seen the Christmas Ad last year that features the Parol (The Filipino Christmas Lanterns), and we see lanterns scattered around the market! Side note, if you want to know details about the Parol, here's a video from one of my favorite content creators explaining what Parol is, and his reaction to the Christmas Ad. He even reacted and shared his knowledge to the teaser and trailer of the film and his videos are one of the main sources of my research to write out my analysis. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Kirby. Please look upon his channel if you are curious to know about the Philippines' history and culture.
Now back with the lanterns in the trailer, other parts of Southeast Asia also have their own celebration with lanterns. This post features Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar (also a cameo from Taiwan and Sri Lanka) So probably in the scene the residents must've prepped themselves for their own version of the lantern festival.
- Baby Noi aka. the Con-Baby. Her name (and the rest of the cast's) actually revealed from the captions in the trailer and Awkafina and Kelly Marie Tran's reaction video. Honestly, I don't think names are count as spoilers.. eh.
So Baby Noi dons the purple assemble including the rest of the residence in the area, establishing that Raya and Tuk Tuk are in the Purple Clan's territory. While she distracted Raya, a gang of Ongji(s) (yes, the animals in the film are not referred to as one species. So Ongji(s) are half-monkey, half-catfish.) went to steal the Dragon gem.
- Hello~ Textures!
The rattan/bamboo/leaves weaving walls [Screenshot] on one of the wooden huts. We can see the market is built on pillars to elevate from the river and these features of how the huts made can be seen in many regions on SEA. From its multi-platform wooden floorings, the bamboo pillars and frames, and the straw roofs. [Screenshot]
For example these structures in Laos: [Picture_01] | [Picture_02]
Each region has its own distinct design and features of its wooden huts/houses.
Finally more textiles on the clothing! [Screenshot]
As mentioned in my teaser analysis, there are motifs from Thai and Laos silks: [Picture_01] | [Picture_02]
and Songket of the Malay Archipelago: [Picture_01] | [Picture_02]
Even the silhouettes of the clothing look familiar to the traditional garments. Do note, this just me eyeballing comparing the silhouettes to the actual clothing. If you know its actual name and what ethnicity/tribe that wears them, please comment on it.
The Philippines: [Picture_01] | [Picture_02]
Indonesia: [Picture_01] | [Picture_02]
- Raya chases Baby Noi, from the bridge to the boats filled with yummy goodies. Including..
RAMBUTANS!
What the heck is a rambutan?! Well, it's one of the exotic fruits SEA blessed with. You probably heard of the durian. \chef's kiss** It's perfection, I don't care that it smells like onions to you but it's amusing watching people outside SEA reacting to it.
Durian is truly our secret weapon\)
Also, PSA! Do not butcher the rambutan with a fruit peeler! You don't actually need a knife to cut it. Just pinch/squeeze the fruit till its red hairy skin tear in half, and then just eat the white fruit inside it but be careful of the pit inside it so you don't accidentally choke on it. You can remove it first before eating. Unless you're Raya Fruit Ninja her way through them but damn, the waste!
- The Sailboat [Screenshot]
Look similar to the ones that can be seen in Vietnam [Picture]

|Kumandra|

Snow in Southeast Asia??
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Actually, YES! There are snowy areas in Southeast Asia! Even though we're close to the Equator, there are areas especially on mountains have colder climates. Most notably:
Sapa, Vietnam [Video]
Several regions in Myanmar [Video]
Puncak Jaya / Carstensz Pyramid of Mount Jayawijaya/Carstensz, Papua, Indonesia. However, it's alarming that due to global warming, the snow melted and may not be able to have snow in the coming future.. Here's a video of a climber set on his journey to what may be the last moment the mountain will have snow.
This is honestly the most surprising discovery for me since I never knew until I looked it up. Honestly, I'm really impressed by the people working on the environment looked into the nook and cranny of how diverse the land of SEA really is. Also, them flexing the snow tech from the days in Frozen.
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A temple? A palace? A city maybe?
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The way it surrounded by the river reminded me of Angkor Wat, Cambodia [Documentary] especially with the man-made stone foundation of the land if you look closely.
The towers even though their heights and clutter are similar to the Buddhist temples around SEA. but the shapes are somewhat unique and it's something I've never seen before.
Take a closer look at the greenery, those are rice paddies! Structured similar to how the rice terrace looks like all over SEA. [Philippines] | [Vietnam] | Indonesia [Bali] & [Malasari] | [Thailand]Honestly, I got goosebumps seeing how beautiful the lands are. Seriously, SEA is truly blessed with its bountiful nature.
This definitely gives off that this is a kingdom of its own, separated itself from the rest. Cultivating its own resources.
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The Desert that we've seen before. Giving that Star Wars vibe.
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As mentioned in the teaser analysis, there are deserts in Vietnam and the Philippines.
But additionally, the stone structures look similar to the iconic Supertree Grove in Gardens by the Bay, Singapore!
This is where I'm glad that they went to a less accurate take, got creative, and used the modernism of SEA since Singapore is a Modern Metropolis wonder.
​
Back again to the River Market / Fishing Village / Floating Houses
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The most familiar sight to me. With the mountain at the back looming over with the light and mist of dawn.
I'm hoping that they linked the Kingdoms by the rivers like the Mekong river that links China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand before emptying to the South China Sea. There are many civilizations that live by the river.
Documentaries provided: [Link_01] | [Link_02]
Outside the Mekong River.
Kampung Ayer, Brunei (Kampung = Village, Ayer = Water. 'Water Village') [Picture_01] | [Picture_02] | [Video]
These sights not only restricted to rivers but also the ocean as well.
Ha Long Bay, Vietnam [Video]
And the residence of the Bajau, aka. Sea Gypsies/Nomads. They are spread throughout The Philippines (Islands of Tawi-Tawi, Sulu Archipelago, and Mindanao) [Video] , Indonesia *(*Sulawesi, Maluku, Kalimantan, Sumatera, and East Nusa Tenggara.) [Video] , and Malaysia (Sabah) [Video]
(Btw, I wanna add in the additional facts of the Bajau. It doesn't really relate to the movie.)
As you can see from the videos, they are known to be skilled divers that can hold their breaths for as long as 10-13 minutes. Catching fishes and other sea creatures. [Video]
They are also artisans as they have their own traditional music and clothing, the craftsmanship of their boats. As wonderfully shown in their Pesta Regatta.
They're not restricted on the water, they're also skilled equestrians! You can see them donning colorful garments along with their horse companions for special events. This is them represented in 29th SEA Games hosted by Malaysia featuring their boats during the Pesta Regatta and here's a video of one of their local annual events.
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The highlight of the landscapes.
This features the tropic jungle that scatters all over SEA. The mountain is truly an icon of its own, must've inspired by the mountains and caves throughout SEA. The way it sticks out on the flatlands reminded me of Bukit Mok Cun, Kedah, Malaysia. and top it off with what could be the palace or temple. Like the Taung Kalat Monastery, Myanmar.

|"My Daughter.."|

Well, it has been revealed that the mentor from the teaser is her father, also named Chief Benja. In the scene, they look like they're meditating or watching Kumandra together while having a father-daughter talk. I can't pinpoint the interior of the place, but judging from their clothing (you can see the details in the teaser analysis) they're heavily inspired by Northern SEA.
Also, more fruits! Mangosteen and Dragon Fruit (of course..) [Screenshot]
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Oh no, please don't tell me...
I would say... yes. The flower she placed (Plumeria) is often seen on burial grounds. First Disney cliché, check!

|"I wish to join this fellowship of butt-kickery!"|

Introducing Tong! From the first scene he debuts in, he was wearing fur gear to keep him warm in the winter and wearing dark green clothing. This concludes that the snow lands must be the domain for the Dark Green Clan. That's why the elephants that were standing behind them in the teaser are mostly featured as Mammoths, not the actual Asian Elephants. We can also see him walking down the snow among the gorgeous red leave bamboos. I bet that he's a softie on the inside.
And then there's Boun, joining the team. Wearing yellow. So joining Raya's team, we have Purple, Green, and Yellow. What about White?

|"We'll have to watch our backs... We're not the only ones looking."|

Slow down the trailer and look closer at the fast cuts. [Screenshot] We can see Raya's father fighting with the warriors of the White Clan in the temple where the Dragon Gem resides.
Then introducing Namaari. Riding what is revealed are wild cats that were standing behind the White Clan in the teaser.
She sports that badass look, all Tomb Raider with that asymmetrical haircut. If you look back at the old scene of the tribes standing together and look at the leader of the White Clan. That could be little Namaari and her mother sporting the same haircut. Her hair must've resembled that she's royalty, the Princess / next heir of the Clan.

|"Oh, Mighty Sisu!"|

We can see Raya found a private place to perform a ritual to summon Sisu and then, Disney flexing the water tech they developed from Frozen and Moana to bring out Sisu. Like how I mentioned in the previous post that SEA dragons are water serpents-like dragons. Each region has many depictions of the dragon.
  • Sisu has the unicorn horn as the Naga, the Serpent King that can be found as monuments in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar: [Picture_01]
  • She has a long body and legs like in many depictions of the dragons.
  • Her hair is quite unique, it's like a lion's mane. Probably referring to the Merlion of Singapore. The texture of the hair also reminded me of Barong#/media/File:Barongdance_batubulan(6).JPG), the Good Spirit of the Balinese Mythology, Indonesia.
  • She has a fish-like tail and fins on her back
The morphing of different creatures mimics the Nine Entities (parts) of the Naga, said to be made by many types of animals:
  • Head of a Chameleon
  • Scales of a Carp
  • Horns of a Stag
  • Eyes of a Hare
  • Ears of a Water Buffalo
  • Neck of a Snake
  • Belly of a Clam
  • Paws of a Tiger
  • Claws of an Eagle.
Her color palette is quite an interesting choice, probably to mimic the water or to attract kids for merchandise. Usually, the dragons are depicted with bright bold colors, often in gold as well.
I couldn't find a solid meaning of Sisu's name in SEA languages, but there's one in Sanskrit, which means the child/infant. It has mentioned that Sisu is a young dragon, probably facing the anxiety with the responsibility and being the last of her kind.
However, I found an interesting meaning in Finnish that coincidentally fits the story. There's no word equivalent in English but it means taking action against the odds and displaying courage and resoluteness in the face of adversity. Raya said in the trailer, "The World is broken. You can't trust anyone." showing a loss of hope that changes can be made to a world torn from war, that her father's wish for the people to unite again is impossible. But Sisu corrected that it's not that people are born to be untrustworthy, you must take the first step to bring that change. To inspire and encourage people to set down what causes the conflict and unite.
Dragons in SEA are worshipped for their wisdom.

|Raya and Namaari, Face to Face|

The first confrontation is at a snow village. (I need to do more research on the buildings and set. I will update this later.)
That's where the sword has some tricks in its sleeve, it can turn into a whip! I can't pinpoint what specific culture / martial art that uses a whip as its main weapon since many SEA warriors are trained to use many kinds of weapons, including guns when gunpowder was brought to SEA.
We can see the Namaari's army carrying crossbows with flaming arrows, probably threatened Raya that she'll burn the village if she didn't get what she wants.
Second confrontation, The Palace. This is definitely inside the city fortress of the White Clan, with its immaculate pearly walls and gold trims. The people running wearing the same color palette. It bears a heavy influence on Thai Architectures. [The Hallways] | [The Palace] | [Video]
There's a small third confrontation featuring Little Raya and Namaari fighting! :D

|"I just shape changed!"|

Not really a spoiler to me, they've mentioned that Sisu changes to human to keep herself discreet. In SEA Mythology, it's not just dragons but also other mythical creatures and humans that can shapeshift.
In Cambodian Mythology, Queen Soma was a Naga princess that can transform herself into a human. Ruled Kambuja, untied 7 races representing the 7 colors of the rainbows. (also the 7 heads of the Cambodian Naga). When she suddenly disappeared, Cambodia was left to draught and people also began to disappear from the city of Angkor. The Kambuja (Khmer) Empire broke into small kingdoms. Cambodian have fate that she will return to unite them again and bring peace. (Sound familiar?)
Another dragon folklore is from the Javanese Mythology (Indonesia), Sang Hyang Antaboga also known as Putra Anantanaga. Through twirikrama ritual (shapeshift), he transformed from a human to a large snake dragon. He has the ability to revive the dead as he held the holy water of Tirta Amerta. His epic tales are represented in the traditional Wayang Kulit. (Shadow Puppets) Here's what the puppet show looks like, even though it's not about Sang Hyang Antaboga but the Javanese / Indon-Hindu mythology has many wonderful stories.

|Additional Trivia|

  • If you read the article I shared in my disclaimer, it is confirmed that Raya is not based on one particular princess or figure of Southeast Asia cultures. In fact, the writers, Adele Lim and Qui Nguyen said she drew inspiration from various Southeast Asian heroines in its history such as Tun Fatimah (my fav!), Malaysia, (sadly, the well-made videos of her are in Malay) [Eng_Wiki_of Tun Fatimah], and the Trung Sisters, Vietnam.
  • Lim also addressed that one of the dragon tales that inspired Sisu is the Pahang Malay Folklore (Malaysia), Naga Tasik Chini. Or in another name, the Seri Gunum Dragon. The legend was a buzz since it was adapted into a black and white film in 1966.
  • The music composer of the film is James Newton Howard, who composed for Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet.
That's it for this post. I will update if anything new is discovered. Don't forget to check part 2 below in the comment for debunking the common criticisms and my personal opinions. Part 3 is the Spoiler post.
Thank you for reading, I'm anticipating any contribution. Sekian, Terima Kasih.
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Megathread: Bernie Sanders in narrow win over Buttigieg in the New Hampshire Democratic primary

Bernie Sanders narrowly won the New Hampshire Democratic primary by a margin of about 4,000 votes, or less than 2 percentage points, over Pete Buttigieg, according to an NBC News projection.
Sanders, who represents neighboring Vermont, had been leading in the polls, so his victory wasn’t a surprise. But he and Buttigieg were closely bunched with the third-place candidate, Amy Klobuchar, allowing all three to claim either victory or solid momentum going into the next round of voting.
At the same time, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., were headed toward poor showings and failed to get any delegates, NBC News projected.

