I don't usually post gambling stories as it's a bit of a 'Busman's holiday' fer me, but this is a kinda interesting One.
Back in the late Eighties I was managing a bookie shop in Cork, the shop was the most westerly shop in the city and quite often the old age pensioners with the free travel and the farmers from west Cork would frequent the premises as it was the first city bookie office that they would come across.
One particular customer who was probably an old age pensioner and definately a farmer by the stink of him arrived in one morning, a heavily set man who never spoke, he just put his docket and dosh up on the counter, his bet was;
"LOOTO, First number drawn Even, 5/6, £10" (Ir Punts at the time).
His bet won and he was in the next Monday morning to collect his £18.33.
A few days later he was back in to do the same bet, but this time it lost, so a few days later he was back in again but this time he had Doubled up to £20, it lost again, and again a few days later he Doubled up again to £40, which won.
Then a week later he was back in again and started again with a £10 bet always misspelling the word Lotto fer Looto and this all went on fer about Two years with him Doubling up week after week before he got a winner, £160 was the highest he got to before he got his winner and he was making a tidy profit from it.
But then thing's changed as they do in the gambling world, all his small bets lost and after his big £160 bet lost we wondered would we ever see him again ? Sure as' he was in like clockwork the next week with his £320 bet, it lost, the week after he was in again with £640, that too lost, £640 turned in to £1,280, £1,280 turned into £2,560, all losers. Then senior management got involved discussing what best next to do, there really wasn't an option, if we refused the next bet on humanitarian grounds then he would just have walked down the road to the next bookie and had his wager with them. I hoped, prayed that he had given up his quest, but he hadn't, he again was in on the Friday morning with £5,120 in cash fer his usual Looto bet, it lost and we never saw him again !