Humans on their own are usually insignificant, but they all have one similarity. They all like to play god. Nowhere is this more evident then at a World Cup, an event long on irrational fervour and short on rational logic. For the one thing bigger than the World Cup itself is the World Cup betting frenzy.
Do you seriously think this world cup would be so big if there weren't obscene amounts of money being wagered on the outcomes of every match, on whether certain teams would score a certain amount of goals? Humans all like to think they know better. I see people doing stupid things like putting hundreds on matches, only to tell me after the match that they should have known better. Well, sorry, but I thought you did.
Even thinking that putting money on matches will win you money in the long run is just stupid, Just think about it, if betting were a money-losing business, (I.E. you will always win money so the betting houses would lose theirs), would there be so many betting houses around? Would the government actually want to legalise gambiling even at the cost of their squeaky clean public image? Money has a way of making people give up their moral values. Actually any form of a carrot can do that if you're narrow-minded enough.
You want proof? Live for a week in a certain ISP platoon in a certain signal battalion and watch how people fight for offs and other petty advantages. Morals go out of the window. The devil would be proud.
If I had the money I would start a betting house too. Before I can even open the door of my new shop hundreds of people would be rushing to throw their cash at me, then spend the next few days scrimping and saving just to throw more cash at me. What a life. I won't even be able to enjoy the money you people are throwing at me fast enough before more will be thrown at me again. Then I'll open a few more shops and the number of people throwing cash at me would increase tenfold. Soon I'll start New SingPools and the number would increase to national proportions. I would then pay Gurkhas or African child soldiers to serve in the SAF. They are fitter and more motivated for the same amount of cash. And I wouldn't have to serve reservist, which is just a 10-day or so kopi-drinking exercise.
Yes my dear OC, my attitude may be bad but I'm not here by choice. I would however recommend my Gurkha or African brethen to you. They would really love to take my place, which I would be so willing to give, to essentially do nothing for a living while still being able to enjoy the privilege of reporting sick too! And they even get lots of off days! If only in the signal formation. Its a win-win situation, something I've learnt from my secondary school days which still guides me to this day.
Allow me now to take a 5 minute break to expunge my disgust and suspend my disbelief. Oops!
But not serving in the army is all a conjecture and a fantasy. Till someone gives me enough cash to start my own betting house.
But back to my topic, it is seriously dumb that people still want to place money in bets. I guess humans like to go for the short term high where you feel vindicated for thinking you knew better, while losing money in the long run. Probability shows that you will probably win a few times in placing bets. but probability also shows that you can never win money in the long run from bets. You'd be better sitting on your cash and not touching it. How can people claim to pass A-level maths and not know this? Its just something about humans that still puzzles me.