Submissions that may interest you

SUBMISSION DOMAIN
Sanders edges Buttigieg in New Hampshire, Dem front-runners apnews.com
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Hey Everyone, Bernie Is 2-0': Sanders Wins First-in-the-Nation Primary. After nabbing popular vote victory in Iowa, Sanders takes the Granite State. "What we have done together here is nothing short of the beginning of a political revolution," Sanders declared. commondreams.org
Bernie Sanders Has Won The New Hampshire Primary. What’s Next? rollingstone.com
Bernie Sanders wins New Hampshire Primary nytimes.com
Bernie Sanders Wins New Hampshire nytimes.com
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Socialist Bernie Sanders Wins New Hampshire dailywire.com
New Hampshire primary: Bernie Sanders wins, CBS News projects cbsnews.com
Sanders projected to win the New Hampshire Democratic primary jpost.com
New Hampshire Feels the Bern: Sanders Wins First-in-the-Nation Primary commondreams.org
Bernie Sanders projected to win New Hampshire primary: NBC News cnbc.com
New Hampshire primary: Bernie Sanders projected to win as Democrats look to clarify muddled race abc7ny.com
Bernie Sanders wins the New Hampshire Democratic primary nbcnews.com
Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg locked in another tight race in New Hampshire cnn.com
Bernie Sanders wins New Hampshire primary, making him the new national frontrunner businessinsider.com
Bernie Sanders just won the all-important New Hampshire primary vox.com
NBC News Exit Poll: Income divides Sanders and Buttigieg supporters in New Hampshire primary nbcnews.com
New Hampshire: Bernie Sanders leads in early results from key primary theguardian.com
Bernie Sanders wins New Hampshire Democratic primary sbs.com.au
Bernie Sanders sweeps New Hampshire, eyes oligarch njtoday.net
Sanders wins New Hampshire primary in narrow victory over Buttigieg marketwatch.com
'Hey Everyone, Bernie Is 2-0': Sanders Wins New Hampshire Primary commondreams.org
With New Hampshire Behind Him, Sanders Looks to Nevada Workers as Vegas Union Bosses Rally Against Him theintercept.com
Sanders on NH victory: Win is 'beginning of the end for Donald Trump' thehill.com
Bernie Sanders wins New Hampshire Democratic primary; Buttigieg, Klobuchar are top moderate candidates washingtonpost.com
Bernie Sanders wins New Hampshire primary - 'We are putting together an unprecedented, multi-generational, multi-racial movement, and this is a movement from coast to coast' independent.co.uk
Sanders wins three-way contest in New Hampshire primary wsws.org
Another split decision: Sanders narrowly beats Buttigieg in New Hampshire - Amy Klobuchar captures headlines with strong third-place finish; Warren and Biden far back in fourth and fifth salon.com
Democratic field narrows after New Hampshire but race is far from settled - The Democratic presidential primary now appears to be a battle between Bernie Sanders and any candidate who can stop him theguardian.com
Sanders edges Buttigieg in New Hampshire, cementing Democratic front-runners denverpost.com
Bernie Sanders' uneasy New Hampshire win axios.com
Sanders Wins In New Hampshire, Narrowly Beating Buttigieg aljazeera.com
Bernie takes New Hampshire as Buttigieg, Klobuchar fight to be his main opponent - Sanders emerges as frontrunner, but dropoff from 2016 suggests his campaign falls far short of a "revolution" salon.com
Sanders wins vote; Buttigieg leads in total delegates cnn.com
Bernie Sanders has crushed his Left-wing rivals while moderates fight each other - The battle among centrists to find an alternative is further boosting Bernie Sanders telegraph.co.uk
How Sanders Held Off Buttigieg And Klobuchar In New Hampshire fivethirtyeight.com
Sanders Is The Front-Runner After New Hampshire, And A Contested Convention Has Become More Likely fivethirtyeight.com
Bernie Sanders wins New Hampshire primary, narrowly beating Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar latimes.com
Bernie Sanders a limp leader after barely squeaking by in New Hampshire nypost.com
Bernie Sanders wins New Hampshire, DOJ turmoil and Westminster names new top dog: The Morning Rundown nbcnews.com
Sanders Is Winning Because He's Popular - Voters like the senator from Vermont—it’s socialism that makes them nervous. theatlantic.com
Bernie Sanders Got More Young Voters in New Hampshire Than Everyone Else Combined vox.com
Fueled by Diverse Working Class Voters, Sanders' New Hampshire Win Celebrated as 'Major Victory for Progressive Movement' commondreams.org
Did Bernie Sanders underperform in New Hampshire? vox.com
Watching Bernie Sanders Claim Victory In New Hampshire newyorker.com
New Hampshire resident tells MSNBC that its anti-Bernie Sanders coverage made her 'angry,' inspired her to vote for him in primary theblaze.com
With Back-to-Back Wins for Sanders, Pundits Proven Wrong in Iowa and New Hampshire commondreams.org
What New Hampshire's exit polls tell us about the primary - Bernie Sanders cleaned up among younger voters but was spurned by older ones. For Amy Klobuchar, it was the opposite. politico.com
Sanders rolls forward amid moderate divide - His triumph in New Hampshire also illuminated his vulnerabilities. politico.com
In New Hampshire and Beyond, Medicare for All Is Fueling Sanders’s Rise truthout.org
Ex-Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein laid into Bernie Sanders after his New Hampshire win, saying he'll wreck the economy and let Russia 'screw up the US' businessinsider.com
'Do They Never Learn?': Progressives Rip Media Attempts to Downplay Bernie Sanders Win in NH Primary commondreams.org
Why Bernie Sanders's New Hampshire primary win should terrify you washingtonexaminer.com
Former Goldman Sachs CEO rips Sanders after NH win: 'He'll ruin our economy' thehill.com
Democrats eye Nevada, South Carolina after Sanders wins in New Hampshire reuters.com
Bernie Sanders’ New Hampshire Victory Is a Big Deal for Socialism in America. Here's What To Know About the History of the Idea time.com
Analysis: Bernie Sanders' New Hampshire win ups pressure on moderates to coalesce pressdemocrat.com
Bernie Sanders lost among New Hampshire voters focused most on beating Trump New Hampshire shows Bernie Sanders still has an “electability” problem. vox.com
What changed for Sanders in New Hampshire since 2016? The electorate, for one. washingtonpost.com
Health Insurance Giant Reacts to Bernie Sanders' Slim Win finance.yahoo.com
Bernie Sanders claimed victory in the New Hampshire primary. Here's what that win means abc.net.au
Progressives to Voters Skeptical of Bernie Sanders: This 'Big Tent' Movement Is a Winning and Practical Choice — "Sanders is much more pragmatic and less ideological than his opponents would like to admit." commondreams.org
Bernie Sanders’ New Hampshire Win Was Fueled By the Sunrise Movement . Organizers with the Sunrise Movement and New Hampshire Youth Movement mobilized the youth vote in New Hampshire, helping Bernie Sanders win the primary. teenvogue.com
New Hampshire 2020: In Supreme Irony, the Horse Race Favors Bernie Sanders rollingstone.com
What revolution? New Hampshire results show Bernie Sanders base of support shrinking washingtonexaminer.com
Bernie Sanders wins New Hampshire primary; Buttigieg leads in delegate count fox8.com
The Night Socialism Went Mainstream - Bernie Sanders’s victory in the New Hampshire primary marks a turning point for Democratic politics. theatlantic.com
Elon Musk tweeted a bizarre 'Sonic'-themed meme of Bernie Sanders after he won the New Hampshire primary businessinsider.com
SC’s Joe Cunningham slams Bernie Sanders’ ‘socialism’ ahead of 2020 Democratic primary postandcourier.com
Investors bet on Sanders after New Hampshire win as Biden plummets: Smarkets finance.yahoo.com
Bernie Sanders and No One are tied for winning the Democratic Primary according to 538 projects.fivethirtyeight.com
'South Carolinians don’t want socialism': Democrat slams Bernie Sanders ahead of state primary washingtonexaminer.com
Sanders Would Bring the Center-Left’s Collapse to U.S.: Bernie Sanders winning the Democratic nomination wouldn’t be a freakish occurrence outside the experience of other advanced democracies. politico.com
‘Terrified of Bernie’: Sanders’ socialism spooks swing-district Democrats washingtontimes.com
AOC’s Speech Snub, ICE Remarks Rankle Bernie Sanders Campaign- AOC’s people were said to be unhappy at being called on the carpet and expressed concern over Sanders’s Joe Rogan embrace—but now AOC is back on the stump in New Hampshire. vanityfair.com
Bernie Sanders's New Hampshire Win Confirms He is the Front-runner, Like It or Not teenvogue.com
Why Does Mainstream Media Keep Attacking Bernie Sanders as He Wins? gq.com
Bernie Sanders on His Big Win in New Hampshire msnbc.com
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Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Jul. 22, 2002

Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUSLY:
1-7-2002 1-14-2002 1-21-2002 1-28-2002
2-4-2002 2-11-2002 2-18-2002 2-25-2002
3-4-2002 3-11-2002 3-18-2002 3-25-2002
4-1-2002 4-8-2002 4-15-2002 4-22-2002
4-29-2002 5-6-2002 5-13-2002 5-20-2002
5-27-2002 6-3-2002 6-10-2002 6-17-2002
6-24-2002 7-1-2002 7-8-2002 7-15-2002
  • WWE hit the reset button again with a new storyline assigning general managers to each brand, and it featured the shocking debut of Eric Bischoff. The new storyline will have Bischoff as the heel GM of Raw, while Stephanie McMahon will be the babyface GM of Smackdown, while Vince McMahon will take more of a backseat role and reduce his TV presence. Of course, just 5 weeks ago, Vince panicked and blew up the existing "feuding GMs" storyline between himself and Ric Flair, so now we're re-starting it with new people I guess. It feels like a last-ditch effort to save the brand extension, which has been an utter flop since day one, with no effort to differentiate the shows and only resulting in diluting the talent and falling ratings.
  • Bischoff and McMahon struck a secret deal about 10 days prior to his debut. Bischoff had talks with WWE last year about coming in during the original Invasion angle, except they only wanted him to do a one-off match with Vince for the PPV (which Vince would obviously have won), but Bischoff turned down that offer. But this time, they agreed to a more long-term deal. Bischoff didn't know he was going to debut on Raw until just a day or two prior, when Vince called him and told him to be there. The whole thing was kept secret and almost no one other than Vince himself knew about it. This is believed to be a unique contract, in which it's a short-term deal with the option to renew it for longer-term if the angle gets over. His only role is as a television character, it's strictly a performance contract. Bischoff is not going to be a part of management or creative.
  • When Bischoff walked across the screen in the backstage segment, almost everyone in the company was just as shocked as the viewers at home. Bischoff's debut saw him come out and hug Vince, which Dave thinks about is the dumbest possible way to introduce him. Sure, the Invasion angle is over but WCW's corpse isn't completely cold yet. It's only been a year or so. There is probably still plenty of money to be made in Bischoff as an outsider trying to destroy Vince McMahon and the WWE. But as always, that would involve Vince allowing himself or WWE to look vulnerable against an "outsider" and his utter refusal to do that is a big part of what tanked the Invasion. But that's par for the course. Bischoff cut a promo, giving the fake "WWE version" of the Monday Night Wars history (Dave points out multiple inaccuracies that WWE still clings on today, such as claiming they stole Hulk Hogan from WWF. Of course, Hulk had been in NJPW and hadn't worked for WWF for nearly a year at the time WCW signed him. Things like that.). Dave thinks it became one of those promos full of old stuff or inside references where so much of it is about things that the average fan doesn't know or care about. Dave thinks most of this audience in 2002 isn't familiar with Alundra Blayze, they don't know Raw used to be taped instead of live, and they don't care about 83-week TV ratings streaks (Dave also notes that Bischoff said 84 on this show, which is incorrect). And once again, it became one of those promos talking about how much WWE sucks lately, which is something you don't want to keep pointing out to the fans who are still watching because you just make them feel dumb for supporting something that even the people producing it knows sucks. Shit like that is partly what drove off WCW fans. Bischoff also gloated about almost putting WWE out of business, and to the many guys in the locker room who remember that vividly, it wasn't a joke or a storyline. Those are guys who really were fighting for their job against a guy who really was trying to put them out of business. Bischoff has tremendous heat from the locker room, with a lot of people who worked for him in WCW or who resent him from the WWE side....they don't want Bischoff there.
WATCH: Eric Bischoff debuts in on WWE Raw - 2002
  • This angle was going to take place regardless, but it's thought that the injury to Kevin Nash may have moved things up a couple of weeks because Vince once again panicked when his plans went down in flames. Nash had surgery last week. Because of the location of the tear, it's not quite as serious as the tear Triple H suffered last year. But Nash is also 10 years older. However, he has vowed to return, noting he doesn't want his career to end like that. With his age and his track record of injuries (this is his 22nd surgery, dating back to his collegiate basketball days), Dave isn't sure how much Nash will be able to offer if/when he returns next year. Also, while nobody wanted Nash to get hurt, the mood in the locker room was said to be much happier this week without him around, as the whole Nash/X-Pac/Shawn/Triple H group isn't very well liked these days (the more things change...)
  • Speaking of X-Pac, a weird situation with him this week led to him being suspended by WWE. The day of the Raw when Nash tore his quad, X-Pac missed his flight to the show. Why? Well, he was hospitalized earlier that day in Minneapolis. Again, you ask, why? No idea. Sounds like X-Pac sure would like to know also. He called WWE saying he was in the emergency room and had no idea how he got there. He left the ER and made new travel arrangements and he got to Raw 90 minutes before the show started. And then he went out there that night and worked his match (and Dave says looked more impressive than he had in a long time). However, after the match, he still couldn't explain to WWE officials how or why he was in the hospital earlier that day and so they were naturally suspicious. As a result, X-Pac has been suspended and removed from all upcoming bookings until they get a medical report on what the deal is. Dave says X-Pac has been acting out of control for weeks now and it's been well-documented (threatening to quit if match finishes weren't changed week after week). The feeling backstage was that as long as Nash was around to go to bat for him, he was basically protected, but no longer. With Hall fired, Nash out for probably a year, X-Pac suspended, and Hogan a babyface, the feeling within the company is that the NWO angle is dead. Shawn Michaels is still expected to appear at upcoming house shows and Raws in some new role, since much of the advertising for those shows was based around him appearing, but this is probably the end of the road for the NWO. (This kinda flew under the radar, but yeah, X-Pac never wrestled another match in WWE. The match where Nash tore his quad remains to this day the last time X-Pac ever worked a match in a WWE ring. He gets released soon after this and we all know in retrospect that he was dealing with some drug issues throughout this time).
  • Dave provides some details on Vince Russo's first (and only) creative meeting when he was briefly rehired by WWE last month. Russo apparently proposed a Raw vs. Smackdown feud that would eventually lead to reviving one of them as WCW and reigniting the WCW vs. WWE war. This time, they would have Eric Bischoff leading the WCW side, while Russo suggested Mick Foley as the leader of the WWE side. It was pretty much made clear to Russo during the meeting that if they were to do a Raw vs. Smackdown angle, it would be Stephanie in charge of the WWE side, not Foley, and sure enough, that's what is expected to happen (but without the whole WCW-revival part). Russo's idea was pretty much a combination of the 2001 Invasion angle and the 2000 WCW Bischoff/Russo angle. Dave notes that Russo wanted to essentially start from scratch again, strip everyone of their belts the way they did in 2000, and bring in Bret Hart and Goldberg to be involved as well.
  • A big recap of UFC's debut show in England, which featured rising star Frank Mir getting beat in what should have been an upset, but word is Mir didn't take the fight seriously and barely trained. As a result, he got murked in the first round. Also, while in England, some people in Tito Ortiz's camp got into a big drunken bar brawl with fellow fighter Lee Murray. Chuck Liddell was somewhere involved too. Anyway, long story short, some people tell the story that Murray knocked Ortiz out. Ortiz denies it (to this day, this is a famous MMA story and both men tell different versions, so depending on who you believe I guess).
  • TNA's 4th show ended with a strong angle that actually got them some national publicity. It involved Tennessee Titans players Frank Miller and Zach Piller hopping the rail and attacking Jeff Jarrett and some other wrestlers, resulting in a big brawl to end the show. So how much of it was real or shoot? Well, Russo is involved, so who knows. The official story is that Jarrett and Piller were supposed to shove each other from across the rail, but that's it. From NFL sources, Dave has actually heard the same thing. It was supposed to stop at a shoving confrontation, and then Malice would come pull Jarrett away. That was the story as Russo allegedly wrote it. But reportedly, Piller had been drinking and he ended up hopping the rail and straight up overpowered Jarrett like it was nothing and took him down. Whether this was a shoot or a work is still unknown, but it ended up getting them coverage on SportsCenter and Dave says it's possible it was a work that only a few people were in on. If it was a work, nobody else was in on it. Ron Harris, who works backstage, almost rushed to the ring to save Jarrett and Malice (who wasn't supposed to touch the football players) got involved and broke it up quickly. After the show, the players were backstage laughing and joking with Jarrett and Miller has been openly telling people it was all planned and they were told to make it look as real as possible, but it's still unknown if jumping the rail and tackling Jarrett was part of the plan or not. Several other Titans players were at ringside with them and saw it unfold, but mostly didn't get involved. So now after the publicity, TNA is trying to see if they can make a match out of this. Either way, it's starting to feel like an elaborate work that none of the rest of the roster was clued in on, which is exactly the kind of shit Russo used to do constantly in WCW that soured morale among the locker room, and for this to happen on Russo's first night in, with an angle he wrote, sure feels a little familiar.
WATCH: Tennessee Titans/TNA brawl
  • Puerto Rico's IWA had its most successful show in company history, drawing more than 11,000 fans (without a single WWE name on the card) to see the payoff of an angle with Savio Vega fighting for control of the company. WHO SAID SAVIO AIN'T A DRAW?!
  • On the other side of things, WWC has postponed its anniversary show from August to September in order to give themselves more time to build up big angles and storylines. Seems like something they probably should have been planning earlier? IWA has become the dominant promotion in Puerto Rico and WWC felt they didn't have the build-up necessary to do a big-money show right now. Especially after this IWA show did such big business, anything less would be an embarrassment.
  • Bischoff's debut on Raw was a pretty big hit. How big, you ask? During Bischoff's in-ring promo after his debut, Raw added nearly 1.1 million new viewers from the previous segment. Meaning that as soon as Bischoff walked across the screen backstage, tons of wrestling fans started calling their friends telling them, "Holy shit, Eric Bischoff is on Raw, turn it on!" The bad news is that as soon as Bischoff's promo was over, a lot of them tuned right back out, leading to a huge drop-off for the rest of the show. On the flip side, this week's Smackdown, featuring the heavily-hyped return of The Rock ended up being the 7th lowest rated episode of the show in history (4th if you don't count holidays). Rock's not a draw, bet he won't even be in the business in a couple more years.
  • Kenta Kobashi is finally back in the ring, wrestling undercard prelim tag matches for NOAH. Even though he's in tags and doing limited in-ring work, his knees are said to be already killing him and one of them totally locked up on him after one of his recent matches. But he still hasn't missed any dates.
  • NJPW announced that Kensuke Sasaki will face Pancrase star Minoru Suzuki at the Tokyo Dome in October. This match was actually planned for the big Tokyo Dome show back in May, but negotiations fell apart because Pancrase didn't like the idea of Suzuki doing a worked pro-wrestling match. Suzuki started his career in NJPW back in 1988 and was being groomed to be a big star for the company, but he quit and joined UWF because he preferred to work shoot-style matches. In 1993, he and a few other guys all started Pancrase, which he's been doing ever since. These days, Suzuki's days of fighting for them at a top level are over and he usually only competes against nobodies or in catch wrestling (grappling and submission only, no striking). Anyway, for those curious, this didn't happen. Not sure why yet, I haven't gotten that far, but Suzuki doesn't return to NJPW until 2003.
  • Goldberg is said to be leaning very much against going to WWE anytime soon and is instead eyeing his options of working big shows in Japan. He's contemplating an offer to make an appearance at Toryumon's show in Tokyo in September, but only an appearance. He doesn't plan to wrestle until later in the year (don't think the Toryumon appearance happens, but he does end up working a few matches in Japan here soon).
  • Bret Hart is still hoping to make his scheduled appearance for Jacques Rougeau's upcoming indie show in Montreal. If you recall, Rougeau's big show there last year drew over 11,000 fans and he's got himself another big stadium to fill this year and Bret was expected to be the biggest draw. Whether he'll be healthy enough to make the show, following his recent stroke, remains to be seen but he's determined to try. As of this week, Hart is able to lift his left arm over his head. Just a week ago, he couldn't move it at all. His grip strength is also coming back and he's able to walk short distances. His vocal cords were also damaged but have started strengthening again and he's able to talk again (though he can't cut a wrestling promo yet, Dave says, so he might not be doing much other than coming out and waving to the crowd if he does make it). He's still having some vision problems also, but not too bad all things considered.
  • Dave says that "no matter what you may hear," a lot of people involved in TNA behind the scenes are very unhappy about Vince Russo being brought in. He also says that a lot of people associate Russo and Ed Ferrara together, but they actually had a major falling out awhile back and hadn't been on speaking terms until now. When it became clear Russo was coming back, Ferrara reached out to Russo and the two sides made up. He goes on record saying for sure that neither Mike Tenay or Bill Behrens are happy about Russo's arrival, among others, but says everyone is being professional.
  • Notes from TNA Weekly PPV: Crowd of about 1,500, only about half paid. Dave says it was easily the best of the 4 shows they've had so far. About 85% of it was written and booked by Jerry Jarrett and the original writing team before Russo was hired, but Russo did make some changes. Dave says some people are beginning to get tired of Don West on commentary already and he definitely brings a ton of enthusiasm (but nothing else, Dave adds) to the table. During the Ken Shamrock vs. Omori match, the crowd was distracted by one of the cage dancers near the entrance who was apparently showing her ass to the crowd. Former WCW wrestler Crowbar (real name Chris Ford) worked a tag match under the name Tempest and Dave notes that when Ford worked a try-out match for WWE awhile back, he also signed over the name Crowbar to them when he did (guessing Dave is mistaken about this. He never used the name Crowbar in TNA, but he's been using it everywhere else ever since for the last 18 years). Brian Christopher is now going by his real name, Brian Lawler, and cut a promo on Jerry Lawler about being a bad father. It got a lot of heat but now they've made fans want to see a match that they can't deliver. K-Krush faced NASCAR driver Hermie Sadler and got DQ'd. Dave says Krush was absolutely awesome here, actually carrying Sadler to a watchable match. Sadler was awful of course, but the Gayda/Stratus match from Raw was light years worse, so hey, who cares? TNA tried to bring in Hermie's more famous older brother Elliott Sadler, but that fell through because Elliott has some type of affiliation with WWE, though Dave isn't sure what (I did the research and apparently Elliott drove a Summerslam-themed car during a race around this time, so I assume that's it).
  • More notes from TNA Weekly PPV, since this recap is huge and big, unbroken paragraphs suck: Mark and Jay Brisco worked a brief match until Malice ran in and destroyed everyone (Dave says this was a Russo addition to the show. Dave also says the Briscos will be great some day and notes that on this show, the announcers lied and said both of them are 18, when in fact, Mark Brisco is still 17 and therefore not even allowed to wrestle in many commission states). Former porn star and ECW valet Jasmine St. Claire debuted and gave Jeremy Borash a lap dance, took off her underwear, and was about to strip nude until a big angle stopped it. And yes, in case it wasn't obvious, this was another Russo addition. AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn are the tag team champions and ended up in a big brawl backstage. If you've been paying attention to the show the last 2 weeks, you would have recognized that they were doing a slow build with these two partners having friction, but Russo convinced Jarrett to hurry up and pull the trigger on the split, so here we are. Dave thinks this had no impact at all because it felt completely rushed, the story hadn't progressed far enough yet for these two to already be coming to blows. Another interview with the Dupps saying "shit" repeatedly was, yes, another Russo addition. Try not to cut yourself on all this edginess. Shamrock vs. NOAH star Takao Omori ended in a no contest because of politics. Shamrock was supposed to win clean, but then NOAH decided they didn't want Omori to do a job, so this is what we got. Dave thinks TNA should have said screw them then and just not used Omori because it's not like TNA's fanbase knows who the fuck he is anyway. Omori was said to have been spaced out all day beforehand and looked bad in the match. Crowd didn't care and they pumped in a ton of fake crowd noise for it. Jeff Jarrett ran in and took everyone out with chair shots, including "NWA rep" Harley Race, who ate a brutal unprotected chair shot to the head from Jeff and Dave thinks that's not good for anyone's brain, especially a guy pushing 60. Race was there basically to help Omori since Harley's small promotion in St. Louis has a relationship with NOAH. And finally, the 6-man X-Division #1 contenders match was excellent. Dave thinks WWE really missed the boat on Jerry Lynn and K-Krush. He admits Lynn probably couldn't have ever been a top guy in WWE or anything, but he makes everybody he wrestles look like a million bucks and guys like that are priceless to have on your roster. They also pumped a bunch of crowd noise in for this match, and at one point, the fake crowd noise loop stopped and there was a moment where it went from a loud roaring crowd to dead silence in a blink. Also, a fight in the stands distracted the crowd near the end. But great match otherwise. Show ended with the Titans players angle.
  • In other news, The Shane Twins have been working as the masked penis wrestlers The Johnsons in TNA but the penis aspect of it has been played down to almost nothing. Upcoming plans were for the team to unmask and revert back to the Shane Twins, but when Russo came aboard, that plan got scrapped and they will remain The Johnsons for now. Because dammit, Russo will get to make penis jokes on TV or he's going to die trying.
  • Many of the key names in TNA (Shamrock, AJ Styles, Jerry Lynn, Mike Tenay, among others) have now signed 1-year contracts. Scott Hall was rumored to have also signed a 1-year deal, but Hall is telling people it's not true and he's only committed for 4 more dates. Low-Ki is signed through the end of the year.
  • At the recent K-1 vs. PRIDE show, there was a huge upset when PRIDE fighter Quinton Jackson knocked out Cyril Abidi, one of the top kickboxers in the world. The "plan" was for Abidi to win and then go on to a bigger money match with Don Frye, but that's what happens when you try to plan things around a shoot.
  • And I'm sorry, I know this ain't an MMA recap, but this is too good: at the UFC press conference for the UK show this week, Dana White showed up with a bag filled with $250,000 in cash and challenged UK boxing promoter Frank Warren to put up any fighter in his stable and White would find a UFC fighter of the same weight to fight him, winner takes all the money. If you recall, Warren made some statements a few weeks back calling UFC fighters unskilled steroid freaks and claiming that his boxers could beat any of them in a real fight. So Dana showed up with a whole bag of cash, doing Dana things.
  • Notes from Raw: Vince came out to the NWO music and said that's the last time we'll ever hear it and that the NWO is dead, so as expected, that's it for that gimmick. Tommy Dreamer is back to his old ECW gimmick and is already 1000x more over than the jobber-eating-gross-stuff gimmick WWE gave him. There was a Coach/Booker T segment backstage which is when Eric Bischoff walked through the shot, leaving everybody with their mouths hanging open, and then his promo. Another hype video for Rey Mysterio debuting on Smackdown next week. Former WCW wrestler and recent developmental guy Johnny The Bull made his Raw debut winning the hardcore title, and Dave is baffled how he got the call up because he's one of the worst guys they have in developmental and is nowhere near ready. But it's all about how he looks. Undertaker & Lesnar beat RVD & Flair in the main event and afterward, Lesnar turned on Undertaker in a good angle, though Dave doesn't have high hopes for the inevitable match.
WATCH: Rey Mysterio debut vignette
  • Notes from Smackdown: it was a pretty bad show and for a pretty surprising reason. It was all built around Rock and he was awful. Rather than trying to sell a PPV, he came off like he was trying too hard to be a funny, "cool" guy and became a parody of himself. Dave is a huge Rock fan and thinks it was painful. He did a big in-ring promo segment with rapper Busta Rhymes that was just an elaborate plug for his new Halloween: Resurrection movie ("coming out in July?" Dave asks incredulously and, right, wtf?). Even Rock using Angle's own ankle lock against him at the end of the show looked hilariously fake and Dave has no interest in the Rock/Angle match at Vengeance after this show. Edge & Hogan defending the tag titles was a super heated match and Dave can't understand it. The live crowds are still nuclear hot for Hogan, but it's not translating at all into TV ratings or ticket sales. But man, the people who do buy tickets sure do love him. They seem to be slow-burning a Randy Orton heel turn. The Nidia segment at the buffet was great and Dave thinks they may have stumbled across a pretty great gimmick with her.
WATCH: The Rock & Busta Rhymes Smackdown segment
  • The crew got a little backstage pep talk before Raw this week, mostly given by the agents (John Laurinaitis, Arn Anderson, and Fit Finlay) as well as Triple H. In particular, Triple H talked about there being too many people in the locker room who think they deserve a push ahead of the newer guys because they've been there longer. He said too many guys are sitting back waiting for someone to give them a push rather than breaking out from the pack and earning the push. He said he got over on his own when management was trying to hold him down after the MSG curtain call incident. Said too many guys are being lazy, playing cards and playing video games backstage rather than watching the matches and learning. He said just because you've had a few good matches on TV doesn't mean you know how to work or deserve a push, and also said everyone needs to work harder at house shows because attendance is down and it was guys like him who worked hard to re-build the company the last time business was down. Needless to say, for a locker room full of people who feel like they bust their asses only to get their legs cut off and hit a glass ceiling (often at the hands of the same guy giving the speech), this went over just about as well as you'd expect with the rest of the locker room. Not that anything Triple H said is wrong. Dave agrees with most of it. But considering who the messenger was, it was not well-received.
  • Lots of backstage talk about last week's Bradshaw/Trish Stratus vs. Chris Nowinski/Jackie Gayda match, which was among the worst matches anyone has seen in years. Fit Finlay is the usual trainer and agent for the women and usually goes over their matches and spots with them, but in this case, Sgt. Slaughter put together this match. Gayda missed a few spots early in the match and seemed to panic and it all fell apart from there. Backstage, she was fully aware of how bad it was and was said to be extremely upset. There's been talk of sending her down to OVW for more training, but she'll probably still be on TV because she's fresh off winning Tough Enough.
  • Steve Austin hasn't had any contact with anyone in WWE except for Jack Lanza, who was the agent Austin often worked with for his matches. All that's known now is Austin told Lanza he's still training hard and Lanza felt like he's getting antsy sitting at home and may be ready to return already (I think he's got bigger problems at home). But Austin and Vince still have not spoken and there's still a lot of bad feelings there.
  • In light of recent events, Dave digs up the transcript from an old Prodigy online chat from 1996, in which Eric Bischoff was asked if he would ever work for Vince McMahon. His response: "I would rather chew off my fingers."
  • Writer Brian Gewertz reportedly has some heat over Raw's declining ratings. The problem is, no matter who it is (Gewertz, Heyman, Russo, or even Stephanie), the final approval for everything you see on television comes down to Vince McMahon. He deserves the credit when it's good and the blame when it's bad, end of story. It's a common occurrence for Vince to rip up a script and tell the writers to come up with something new, so any bad segment that makes it to TV is on him, and resulting in lots of last minute changes. Some people are even blaming Gewertz for Kevin Nash's recent injury because Gewertz wrote the match into the script the day of the show, so Nash wasn't even aware he was going to be wrestling until a couple hours before they went on the air and I guess he didn't have time to properly stretch and get ready, and ended up tearing his quad 10 seconds in. Same thing with Cena's debut, that was a day-of decision, and luckily Cena was already on the road with the crew working dark matches, so he was available. But again, Dave says you can't blame Gewertz for either of those things because, once again, it's Vince who is constantly changing his mind and forcing last minute rewrites and whatnot every week. How is Gewertz or any other writer supposed to build long-term stories under those conditions? (Man, this sure feels familiar)
  • Latest on DDP, he and wife Kimberly are planning on moving from Atlanta to Los Angeles to try their hand at acting careers. They've both saved a lot of money from their years in wrestling and can afford to take a chance on this kind of thing I guess. (DDP has done a handful of acting roles, mostly in the mid-00s, but obviously nothing of note. And Kimberly Page did a few movies, including a starring role with DDP in a movie called The Scam Artist that I can't find anywhere, and of course, her most famous role as "chick who's tit fell out" in The 40 Year Old Virgin).
  • Randy Orton suffered a concussion in a house show match with Batista. Orton was trying to sell a clothesline by flying in the air and taking a big flat back bump, but hit his head on the mat coming down and was knocked unconscious. He should be back in a week or so though, because it's not like concussions are serious injuries or anything. EMT's helped him out of the ring and he walked to the back under his own power but he was knocked clean the fuck out for a bit there.
  • This week's episode of WWE Confidential featured Big Show and Bradshaw playing a game of HORSE with the winner "getting a shot to sexually harass Linda Miles." So obviously they're out of ideas for this show. (Yeah JBL is on some full-blown Jerry Lawler shit with Miles here).
WATCH: JBL perving on Linda Miles for 5 minutes under the guise of playing basketball
  • John Cena is still finishing up in OVW and working the upcoming big Six Flags show in Louisville. Despite being a big babyface on TV, he's still a heel in OVW and is playing a gimmick where his main roster success is going to his head.
  • The New York Daily News ran a story on the "Sex, Lies & Headlocks" book that is coming out soon about Vince McMahon and noted several revelations in the book, such as Vince being paranoid about his office being bugged in 1993 prior to the steroid trial and how he wouldn't sit or talk near windows because he thought the FBI was listening in. It also talked about how Vince gave a job interview to Matt Lauer to host the WBF Bodystars show but didn't think Lauer had the right look, among other things. When asked for comment, WWE responded "No one in WWE has any interest in reading it. No one cares to." Dave says that's 2002 carny talk for, "Can you get us an advance copy?"
NEXT WEDNESDAY: Raw appears to turn a corner (lol no), WWE making major cutbacks and severing developmental ties, TNA also making major budget cuts, WWE Vengeance fallout, and more...
submitted by daprice82 to SquaredCircle [link] [comments]

