Pusillanimity

After thinking about the gambling aspect of my Las Veags stay, I always knew it had a low probability of success, and I think I am going to call it quits. In coming out here I had a pretty measly bankroll of $2500 and was prepared to supplement that with another $1500 out of my savings. I have said many times that if I were to expect any reasonable chance of success I would need at least $100,000.

Hopefully, the math of that is obvious. If I were to cover my $1200 a month living expenses, I have to double my initial $2500 bankroll every two months. If it were easy to make a fifty percent profit per month at anything, the dopes on Wallstreet would have sucked that tit dry long ago. With a $100,000 I would only need to increase my bankroll about 1% a month. Better yet, I wouldn't have to bet every month. I could stick to betting the sports I like to bet.

As I have been blogging all week, I have had a losing streak (7 bets in a row!) in my least favorite sport, for betting anyway, namely baseball. After squandering far too much I decided I should reevaluate my plans considering baseball is essentially the only sport I can bet on for the better part of the next three months. I felt my choices were to start chasing after money with bets I don't like making, or settle in and focus on other things.

I have enough money to make it to the end of the year, maybe November, but then I will have to start amassing debt. I'm not sure that bothers me so much. I've been through that before and it's a whole lot more bark than it is bite. I suppose with my credit, I could easily live on my credit cards for a couple of years. After that, what's another bankruptcy?

Getting back to focusing on other things, the obvious question is what would those other things be? At some point, I am going to need to make a teaching portfolio, that is, if I want to get a job teaching anywhere. I suspect that will be a one or two month project I can do in my spare time. Wait, I guess technically, all my time is spare time.

On my way to the bank, I pass a temp agency. I am half tempted to drop by some afternoon and see what kind of work they can get a PhD in Mathematics. Probably nothing better than data entry. I have always wondered how I would fare at a job like that. I don't imagine it would be much of a challenge. I suppose I could get a job as one of the casino front desk clerks, or whatever they're called these days. Probably something like "Hotel Inhabitant Facilitator" or something equally stupid. Of course, that's a lot of people interaction for a job that is likely to be under $10 an hour.

Since I'm not going to be gambling, I guess I'd better think of something else to do with my time. The teaching portfolio looks like a solid option.

My apologies to those that were enjoying the romanticism of coming out here and gambling. I certainly enjoyed it. It's too bad I was too poor to give it a real go, but the old adage is true. It takes money to make money.

I told Kim last week that I was a bit of a coward to have run out here, in search of avoiding the more mundane aspects of life. She seemed to disagree with my assessment of the situation. It's all about interpretation. I suppose I am a bit of a coward now for not simply taking the last of my money and betting it all, but at least I'll be a coward with a roof over my head for a few months more.