It’s one of my favorite scenes from Jurassic Park, when Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) utters the classic phrase, “Life Finds a Way”.
I thought of that line while reading a recent Wall Street Journal story by Andrew Beaton and Jared Diamond about sports betting.
Apparently, it’s been a difficult time for some hard-core sports gamblers, given that covid-19 has shut down nearly all sports competitions around the globe.
But just like life, these sports gamblers find a way.
The WSJ article first tells the story of two friends who would normally be watching the NCAA basketball tournament, but ended up watching a documentary on bears. Two bears were about to fight over a prime spot to hunt salmon, and they ended up making a bet on which bear would be victorious.
The article then shared other outlets for betting that these sports gamblers have latched on to:
- Russian table tennis
- The highest temperature in various cities
- An Oasis reunion to benefit the UK’s NHS
- Madden NFL, a football videogame
- Top Chef
- Shark Tank
- How many times President Trump will say words like “tremendous” in his daily press briefing
- Jeopardy
- Belarusian and Nicaraguan soccer
- Hockey games in Belarus
So yes, gamblers find a way to gamble, and the bookies find a way to take their money…
*image from Casino.org
Dave and I were discussing how many bookies will go bust during this non sport season.
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I never understood the world of gambling, but I don’t want to see anybody struggling. I hope they can survive the sports shutdown…
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My brother and I were just discussing this today. He had read an interesting article about some of the random things that people were betting on. I read somewhere that the horse racing industry, which tends to cater to older people, was hoping to capture some of that betting action, but many of the tracks are closing down now, even without spectators. Casinos are closed down too, although gamblers could still get their fix online.
That made me laugh about betting on the President’s use of the word “tremendous.” I’d set the over/under pretty high if I was a bookie. I’ve noticed his reliance on certain words and phrases too. (nobody’s ever seen…, that I can tell you, incredible, tremendous, and of course the old reliable, fake news.)
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I guess people who like to bet will find their fix somewhere. A friend of mine posts to Facebook everyday the number of superlatives President Trump uses during his press briefings.
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I’ve never understood gambling, though if I was to get in on the action it would be with Russian table tennis. My money’s on Forrest Gump.
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Forrest Gump would be a good choice, but the most recent scouting report notes that he is currently recovering from covid-19…
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Good call, Jim. 🏓
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maybe you could bet against him…
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Speaking of the multi-billion dollar industry that is gambling casinos, has anyone read or heard about their contributions to stopping this pandemic? Maybe it’s time for people before profits.
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at least they have shut down their physical operations; and it’s always time for people before profits, at least in theory…
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They are paying their employees, while they are waiting to go back to work
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that’s great to hear; let’s hope more employers are able to do so…
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so funny, and makes perfect sense. one of my friends, who is a scientist, came up with the idea for a new drinking game. we would both watch the daily ‘briefings/rallies’ in our own homes, and each time T uses a superlative in his rambling rants and declarations such as: great, wonderful, best, biggest, etc, we would have to do a shot. a couple of issues for us personally- neither of us is really much of a drinker, and we would be wasted within the first 5 minutes. good idea though.
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and you’d need to constantly replenish your stock of booze; there’d be a run on the liquor stores…
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So true!
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I’m not surprised people found new ways to gamble. I would have bet on it! 🙂
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perfect response, Norah! 🙂
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😂
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I don’t have the personality to be able to gamble. I break out in a rash if I lose 50 cents in the vending machine.
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I’m like you!
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Sort of funny in a way. However, others are trying to use fraudulent means to steal money from people with unbelievably empty virus gimmicks and cures.
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it’s a shame that there are people who try to take advantage of others when they are facing problems…
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Yes, where there’s a will there’s a way. Amazing how everyone finds new ways to adapt. This is one I would never have thought about.
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I would have never thought of this either – I guess they need to get their fix somehow…
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It is a good thing that some people are keeping our economy going, Jim. I love Jurassic Park and think I will watch it again over this long weekend coming up.
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Enjoy Jurassic Park, it is one of my favorites as well. Will you binge watch all of them?
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Nope, just the first one.
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it is the best one…
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