40 Best Songs of All Times About Poker, Dice, Cards and Addiction

40. Go Down Gamblin’ - Blood Sweat and Tears

Released in 1971, Go Down Gamblin’ by Blood Sweat and Tears is a song describing a gambler who is “born a natural loser.” He never wins, no matter what game he plays, but, he doesn’t feel like a loser. As the song goes – “Cause I've been called a natural lover by that lady over there, Honey, I'm just a natural gambler but I try to do my share.”

39. Gambler - Madonna

Gambler is a song written and played by Madonna, made for the film Vision Quest. Although the song reached the top 10 in the charts of the UK, Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, and Norway, Madonna performed it only once on her 1985 The Virgin Tour. It’s a catchy song, we suggest you play it as you spin the reels of some of your favourite retro online slots.

38. The House of the Rising Sun - The Animals

Our list wouldn’t be complete without the 1964 hit song - The House of the Rising Sun by The Animals. Everybody knows the famous lines ”My mother, she was a tailor, sewed these new blue jeans, my father was a gamblin' man way down in New Orleans.” This single had a major success and made it to the top 10 songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the USA. Likewise, the hit was featured in the video game Guitar Hero Live.

37. The Winner Takes It All - ABBA

Whether we admit it or not, we all love at least some songs played by the very well-known Swedish pop group, ABBA. According to some sources, Bjorn Ulvaeus wrote the 1980 hit song The Winner Takes It All which was inspired by his divorce to his fellow band member, Agnetha Fältskog. The winner takes it all is a sort of a comparison to a divorce (especially the part ”I've played all my cards and that's what you've done too, nothing more to say, no more ace to play”), where one of them is the winner and the other one is left with nothing. And things are just the same when it comes to gambling, so we’ve decided to put the song on our list.

36. Shape of my Heart - Sting

We’re all aware of the fact that our gambling behaviour can be influenced by certain types of music and that's because online gambling and music go hand in hand. So, we suggest you start playing your preferred games with one of everyone’s favourite songs by Sting called The Shape of my Heart. It was released in 1993 and used for the end credits of the film Léon. In one of his interviews, Sting explained that the lyrics of the song tell the story of a card player who places bets not in order to win but to figure out something that’s been bothering him - “some kind of scientific, almost religious law.”

35. All I Wanna Do Is Play Cards - Corb Lund

“Well, I guess I really oughta be makin up songs but all I wanna do is play cards. I know it's dumb and sick and wrong but all I wanna do is play cards. Got the studio booked in Tennessee, and my record producer's callin me, the tape will roll in just three weeks and all I wanna do is play cards.” Does it sound familiar? It’s a 2005 hit by Corb Lund called All I Wanna Do Is Play Cards, once you hear it you’ll be playing it on repeat.

34. Gambling Man - The Overtones

When you’re falling in love, it’s perfectly normal to feel like you want to gamble everything just to attract that person’s attention to notice you and love you back. Well, Gambling Man is a lively 2010 song that tells a story of a guy fascinated with his love, so he places all his bets on her, as the song goes - “I played my hand, I rolled the dice, now I'm paying for my sins, I got some bad addiction.” This time, he feels that this love affair is different from any other – “Baby, it's you, yeah, yeah, that's right.” The song was released in 2010 and has been popular ever since.

33. Poker Face - Lady Gaga

Although the Poker Face song is more about the game of romance rather than the game of poker, the catchy refrain that starts with “Can't read my, no he can't read my poker face” kinda reminds us of winning at the tables, so we couldn’t skip it this time. Released in 2008, the song achieved worldwide success, topping the charts in the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada and several European countries.

