My New Hobby: Gambling

Juuuuust kidding. But seriously, last week I bet on a few things and won, so I have the itch to go to Vegas.  That itch also might be because it's cold and rainy here in Portland right now. I need warmth and sunny, blue skies please!

So my friend at work is a HUUUUGE NASCAR fan. I never pay any attention to that sport. But when I was working my internship in St. Louis a few years ago I would get a phone call in the Sports department from a guy named Randy.  Randy was mostly calling to chat ( I think he called every sports station in the area every day just for his social fix) But every Friday he would have the same question for me: What position in Matt Kenseth starting in on Sunday? The first time I asked, "WHO?!?!?" I had no idea who Kenseth was. But after several months of Randy's weekly question, I now officially know one person that races in NASCAR.  So back to my friend. The Daytona 500 was last week. Apparently it's the Super Bowl of NASCAR. Whatever. Jake (my work friend) has been a fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr. his whole life. So I figured it would be fun to place a friendly wager on this race. I'm picking Kenseth to win, and he's got Jr. Loser buys tickets to the Blazers/Heat game.

Jake is a boy, but looks like a girl with LONG locks. For months everyone at work has been asking him when he'll cut his hair. We are all excited to see the locks go. So Jake places another wager on the race. If Jr. wins, he'll cut his hair. Then, just to spite me, he added if Kenseth wins he will cut his hair because, "there's NO WAY Kenseth will actually win the race." So now I've got two reasons to be excited about this race!

Race day comes and Kenseth and Jr. are neck and neck the whole time. It's almost as if they know we've got a bet on the line. No matter where they are in the race, they are side by side. But the last part of the race, Kenseth pulls out in front and maintains his lead the whole race and I win. Jr. made a last second attempt to win, but Kenseth wouldn't have it. So not only did my driver beat Jake's, but mine actually won the whole race!  I should have put real money on this one. Right?!?

Our next day off together I proudly drove Jake to the barbershop.

 Major improvement if you ask me. Then, that night we enjoyed great seats (courtesy of Jake, of course) at the Blazers game. Too bad we lost. Still, it was really fun to see Lebron and Wade up close. As much as I hate the dude, Lebron is legit.

Moral of the story: Gambling isn't that bad, right? I think I'll quit right now while I'm ahead though.