Monday, June 30, 2008
While in Orange County, traheho and I made several proposition wagers. While at the gym, we wagered on free-throw shooting, three-point shooting, and half-court shooting. I had not touched a basketball in six years, when I was a university senior. We alternated the half-court shots, and we were both shocked, as I sunk my second attempt!
We sat in a few restaurants that had a baseball game on television. Whenever a runner would reach base, we would set odds and root for the desired outcome, either the team scoring or not scoring. When a runner reaches first base with no outs, that is the baseball equivalent of a coin-flip. We were also wagering on an Angels game that was being replayed on the Fox Sports channel!
One night, we ate at maki maki in Irvine. Our server was terribly late with my simple request for a glass of cold water. In my mind, I had already deducted several gratuity percentage points for this lapse and other serving transgressions. Our bill totaled $84.80, and we gave our server the following offer:
Listen, we are professional gamblers. We are offering you an option. You can either take a guaranteed 15% tip or you can flip a fair coin for 35% or 0%.
I was surprised that our server took the gambling route. Luckily for us, he missed, and we left him a tip of $0.00. We exclaimed a sympathetic "oohhhh," as the coin was not good to him, but if I had to do it over again, I would have jumped and yelled in his face, "No tip for you!!"
After dinner, I said, "Let's go to that sick cupcake place we hit the other night, Lorraine's Sweets." Traheho hesitated and said, "You mean, Sweet Lorraine's." I said, "No, Lorraine's Sweets." Of course, we had a wager on our hand, and we anxiously headed toward this uncertainly named restaurant. Dammit! It was Sweet Lorraine's and the most expensive cupcakes I ever had, as a result (in addition to the $3.75 per regular price).
My friends and I got a mention in the New York Times. I think it's sort of cool, as I probably would not have ever been mentioned in a newspaper article in my previous job, other than for white-collar crime.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/fashion/29bets.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
We sat in a few restaurants that had a baseball game on television. Whenever a runner would reach base, we would set odds and root for the desired outcome, either the team scoring or not scoring. When a runner reaches first base with no outs, that is the baseball equivalent of a coin-flip. We were also wagering on an Angels game that was being replayed on the Fox Sports channel!
One night, we ate at maki maki in Irvine. Our server was terribly late with my simple request for a glass of cold water. In my mind, I had already deducted several gratuity percentage points for this lapse and other serving transgressions. Our bill totaled $84.80, and we gave our server the following offer:
Listen, we are professional gamblers. We are offering you an option. You can either take a guaranteed 15% tip or you can flip a fair coin for 35% or 0%.
I was surprised that our server took the gambling route. Luckily for us, he missed, and we left him a tip of $0.00. We exclaimed a sympathetic "oohhhh," as the coin was not good to him, but if I had to do it over again, I would have jumped and yelled in his face, "No tip for you!!"
After dinner, I said, "Let's go to that sick cupcake place we hit the other night, Lorraine's Sweets." Traheho hesitated and said, "You mean, Sweet Lorraine's." I said, "No, Lorraine's Sweets." Of course, we had a wager on our hand, and we anxiously headed toward this uncertainly named restaurant. Dammit! It was Sweet Lorraine's and the most expensive cupcakes I ever had, as a result (in addition to the $3.75 per regular price).
My friends and I got a mention in the New York Times. I think it's sort of cool, as I probably would not have ever been mentioned in a newspaper article in my previous job, other than for white-collar crime.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/fashion/29bets.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