32. Little Queen of Spades - Robert Johnson

Moving on to the Little Queen of Spades, a song title by the American blues musician Robert Johnson who recorded the song in 1937 and first released it in 1938. The first version of this gambling-themed song has a playing time of 2:11, whereas the second one lasts 4s longer (2:15), and is considered an alternate take and first appeared on Johnson's album The Complete Recordings, in 1990.

31. Train of Consequences - Megadeth

Another great song Train of Consequences is the title created by Megadeth, released as the first single from their sixth studio album Youthanasia in 1994. The song was later included on their compilation albums and its music video was the 26th most played video on MTV. There’s this part of the song “No horse ever ran as fast as the money that you bet, I'm blowing on my cards and I play them to my chest” – which is about a person’s gambling problem, who realises something’s wrong with this lifestyle, but it still hunts him down. Could be just the thrill, but he just can’t stop playing.
​

30. Gambler - Whitesnake

Released on the album Slide It In (1984) and appearing on the compilation album Gold (2006), Gambler is the song by the British hard rock band Whitesnake. These words may sound familiar - “No fame or fortune, no luck of the draw, when I dance with the Queen of Hearts, a jack of all trades, a loser in love, it's tearing my soul apart”. And in case you’ve never heard it, we think you should give it a shot, the chances are you’re going to love it!

29. Gambling Man - Woody Guthrie

Now here’s one single from 1957 - Gamblin' Man. The song was taped live at the London Palladium and published as a double A side, with Puttin' On the Style. Reaching #1 in the UK Singles Chart in the summer 1957, it was “the last UK number 1 to be released on 78 rpm format only, as 7' vinyl had become the norm by this time.” Written by Woody Guthrie and Donegan, this gambling themed song was produced by Alan Freeman and Michael Barclay.

28. Roll of the Dice - Bruce Springsteen

According to Songfacts, Roll of the Dice was the first Springsteen’s song he didn’t write by himself. In fact, E Street Band’s pianist Roy Bittan helped with the music, while Springsteen was in charge of the lyrics, starting with – “Well I've been a losin' gambler, just throwin' snake eyes, Love ain't got me downhearted. I know up around the corner lies, My fool's paradise in just another roll of the dice.” After he broke up the E Street Band in October 1989, Springsteen wrote lyrics for the Roll of the Dice (with two other songs) and liked them to the point where he began writing and recording more songs.

27. Queen of Diamonds - Tom Odell

Here’s one song about a gambling fanatic who’s trying to satisfy his own addiction but also someone else, hoping it’s going to save him. Released in 2018, Queen of Diamonds is Tom Odell’s song from the album Jubilee Road, based on the local characters that inspired this British songwriter to include the whisky-soaked gamblers who regularly visited one betting shop.

26. The Angel and the Gambler - Iron Maiden

Now, this song may divide Iron Maiden fans and it’s most probably because of its repetitive lyrics that can be a bit annoying. The release we’re talking about is The Angel and the Gambler. Truth be told, the melody in general is very catchy and, even a bit similar to The Who in some moments. As the song was released in 1998 while Blaze Bayley was its frontmen, it’s missing the well-known high-pitch vocals from Bruce Dickinson.

25. Ramblin' Gamblin Man - Bob Seger

We’re moving on to a rock single from 1978 - Ramblin' Gamblin Man by Bob Seger. The author meets an old acquaintance, a professional gambler who happens to be a swagger. As such, he attracts people’s attention whenever he bets. Putting so much of his faith in the cards (rather than in people), he walks away every time, just before avoiding loss. Along the way, the narrator realises that, if you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll find he’s a very cynical man, who will never change.
Another gambling-themed song worth mentioning by Bob Seger is Still The Same.

24. Blow Up The Pokies - The Whitlams

Blow up the Pokies is the next song on our list, played by The Whitlams. It is the second single by the group from their 4th studio album, Love This City. Released in the year 2000, the song became a hit and made it to number 21 on the ARIA Singles Chart. According to several resources, the lyrics written by singer Tim Freedman were inspired by the destruction he saw in original Whitlams bassist Andy Lewis's life, due to his gambling addiction.

23. A Good Run of Bad Luck - Clint Black

Now here’s one 1994-song packed with gambling-related terms. As you listen to A Good Run of Bad Luck, recorded by American music artist Clint Black, you'll have a bit of fun as you try identifying what all these gambling terms mean. The song is a bit fast and is about falling in love by using gambling metaphors. The main character is willing to spend a lot of money to win his special lady over and, although he has had a period of bad luck, he is not giving up – “I've been to the table, and I've lost it all before, I'm willin' and able, always comin' back for more.”

22. When You’re Hot, You’re Hot - Jerry Reed

Jerry Reed won a Grammy for the song When You’re Hot, You’re Hot which was released in 1971. Most people remember it as it was a major hit, ranked as number 1 in the country charts, also making its way up the Pop Top 40. It’s an enjoyable novelty song about the ups and downs of the gambling life, about one’s winning streak caught in an illegal game of Crap.
Country star Jerry Reed also came up with a version The Uptown Poker Club in 1973.

21. Lawyers, Guns and Money - Warren Zevon

Next one up - Lawyers, Guns and Money is a song by Warren Zevon, the closing track on his album Excitable Boy, released in 1978. An edited version of this song was distributed as a single and found itself on the A Quiet Normal Life best of compilation on the CD and LP. The song goes like this - “I went home with a waitress the way I always do, how was I to know she was with the russians, too? I was gambling in Havana, I took a little risk Send lawyers, guns, and money Dad, get me out of this, hiyah!”
​

20. The Lottery Song - Harry Nilsson

According to the man in the 1972 pop-rock song The Lottery Song by Harry Nilsson, there's more than one way to get to Vegas. Addressing his lover, the narrator mentions a few different options for buying a ticket and going to Sin City – “We could win the lottery we could go to Vegas,” and “We could wait till summer, we could save our money” as well as “We could make a record, sell a lot of copies, we could play Las Vegas.”

19. Casino Queen - Wilco

Now here’s one black-humoured gambling-themed song, released in 1995 and titled after a casino. Featuring a dirty electric guitar, Casino Queen was composed by an American songwriter, Jeff Tweedy, who wrote this song after playing a game in a riverboat casino accompanied by his dad. Inspired by the event, the author wrote: “Casino Queen my lord you're mean, I've been gambling like a fiend on your tables so green.”

18. Have a Lucky Day - Morphine

Another song on our list that you simply must check out starts like this: “I feel lucky, I just feel that way, I'm on a bus to Atlantic City later on today. Now I'm sitting at a blackjack table and swear to God the dealer has a tag says, "Mabel." Hit me, hit me! I smile at Mabel, soon they're bringing complimentary drinks to the table.” Check it out yourself - it’s called Have a Lucky Day by Morphine.

17. Kentucky Gambler - Merle Haggard

Written by Dolly Parton and released in 1974, Merle Haggard’s Kentucky Gambler is another song on our ultimate gambling playlist that you should pay attention to. It’s about a miner from Kentucky who leaves his family to gamble, under the bright lights of Reno. Unsurprisingly, his winning streak comes to an end, and he loses all his winnings. All broke, he decided to return back home only when he arrived, he found out his wife was involved with someone else.

16. The Jack - AC/DC

The next song on our list will give you some adrenaline boost, for sure. It goes like this - “She gave me the queen, she gave me the king, she was wheelin' and dealin', just doin' her thing, she was holdin' a pair, but I had to try…” Sounds familiar? This song from the 1975s is called The Jack and is played by AC/DC and there’s no way you can skip it.

15. Blackjack - Ray Charles

Moving on to something a bit different - a melody that blackjack lovers can listen to as they play is Ray Charles’ Blackjack. Apart from being a good quality song from 1955, it carries an important message with an emphasis on how brutal the game of blackjack can be. Some sources say that Ray Charles wrote it after beating T-Bone Walker at a blackjack game session.
Yet another Ray Charles’ famous song about gambling is called a Losing Hand.

14. Ooh Las Vegas - Gram Parson

“Ooh, Las Vegas, ain't no place for a poor boy like me”... is a song-into for Ooh Las Vegas which was written by Gram Parsons and Ric Grech. It was first released by Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris in 1974. Playing this song would be perfect for the beginning of the road trip (i.e. to Las Vegas), especially if you have the energy to sing along.

13. The Stranger - Leonard Cohen

Published in 1968 and performed by Leonard Cohen, The Stranger appears in the The Ernie Game movie about a man released from a mental asylum. More appropriately, it is the perfect opening song in the 1971 Western McCabe & Mrs Miller, in which Warren Beatty plays a gambler. As you listen to this song (without watching the movie), it makes you see fascinating images of card games, smoky dreams, and concepts of risk versus safety.

12. Desperado - Eagles

Written by Glen Frey and Don Henley, Desperado song is one of The Eagles’ greatest hits from their 1973 album of the same name. The song features a classic tune while the ballad tells the story of a lone wolf imprisoned by his loneliness. As for the lyrics, they have loads of card references mentioning the queen of diamonds, the queen of hearts, and so on.

11. Huck's Tune - Bob Dylan

The next song on our list is about the risks of poker, money, and relationships, which are precisely what the movie Lucky You is all about. Does it ring a bell? That’s right, this 2007 song is called Huck’s Tune and is performed by Bob Dylan. Each of us can all relate to lines "You push it all in, and you've no chance to win, you play 'em on down to the end." Play the song and you’ll enjoy more than 4 amazing minutes of Bob Dylan.
Likewise, Bob Dylan recorded Rambling, Gambling Willie and Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, both excellent and both inspired by gambling.
​

10. Four Little Diamonds - Electric Light Orchestra

A song by the British rock band Electric Light Orchestra Four Little Diamonds was released in 1983 and found itself on the album Secret Messages. The single wasn’t so popular in the US, being only 2 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, at number 86, and number 84 in the UK. This song refers to the singer’s cheating lover who tricked him out of a ring which had 'four little diamonds' on it.

9. You Can't Beat The House - Mark Knopfler

Moving on to our next choice for the day, You Can’t Beat the House. It’s the third song on the Get Lucky studio album released in 2009 by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler. The album and the songs received favorable reviews with the album reaching the top three positions on album charts in Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland. The singer’s divine voice combined with beautiful music and lyrics goes like this – “You can't bear the house, you can't bear the house, tell the man somebody, you can't beat the house.”

8. Deck of Cards - Don Williams

Deck of Cards is a recitation song that tells the story of a soldier who gets caught while playing cards in church and then faces a sentence from a superior officer. The soldier defends his case, explaining he wasn't about to deal a hand of poker, but was rather confirming his faith with the cards. Performed by T. Texas Tyler, the song managed to become a major hit in the 1940s and 1950s. Also, Wink Martindale had an even bigger hit with his 1959 cover, with a successful version by Don Williams featuring Tex Ritter and Buddy Cole.

7. Gambler’s Blues - B.B. King

First recording of the song Gambler’s Blues by B.B. King was in 1966, and it was released in 1967. The song appears on the album Back in the Alley (1970). Some say gambling and blues go hand in hand, so if you (gambling fans) haven’t heard it, listen and see for yourself.

6. Tumbling Dice - Rolling Stones

One of our favourite songs on the list is Tumbling Dice, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It tells the story of a gambler who can’t remain faithful to any woman. Being released in the 1970s and featuring a blues boogie-woogie rhythm, the song was and still is one of the greatest singles of all time.
Rolling Stones also recorded Casino Boogie, and it’s from their 1972 album, Exile on Main St.

5. Luck Be A Lady - Frank Sinatra

The next song on our list is about a gambler who hopes that he will win a bet, the outcome of which will decide whether he is able to save his relationship with the girl of his dreams. You probably know what song we’re talking about; it’s called Luck be a Lady released in 1965 and performed by one of the most popular musical artists - Frank Sinatra.

4. Deal - Grateful Dead

Next one up is the song Deal. It was first performed by the Grateful Dead in 1971, as a regular part of the repertoire through their 1970's tour. Although being less common to the fans during the 1990s, the band continued to perform it. The singer opens with the message: “Since it cost a lot to win and even more to lose you and me bound to spend some time wondering what to choose,” that later kicks off with a chorus: “Don't let your deal go down...”
Loser is another song first performed by the Grateful Dead in 1971 as well, heavily played during 1971 and 1972.

3. Ace of Spades - Motörhead

Ok, the next song is loaded with some great gambling verses like "The pleasure is to play, makes no difference what you say, I don't share your greed, the only card I need is the Ace of Spades" will definitely set you in the right mood for hitting some winning combinations. Released in 1980, the song was inspired by slot machines that the lead singer Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister played in London pubs.

2. Viva Las Vegas - Elvis

As soon as you start playing the second song from our playlist “Viva Las Vegas,” you’ll probably picture a huge casino and a great gaming atmosphere. Performed by the legendary Elvis Presley, the 1964-released song brings the glamour of the city, and its beat will get you in the mood for some serious gameplay. This song was written for the movie of the same name starring Elvis Presley, in which he plays a race car driver waiting tables at a hotel to pay off a debt. There’s this famous scene when he performs this song at the talent competition alongside many showgirls.

1. The Gambler - Kenny Rogers

Performed by the legendary country singer Kenny Rogers, The Gambler song is our number 1 - it's full of some betting advice that are relevant today, even though it was released more than 40 years ago, in 1978. Here’s how it goes… “If you're gonna play the game, boy you gotta learn to play it right, you've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.” These classic chorus lines were told from the first-person perspective inspired by a conversation the author had with an experienced poker player on a train. Written in the form of poker metaphors, Schlitz wrote the tune in honor of his late father.
Johnny Cash is also among other musicians who recorded The Gambler in 1978, on Gone Girl.

What do you think? Which one is your favourite?

submitted by askgamblers-official to onlinegambling [link] [comments]

[Letter]

Dear Jordan Peterson
Hello, my name is Geoffrey, I am 44 years old and live in Australia. This is the first time I have written a letter such as this so excuse me if I share to much or not enough. I understand that you will be getting thousands of letters a week, some positive, some not so. Mine for the most part is positive asking questions/advice and of course about me and my thoughts so you know where I am coming from. I found you by clicking on the home button on YouTube, before this I had never heard of you.
My parents were ten-pound Poms, I was born in Australia, I have 2 older brothers and 1 sister, when I was 5 my brother was murdered. Not long after mum gave up work and decided to become a housewife, my dad had always worked long hours to provide for his family, growing up I remember sneaking into his bedroom just to see him sleep. Although I was the only one at home at the time he provided for the whole family. (my dad was a prison officer).
When I was 16, we moved to Tasmania as my parents bought a general store, sadly my dad lost his leg through diabetes, as the hospital was so far away I spent a lot of time running the store as well as completing school. On completing school, I had the marks to go to university however, seeing my dad coming home stressed I knew I did not want a stressful job so I thought I would work in a factory. However, working in factories I just could not handle the menial tasks. Some jobs I could last 3 months others a week.
By this stage I had met my first wife she was pregnant (my child), so we moved back to Tasmania as my dad had taken ill again we started to help out with the store. My brother had a heart to heart telling me to grow up asking me why I could not hold down a job? I explained it was mind numbing, he suggested I become a truck driver, so I took my test, fell in love with the job and never looked back. Sadly, I fell into the same trap as my father and worked every hour I could, I could be gone for three weeks or more, I had 2 children with my ex-wife, and we had been together for 10 years.
Our marriage ended because I was never home, I struggled with the breakdown, so I went to England for a working holiday. I met my second wife there; she already had a son (3) and had a career in the NHS. We have 2 children together and to allow my wife not to fall behind I became the house husband and she carried on working. I worked nights when we wanted holidays or had a big bill etc.
My intention was never to live in the UK, 6 long years later we moved back to Australia and for the most part its work out a treat. All 5 of my children live with us, my wife went back to university and completed her Bachelor of Nursing (something she has wanted from a young age). She has just signed up for a post graduate degree and I support her 100 percent.
Myself, I was assaulted at work 5 years ago suffering a broken neck and damage to my lower back. I have been told I will never work again due to the limitations placed upon me. I have had 4 lots of surgery trying to correct this. I try to look for the positives in life however not being able to provide for my family or do to much with them has caused some serious depression. Hopefully I feel like I am getting back on top with more good days than bad ones.
I have always had an interest in law so I decided to do a bachelor of law however, my wife was worried that I may not cope with the amount of study involved, so I completed an Advanced Diploma of Legal Practice through Victoria University Polytechnic that is a pathway to a bachelor of law at VU. I am now 53% through my degree. Sadly, with the Covid-19 our learning has moved to online and that is not working for me, so I am taking a break for the minute and enjoying the rest.
Australia’s First People
I have always believed they are their own worst enemy, after completing a legal unit on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (which is not a core unit) my thoughts have changed, I understand why some are upset when it comes to land ownership. The government have made things so hard I am shocked any group has managed to become caretakers of their lands
When it comes to Australia Day/invasion day (as some believe) due to the way Captain Cook took ownership of the land. For those that feel the land has been invaded and have no native blood in them, should they not hand back any land they own to the local tribe and leave Australia to the home of where their ancestors came from, or is that too simplistic? Are they not hypocrites staying in a country that was illegally taken? Are they not also part of the problem?
What happened to the first nations people back in the 1770’s from onwards was wrong it was barbaric and shameful, I also look at the convicts who were ripped away from their families for stealing a loaf of bread, sent to the other side of the world, never to return, convicted to hard labour, whipped on a regular basis and did not live much better and most cases worse than the local tribes. I think what happened back then to most people was wrong. I think in 2268 people will look back on us and may think we are barbaric. We do what we THINK is right at the time.
The stolen generation, again I believe the government were trying to do the right thing by the children however, some people either in authority or those in charge of the first nations care took advantage and were cruel. At the same time across in the United Kingdom thousands of young children were removed from their families and shipped to Australia and New Zealand, told their parents had died, parents were told their children had died. This is no excuse for the stolen generation. It shows the times and the way the governments thought.
On the outside I am very chauvinistic, racist, homophobic, the old saying is ‘I hate everyone equally including myself’. Growing up in Australia in the 80’s that is the way it was. Nothing was meant by it; you used words to describe someone, these same words are still around today. Now it seems you need to be in a box to use that term to tell that joke describe that person, when did the world become so sensitive?
I really do not care who is gay, what sex you are, what you identify as, what colour your skin is, I do not understand why your sexual preference, sex, sexual identity or colour of your skin should define who you are? What defines a person is their values as a person, nothing else really matters. Being smart does not make you a better person, going to church every week does not make you a better person, being homeless does not make you a bad person. Judge a person on face value on them, not because they are X come from X identify as X, we are all different and that makes as all unique. So if we are all unique how can we possibly fit neatly into a box marked Y?
In the Victorian Parliament they celebrated the fact that there was an equal number of men v woman. The first thing I thought of was, how many of those women truly deserve to be there, how many men that have worked hard missed out because of a quota, how much poorer will Victoria be. Then the next question needs to be asked, where is the disability quota, that needs to be at 50% and it cannot just be people in wheelchairs.
We have 200 nationalities just in Victoria and only 128 seats in state parliament. The Assembly has 88 Members and the Council has 40 Members. How do we get equality there? Once we get equality in one area, it must happen in all otherwise it does not work. To find the perfect members for council, their family must have at least 5 unique nationalities, preferably 2 or more disabilities, transgender and believe in one of the many faiths. I think that goes some way to ticking a number of boxes. Sadly even if we could clone forty more we would still fall short somewhere in equality. Equality is more than sex, more than skin colour, more than faith. Most people feel they have had to work for everything and have been discriminated against at some point in their life.
In Australia, they have started to increase superannuation contributions for woman due to the wage gap. With woman having children, working less, single mothers, etc, etc, they feel woman need greater protection. I am sorry but in Australia men do not get a say when it comes to children. If a one-night stand results in a child and the man says I do not want a child I will pay for the abortion and the woman does not want the abortion so has the child, that man is forced to pay for that child up to the age of 18 (21 if they want to go to university).
Where is the man’s right, what happens if he wore protection, is not ready or does not want the responsibility of the child? I understand it is the woman’s body, so it ultimately her choice. Surely part of that choice is understanding that the male wants no role in that child’s life so why should he be forced to pay maintenance when it solely her decision?
A couple living together for many years, a woman gets pregnant, the man wants the child, the woman does not, the man has no rights. So, to say the woman misses out on superannuation, it is solely her choice when it comes to children. If she lives with her partner for several years, automatically she is entitled to part of her partners pension. Why? because she chose to stay at home to raise the children, this is why she gets a higher percentage in the divorce settlement. The system is already set up in place for this. Even if a woman does not have children, she will receive a higher superannuation contribution, how is this fair?
The family courts are set up to favour woman in custody disputes, police will side with wives when arguments take place, we have woman only gyms, safe spaces for woman, so many places for woman suffering from domestic violence. Yet where do men go when they are attacked by their partners, where do they turn when they are raped, where do they turn when their partner kicks them out on the street, what services to they seek when their partner walks out on them leaving them with the kids?
Certainly, my generation you were taught to work hard and deal with your problems yourself, slowly there are men’s groups getting out there but, compared to what woman have? No wonder men’s suicide is so high.
It annoys me that you go to any clothes shop where there is a separate men’s and woman’s changerooms. Woman will be allowed in the corridor to advise their partner, which is ok as everyone is behind a curtain or door, but men are allowed nowhere near the female changerooms as it can make females feel uncomfortable. Where is the equality?
When a woman is murdered or raped or hit by a man there is this outpouring of emotion ‘Violence Against Woman’. Does it really matter that it was a woman who was raped, murdered, attacked, should it not be that a human life was lost, that a fellow human was assaulted or are we saying that woman are the weaker sex and as such need more protection?
Every time I see a news story that goes something like, first woman to… to me it always makes woman look weaker as if they have something to prove, in truth they have nothing to prove millions of woman are stronger, faster, smarter than me so on and so forth, in return I bet I am smarter, quicker, so on and so forth than millions of others. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses. I loved horse riding as a kid, but I am not going to sue Racing Victoria because I am 6 foot 4 and weigh a 120kg. There is no way I could be a jockey.
I just wish we could get rid of quotas as all we are doing is dumbing down the world, draw up a set of guidelines and hold the people accountable that do the hiring and running the world. Let’s hope they are smart enough to hire the right people for the job and they are not blinded by what is on the outside. I do not care of the make up of my parliament. What I do care about is their policies and they are being held accountable. All they are doing is getting you to watch this hand while they pick your pocket with that hand, well that is my belief.
I really am enjoying your talks, not so much for what you say (although I agree with most of what you say) but how you listen to the question and answer the question without getting upset for the most part even when being baited. What a great skill to have and something I need to learn
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, once the world returns to its new normal, if you are ever in Melbourne and fancy a home cooked meal, you are more than welcome at my table.
Kind Regards
Geoffrey
submitted by Wriggs123 to JordanPeterson [link] [comments]

My Therapy

At my most recent Problem Gambling Support Group meeting via Skype (the same one posted on here weekly) it was my turn to do a therapy session. This is my journey from starting gambling until now. I thought it would be worth sharing here as someone may get something from it. It is a bit of a long read.
My name is Mark and i’m a compulsive gambler. My last bet was April 2nd 2019. The day of April 2nd was a massive turning point in my life, it was the day I finally admitted to my long term partner, who is the mother of my two children, and to my parents that I was a compulsive gambler and needed help. The weekend prior was when I finally said to myself I’ve had enough, I had been betting for 14 years and it had beaten me so badly that I was a mess mentally and financially. Although no one knew that because I was an expert at hiding it.
I started gambling like almost anyone in the UK or Ireland, The Grand National. The one day of the year where it seems like every man, woman and child has a bet on. The biggest horse race in the world. That and those glorious holidays spent in Portrush playing the 2p machines (penny fall machines). I don’t for one second blame those experiences for my gambling problem, they are just my first memories of gambling. One really vivid memory I have of gambling was when I was begging my dad for the latest Official Playstation Magazine, the one with the demo disc, and he was just sitting down to watch England play against someone and said to me “if Paul Scholes scores the first goal I will get you the magazine.” Now, I know for a fact win or lose my Dad would have gotten me the magazine, he just said that so I would give him peace to watch the match. Well I remember watching the game with him hoping with all my might Paul Scholes would score 1st and he did. That adrenaline rush, even at a young age (I was 13 years old at most I would say) was unbelievable. Now, again, I am not blaming that for my gambling addiction at all, it is just one of my first vivid memories but that mentality of gambling to get something I want for free would be a regular pattern throughout my gambling career.
Once I turned 18 I opened my first betting account with Blue Sq and that started my online sports gambling journey. Friday nights were spent betting on Wolverhampton all weather horse racing and the Dutch and French 2nd Divisions. All harmless fun, controlled gambling, small stakes. I was still working part time at this stage, left school that summer and gambling was not in the way. Once I got my full time job though that all changed.
The first time I could put my finger on when my gambling changed was the first day of the 2008/2009 football season. I’d been working full time for about 3 years and my gambling was still under control, well, at least I thought it was. My stakes were still low and I was doing football bets at the weekend for a bit of fun. I gambled, but it wasn’t causing me any issues. That Friday I walked into a Paddy Power and decided instead of placing a load of stupid football bets for £1 or £2 I’d pick three teams for the season and do a £20 treble each week. Sheffield United, Leicester City and Leeds United were the picks. Of course, the first weekend it landed (the only time it landed all season I think) and my betting changed from that moment. I genuinely can’t remember the odds but I must have lifted over £100 from that £20 stake and after that staking £1 or £2 just wasn’t appealing. What was the point in that when I could stake £20 and win more. From that moment my gambling started to get out of control over time. Then came the loans, the credit cards and the payday loans.
At some point around this time I had opened a spread betting account due to a sign up offer. Now I did not have the first clue about spread betting but the offer was they gave you a free £100 or something to sign up so I did. I was still living at home at the time and we had one computer which everyone used. Well my Dad stumbled upon this website and was able to access the account (he’s not technically minded so I imagine I left it logged in) and he seen the betting history and he went mental at me. Now, I did explain that it was just bonus funds and I hadn’t actually deposited any of my own money but still the lecture came. It felt like a lecture at the time to me but he was just warning me of the dangers of gambling. Giving me examples of people he knew who had a problem and how easy it is for a gambling problem to begin. So I can never turn around and say that I wasn’t aware of the dangers, I was, my ego was just too big to listen. I paid lip service to the lecture and said I wouldn’t do it again and my Dad took me at my word and trusted me.
So, I knew early on I had a problem. I self excluded from places over the years but never really wanted to quit. I was getting in debt but was able to continue with my lifestyle as I was living at home. I remember one day going to a cheque cashing place where I could write a cheque for £100, dated on my next payday, and they’d give me £90 there and then. I did two cheques for going out that weekend (and a couple of bets on the Aintree Festival) walked straight to the bookies and had the £180 on Denman to win the Aintree Bowl at even money. Denman was a monster of a horse, a machine. He could not lose...then he suffered the first fall of his career. Back I went to the cheque cashing place for another £90 so I could still go out that weekend.
I wasn’t learning from my betting mistakes either as I was just borrowing more money to cover the cracks. I got a few debt consolidating loans over the early years to try and get a handle on my debt but it just gave me an excuse to take out more credit. The payday loans which I used to either gamble or cover my expenses for going out because I used all my money gambling. I would borrow money off my Dad and give him the puppy dog eyes when I paid it back and normally he’d only take half of what I owed him. He thought he was doing the right thing and he wanted me to have money to be able to go out with friends, I was just manipulating the situation.
I moved out and into my friends house for a year and the gambling continued, although I had less money to gamble with. My credit rating was taking a battering but I was young and didn’t really care. Then I met my current girlfriend in February 2010 and we moved in together that September. The gambling continued and was getting worse. I made the smart move to get a second job to supplement my gambling…...at a greyhound track. I’d be earning about £20 a night but gambling £60 or £80. Insanity. We had our first child in April 2012 and not long after she found out I’d be gambling some of the money we’d saved. It wasn’t a lot of money, but she was pissed (rightfully so). I managed to talk my way out of it and that was when I became really good at hiding things. She took control of the rent money and any money for our son so that was never in danger thankfully. We had our daughter in 2016 but the gambling still continued.
It may seem like I have glossed over an important period of time there but the truth is I can’t really remember any of the details. The only details I am able to recall with any great clarity are coming up but I just want to touch on a couple of things from this period. This was a time when I had the biggest wins of my gambling career, two separate occasions. One was an insane run of luck where I couldn’t lose all weekend and ended up with enough money for me, my partner and our Son to have our first and only foreign holiday. Another time I had a £5 free bet and landed a treble at Sandown, all Gary Moore horses and won £3.5k. That money went towards decorating the nursery for my soon to be born Daughter, my partner got money, my Mum and Dad and her Mum and Dad. I bought a PS4 and gambled the rest from memory. The two reasons these moments stick in my head isn’t just the amounts, it’s the only time I walked away in profit, at least for the sessions in question and the reason is that I told my partner I had won the money. That was the only way I knew I wouldn’t gamble it all away because she would ask questions if the money I promised didn’t materialise.
Another part of this time period I want to explore is how I was emotionally. I was 25 when we had our Son and he wasn’t planned. It was a shock to say the least and my life, as I knew it anyways, changed. No longer was I able to do what I wanted socially, I had a Son to provide for. I was working two jobs, money was tight, was I still gambling? Of course I was but slowly I started to strip everything else out of my life. We had our daughter when I was 29 and to be honest here, as much as it sadeness me I thought this way I resented having kids, especially at that age. I felt trapped at times, people I knew were able to do what they want but yet I had all this responsibility. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my kids during this time as well and they meant the world to me, but I do feel that I got into the thought process that I was trapped because of them and my only escape was into the world of online gambling.
I would go through phases where I’d stop altogether for months on end, a year at one point which I imagine was around the time my partner found out about me using the savings for gambling, but I’d always go back to it thinking I was in control but I never was. When gambling I’d deposit £10, lose it, deposit another £10, lose it, rinse and repeat until all my money was gone. If I won it just meant I could gamble longer. It was never about the money. I thought it was, but really the money was the fuel that could keep me gambling longer. Most months I was skint a few days after payday and couldn’t gamble until the next payday. It may not sound like a lot of money but it was a relentless cycle month after month after month.
At the end of 2016 I got an overdraft of £2k and gambled it all on soccer all around the world. Woke up and started gambling in Asia, moved across the globe into the Middle East, Africa, Europe and then fell asleep betting on South American football. It was out of control. Betting on Egyptian football on Xmas Day a particular lowlight. This was what my gambling looked like when I had money. All these bets were in-play as that’s how I gambled, watching a little graphic on Bet365 and thinking I could predict what was going to happen. I also gambled heavily on tennis as well, picking a player to win a set 6-0 was one of my favourites. Generally I would start with £10 as I mentioned and if the bet won I would keep “investing” all the money until it got to a certain amount, normally a couple of hundred quid. Once I got to that point I would raise my stakes significantly because I would tell myself it wasn’t my money. It wasn’t if I didn’t count all the loses it took to get to this point over the previous few days. I would then gamble that until it’s gone cursing myself for not taking the money when I had the chance. Placing the last of my money praying to a god I don’t believe in that if he could just make this bet land then I wouldn’t bet again. Once the money was done I would just sit there, looking at my bank balance, the lack of money, the direct debits due to come out in a few days, trying to figure out how I would survive the next 3-4 weeks until payday. Then I would dust myself off and start working on some budgets. What direct debits I could bounce, who I could ask to borrow money from or maybe what I could sell to fund another round of gambling to try and win my money back.
Coming into 2018 I was in a “good place” with gambling, or so I thought. I was Matched Betting which was a way of making money via bookmakers offers. It worked well for a few months but it all went to shit in the Summer of 2018. Matched Betting introduced me to the casino side of things and I lost £3.5k on roulette. I’ll not go into the ins and outs of how I had that sort of money, lets just say I didn’t and I found a way to deposit via direct debit on PayPal and of course those all bounced. Luckily Paddy Power rewarded me by making me a VIP customer after that, every cloud and all that. So I was chasing big style and getting free £50 bonuses each week from them but I could never get enough money to stop, because no amount was ever going to be enough. Their offers of Money Back if Horse X wins are normally £10 max refund, I was getting £100 max refund. Eventually I was running out of ways to get money and when I started to bet less with Paddy Power they removed my VIP status. I did win £1000 on an NFL bet and lost the lot on roulette the next week. Another lowlight.
The win on the NFL followed by the lose on roulette sticks in my mind because visually it summed up how miserable I was. I had promised my partner back at the start of the year that we would get the living room redecorated and I would pay with it from my Matched Betting and she was happy with that. Of course I explained it was risk free and nothing could go wrong and it wasn’t even gambling. Anyways, come November we are due to have our living room redecorated and of course I do not have the money for it so I have to go to my Mum and Dad. I give them some sob story about how when I was Matched Betting I made a mistake, layed off the wrong horse and lost my money so could then lend me it and don’t tell my partner. It was a complete lie and to be honest at the time I didn’t think they had bought it but they lent me the money. Turns out when I told them about my gambling problem back in April they had smelt bull shit but my Granda (on my Dad’s side) was ill in the hospital and he was stressed about that so he just let it slide. So the redecoration was on and it was going to take a couple of days. One Monday night I had a bet on the NFL and it landed, £10 at 100/1. Happy days, I can give my Mum and Dad back their money, it’s nearly Xmas, this is amazing luck. So on Tuesday night I sat in my half decorated living room and thought if I could just win a little bit more then things would be even better so loaded up the roulette. I lost it all sitting in the living room and during it I could literally see what the money would be paying for but it didn’t stop me, nothing would stop me.
2019 I could feel myself struggling. My life was consumed with gambling or working out how to get money to gamble and then how I was going to pay people back what I owed them. I was in a bad place, I was a bad person, lying, angry but still no one knew the truth. January had always been a tough month as I run several NFL Fantasy Football leagues for money and I am in charge of the money. Of course, that was always gambled away by me and January was the month people expected pay outs because the season was over. Usually I would have won enough money in my leagues to cover it or convince people to pay for next year with their winnings that I could cover it. This year I could not and I had the added pressure of owing people money. A lot of these people were friends of mine I knew personally, others were people I had gotten to know over a few years and only talked online. Either way I had stolen their money and gambled it away. I managed to use my Granda’s death in January as an excuse for why I had not paid people yet, I was in a bad way with the funeral etc, all the excuses, the truth is I was just trying to buy more time.
Then came the weekend prior to April 2nd. I had just been paid and deposited some money into my Bet365 account and managed to get my balance up to £910 on Friday 29th March. I should say by this stage I was fully gambling on tennis. Not match winner, that took too long, generally set winner or next game winner as that was quicker. Now this £910 would have cleared some of my urgent debts to allow me to continue on gambling. All I had to do was withdraw, and I was going to…...once I got it up to a nice round £1000. As you can guess I lost the lot. £300-£400 on Benoit Paire was one of the worst hits but I was gambling like a mad man. That was how I bet when I had winnings, the stakes got out of control. By the time I was leaving work at 6pm on the Friday the whole £910 was gone. I was betting on ATP, Challenger, ITF, any tennis that was on I was betting on it. Back in the day I remember betting on a tennis match where they had one ball. Still a story that brings a smile to my face if I’m honest. A smile that consists of a mixture of shame and cringe. That Friday night I deposited whatever I had left in and managed to win back a good chunk of the money, but it still wasn’t enough. It still wasn’t what I had before. So the whole weekend went like that, up and down, up and down. I went to a family dinner and sat betting on my phone the whole night. That’s how my life has been the last number of years, i’m present at gatherings, or nights out but my mind is deep in my phone gambling away not giving a shit about anyone.
Eventually the money ran out that weekend. I was a mess. I could have actually made it work financially and gotten through the month but mentally I was gone. I could tell my brain had put me into a nosedive and the only way this was all ending was in disaster. Maybe not this month, or this year but I was being flown towards rock bottom.
I sat down on the Monday and wrote out everything that I owed, who I owed it to, a budget going forward. It was grim enough reading, £18k in the hole. The money wasn’t the issue, it was how it was making me feel, the time I’ve been wasting. The fact that I finally couldn’t take anymore, that I was ready to wave the white flag and say gambling has won, it defeated me. I found out when and where the nearest GA Meeting was to me and wrote that down too. So I found a set of balls and on the Tuesday I told my girlfriend. My attitude was that life can’t be any worse for me than it currently is. I was a mess, I cried, I honestly expected her to tell me to get out and I wouldn’t have blamed her, but she was amazing. She was angry obviously, but she was so supportive. Then I called my parents round and told them. They were disappointed, confused but also really supportive. Then the next day I told my closest friends who were again all really supportive. I owe them some money too and they’ve been great about setting up a payment plan to pay that back. I can imagine some people saying that I didn’t hit rock bottom in comparison to others, I felt that way myself to be honest. I felt like I had gotten off lightly but looking back the cycle I was in was soul destroying and although I didn’t cause the devastation others have caused I knew I needed to reach out for help as I couldn’t do it on my own.
I registered for GAMStop and self excluded online for 5 years which has taken the avenue of online gambling away from me. A vital step if online is your vice. I also handed over control of my finances to my partner which again removed another temptation. I’ve since learned in recovery that gamblers need 3 things, time, opportunity and money, take away one of those and you won’t be able to gamble. I took away two with these simple steps.
I then went to my first GA Meeting on Wednesday 3rd April. The time doesn’t suit me for that, Monday at 9pm is my meeting but I felt I needed to get to one ASAP. I don’t know what I expected GA to be, some sort of church run cult filled with a bunch of old men desperate for a bet but it’s one of the most amazing groups I’ve ever found. It’s a dumping ground for all my shit and it’s a place where I can listen to other people’s stories. Without sounding sexist, it’s something a lot of men could do with outside of addiction, a place to talk about life and how they are feeling. I take a 50 mile round trip every Monday to get there. When I was gambling if I had to travel 50 miles to get internet to gamble you can guarantee I’d have travelled every day. When I leave a meeting I am buzzing, for all the right reasons. I’m a lifer when it comes to GA now and I am fine with that.
I am also a member of the Problem Gambling Support Group and we run three meetings a week via Skype. This group has been so influential to my recovery and I have met so many good people I now consider friends through it. The topic meeting style is completely different to what happens at my own GA so it fits into my recovery perfectly and gives me a different perspective.
I have a sponsor, who has had a massive impact on my recovery. He has helped me work the Steps and is always there if I need him. At times it’s hard to tell who is sponsoring who but that sort of dynamic works well for me as I see him as a friend first and sponsosponsee second.
I have also found a passion for writing about my journey and post my stuff on my blog, on GamCare and on the Reddit Problem Gambling Sub. I have been told my stuff is very good and people seem to get a lot from it. As I explained at a recent meeting I am still learning how to deal with praise, it makes me feel awkward. I’m not sure if it’s from years of not wanting to be the focus of people's attention because of the fear they might ask questions and my addiction would be exposed. Whatever the reason I am working on being able to accept praise and enjoy it and as I was told at the last meeting...a simple thank you is usually enough.
I’ve been clean for over 9 months now, and I have not struggled with urges to gamble. My life is amazing, it always was but I was too wrapped up in my addiction to notice. I literally had everything I could ever want. I have an amazing partner and two amazing children along with my parents who are absolutely fantastic. I have my health, a job and my friends are another support network I couldn’t do without now. They stood by me when I admitted my problem and they gave me the belief that I could do this.
Recovery is now my focus along with my family. The debt can be managed, stopping gambling is one day at a time, but the main focus of my recovery will be fixing my character defects, helping others, being open and honest to people and not being a selfish asshole. I would like to think those that know me now can at least drop the selfish part when describing me.
I have put plenty of work into my recovery and I feel like I am getting the benefits out of it. I have a routine when it comes to meetings and they don’t impact on my family life. Is every day amazing? No it’s not. Some days are rather boring and some days are tough, but that’s life. Some days you have to make chicken salad out of chicken shit. I have accepted what I am, I am a compulsive gambler and I need to be the one who changes. No one else around me needs to change, I am the common denominator. I have noticed a change in myself and those closest to me. They all seem happier, more content, happy to have this me in their life and not the old me. I wasn’t a nice partner, father, son or friend when I was in active addiction. I don’t want to be the person I was before I started gambling either because I am pretty convinced he was an asshole as well. I am using this recovery to become the man I want to be, the man I can look in the mirror and be proud to be.
As I said, I have accepted that I am a compulsive gambler and I cannot have a single bet because it will lead me back to active addiction. I have no issues with the gambling industry or people who gamble, I just know that I am unable to gamble as it ends in disaster. I feel there should be more discussion around problem gambling and the industry should be putting more money into helping problem gamblers and to help identify problem gamblers. It’s a fine line though, as I know if a bookie told me they felt I had a problem and wouldn’t accept a bet I’d have been angry and just went somewhere else. You need to be ready for recovery to fully embrace it. I never was until April 2nd. For the people in recovery we need to be ready to help those that get to the stage where they are ready for recovery. We are the ones who these people will come to rely on as we’ve been through it, you can tell when talking to someone who hasn’t had a gambling addiction they just don’t understand. Over the coming years I think there will be a significant rise in people looking for help with problem gambling. I don’t feel like my story is close to the worst out there and I have read and heard some people who have the opinion that you need to cause devastation before recovery will work. That’s bollocks and that sort of attitude is why GA is filled with old men and young people are reluctant to stay. I have come to believe it doesn’t matter how much you have lost, how many relationships you have destroyed or what age you are, all you need is a desire to stop gambling and that is the qualification for entering recovery.
For now though, for me, my next bet won’t be about the money I lose, I’ll lose my partner and my children as well and that’s not a bet that I am not willing to make.
Mark
submitted by russ_789 to problemgambling [link] [comments]

Guide to earning £200+ with match betting

I intend to write a far more detailed guide to match betting without using an odds matching tool like P.A. over the next couple of weeks, this guide will be better suited to those who have zero knowledge of match betting

What is Match Betting?

Match betting is a LEGAL, RISK FREE & TAX FREE way of earning Money. You earn by taking advantage of the various sign up and "reload" offers that bookies provide new and existing customers. For example, when you sign up to William Hill they have an offer of "Deposit £10, get a £20 free bet" You can use this bet and then lay against it at a betting exchange
For example:
Bookie: Bet Chelsea to WIN
Exchange: Bet Chelsea to NOT WIN (It should be noted than when you make a lay at a betting exchange you're covering all other options, so by saying you think Chelsea will NOT win you're saying they will either lose or draw, anything except win)
So now that you've placed them, these two bets will cancel each other out, resulting in you breaking even (or losing a little bit of cash) after this initial bet you will be credited with your free bet. Now, repeat this process again - except this time it's not your own money being used to place the bet! So you get to keep the profits.

How to get started

The best way (I believe) to get started is to sign up for the free trial on Profit Accumulator | Non and follow their step by step instructions. Using their site you can claim two of the offers and earn £45. During the trial you will have the basics of match betting explained to you and once you have earned from your free trial you can use the profit to upgrade to a Platinum account(£22.99/month or £150/year). If you become a platinum member you will have access to hundreds of offers and dozens of extra guides to help you on your journey. When I started doing this a few years back I only used £50 (That I earned doing surveys) as my starting float, however a bigger pot of £100 is advised to help you work through offers quicker.
If you're going to get started with match betting, I recommend you take a photo of the following: Passport or Driving License, bank card used to deposit money, and a recent utility bill - As the bookies fraud prevention teams occasionally ask for these (I've only had it happen once, but it does happen)

Review of the best Match Betting Sites

Profit Accumulator | Non
Profit Accumulator is the oldest and largest match betting community out there, with over 20,000 members on its private forum. Their guides are very simple to follow, with text guides, video guides and a list of offers for first time match betters to sign up to. The Profit Accumulator team are also the only match betting site which has a dedicated customer support line.
Profit Accumulator have also developed a lot of tools over the past year or so, including Oddsmatching, which find you the right games to maximise your profit, the match catcher which is used betting on the horses, The Acca catcher which is for people who’ve been doing this for years and now use accumulators to make most of their profit, a profit tracker. More recently they’ve created the Early Pay out calculator the Offers Calendar and the Match Betting Diary
Cost: FREE TRIAL! which will earn you £45 and then £17.99 after that

 

Odds Monkey | Non
OddsMonkey used to be my favourite sites until Profit Accumulator pulled slightly ahead of them. They’re very user friendly & focus more on newbies to the game. They’re the original creator of the oddsmatcher, which finds the perfect bets for you to make maximum profit.
Once again they offer written & video tutorials for people of all abilities and experience. As well as a huge community to offer you support. Odds Monkey is the only site where you can get 1 on 1 training by one of their seasoned professionals, simply pick your time slow and you can talk to someone who’s been match betting for years.
OddsMonkey probably offer more tools than any other sites, including: OddsMatcher, Racing Matcher, Each way matcher, Acca matcher, Acca finder, dutch search, tennis matcher and more.

 

Heads&Heads | Non
Head&Heads is relative new comer to the game, founded in 2016 it is run by one man, however that one man is some type of match betting machine sent from the future to help us get back at the bookies, it seems to update with reloads and new offers quicker than the two sites above who have large teams.
Their dashboard is clean, cut and simple making it very clear how much you’ve earned and where. They also have the oddchecker, a tracking table of every bet you’ve made, which is directly linked to their bet form. In my opinion heads&heads is the best site for more experienced match betting users.
Cost: FREE TRIAL! which will earn you £45 and then £17.99 after that HeadandHeads has kindly provided the following code BMUK01 which will give you 30 days of premium membership for £1
 

Being gubbed & mug bets

Mug bets - Ok, so match betting is completely legal, however, Most bookies aren't too keen on you only using them for offers. So it's highly recommended to place occasional "mug bets" - What's a mug bet? It's basically a normal (small) bet which is nothing to do with your match betting. A mug bet is simply a small bet to make you look like a regular customer, once again Profit Accumulator | Non has got you covered on the best ways to place mug bets. They advise following a cycle: Qualifying bet, free bet, mug bet, withdraw profits.
Being gubbed - This is when a bookie has figured out that you're only match betting and using their offers, the bookie can limit your account to only making small bets, or not getting any offers. You can get back in good stead with them by placing non-offer bets but this could take time and still never amount to anything.

Slot Offers

These offers aren't required to make a healthy profit, but they can be a good earner for you. Slot offers come in many different flavours, and you have to take each one for its merits, some are simply a few free spins and sometimes you have large wagers involved for your free spins. People are often put off by slots because a lot of the time they’re not completely risk-free. It is up to you to weigh up the value of doing them as you have the chance to win big from doing these, you have the potential to make upwards of £100 from a single offer, but like I said... not for everyone. Profit Accumulator | Non will advise you about the risk factor for each slot offer. It will either be no risk (so for examples and offers where the bookies will give you your money back – wager £5 and be credited £5 if you lose it all) or a low risk offer (which is what most slot offers are) where you have to wager a larger amount but the potential earnings are a lot higher. They will also tell you which slots you are best using, unless the offer is for a selected slot only

Jargon Buster

When you start your Match betting journey you'll notice lots of terms thrown around, if you're unsure of them ask me and I’ll try to explain. Here are some of the common terms:
Lay Bet: This is the bet you lay in the exchange against your bookie bet. This bet covers you for all options that are not what the bet is backing – e.g. Bet is to WIN; the lay bet will cover LOSS and DRAW.
Qualifying Bet: This is when you place a bet to qualify for an offer, for example if the offer was "bet £10 get a £20 free bet" then £10 is your qualifying bet.
Mug Bet: This is a small bet placed to convince the bookie you're a regular punter
Gubbed: When a bookie bans or limits your account, this usually happens due to a lack of mug bets.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is Matched Betting a scam?
A: NO! Everything is tried & tested, supported by various forums all over the internet and has been features on the BBC, The Guardian and various other news outlets... it's legit!
 
Q: Is Matched Betting Gambling
A: NO! With Gambling you have a risk, Match betting has no risks because you cover every outcome - the only risk is human error.
 
Q: Is Matched Betting really risk free?
A: Yes and No, If you just follow the instructions for the offers then you will face no risk. However if you decide to use slot offers then there is a slight risk associated with it, but that's your choice you aren't required to do the slot offers.
 
Q: How is Matched Betting tax-free?
A: As it's considered gambling you don't pay any tax on your winnings.
 
Q: Will Matched Betting affect my credit rating?
A: NO! But bookies will leave an imprint on your credit file. This is just an identity check to make sure that you are genuine.
 
Q: Do I need a separate bank account for Matched Betting?
A: NO, But it is recommended, simply because seeing lots of deposits and withdrawals to casinos can look unappealing on your bank account. Most mortgage companies want to see 3 months worth of bank statements - but if you have 10 bookmakers on them every week it might look like you have a problem.
TLDR: Use the free trial from Profit Accumulator | Non to make your first £45 from the bookies (Risk Free).
submitted by Chazmer87 to beermoneyuk [link] [comments]

horse racing bets explained uk video

Types of Horse Race. Horse racing in the UK and Ireland is split into two distinct branches. The first, flat racing, is simple: horses start, they run – either in a straight line or round a curved track – then they finish, the winner being the first past the post. Racing Explained is here to help you make sense of the world of horseracing. From understanding odds to training racehorses, this is the encyclopaedia of everything you need to know about the sport. It can be a confusing world for beginners and first-time racegoers, so we’ve provided answers to all of the most common questions to help you understand what’s going on during your day at the Horse Racing Terms Explained. Before you start staking on horse racing betting sites, it is important to understand the terms in which you come across. Below are some of the key horse racing terms and phrases to look out for: All-Weather Racecourse – This is basically a synthetic surface that is used to deal with all conditions. A horse racing win-only accumulator naturally means that you need all your selections to win their respective races. So if you do a racing acca with four horses, they all need to win in order to land a profit. However, if you do a racing each-way accumulator, then you are essentially placing two bets. If you stake £1 on a horse, then you stand to win £4 if the selection wins the race, which excludes your initial stake. In contrast, the decimal format factors in the initial stake. Betting odds of 4/1 would equate to 5.0 in decimal terms, 5/1 would be 6.0, and so forth. A popular betting type among punters, it consists of four selections and 15 bets (hence the name) – four singles, six doubles, four trebles and a fourfold. Equivalent to a Yankee but with four singles, and only one selection must win to guarantee you a return. For example, a £2 Lucky 15 would cost £30. Thanks to online bookmakers, it can be possible to place bets on races from all around the world, not just in the UK. What is more intriguing, though, is that bet types differ between jurisdictions. Online horse racing betting does not always conform to such boundaries, however, so the following is a list of bet types from not just the UK, but from all over the world. Horse racing is one of the most popular and historic sports in the world. Perhaps you are new to “The Sport Of Kings” and want to have horse racing betting explained so you can enjoy all of its equestrian delights. If so, you have come to the right place. In this horse racing beginner’s guide, we will be covering everything from horse racing terms to the best operators available, with Place terms are dependant on the number of horses in the race, though the general rule of thumb is you are betting on a horse to finish in the top three. The difference is that it pays a fraction of the main odds. A £5 each way bet on a horse at 4/1 will cost you £10 with £5 placed on the win and £5 on the place. Handicapping in horse racing explained - learn how handicaps work, why they are changed, Most races in the UK and Ireland are handicap contests, bet at odds of 2.00 or greater on Horse Racing within 7 days of registering; excludes cashed out bets. Receive 3x £10 Horse Racing Free Bets, plus a £10 Gameshow Bonus.

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horse racing bets explained uk

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