Invisible And Illogical

No theme to this post really - just random observations, betting and non-betting. I have fixed the error with the link to the recommended video on trading I mentioned a few days ago. It's here for those who don't feel like hunting for it.

Next up, does anyone in 2011 really still think it's clever to not wear a seat belt? No names, but someone whose blog I link to seems to think so. There's a wealth of data out there about how many lives are saved each year by wearing them, and even if one is too stupid to understand those stats, as one wise commenter wrote, the more serious your injuries are, the more cost to the taxpayer.

When individuals don't wear seat belts, these costs increase considerably because the injuries are more serious.

A quick search on who the retards are who still don't buckle up, and I found this:

The most likely candidates for not wearing seatbelts are males between the ages of 17 and 25. Even the most expansive of educational programs are not helping to convince these drivers to think of safety first. The most likely reason is the natural inclination for people of that age group to think of themselves as invisible.

I think the word is 'invincible', but anyway, our invisible friend fits the demographic:

im 24 years old, left school without any qualifacations of value..

With three errors in nine words there, I can see why English was a Fail, but if you are into statistics, as anyone serious about betting on the exchange must be, the stats on seat belts (and crash helmets for that matter) tell you just one thing. Sometimes it pays to follow the crowd - wear them. Not too mention the fine that's just money down the drain. There was another statistic about car accidents that alarmed me when I first saw it some while back:

It is also a fact that 80% of accidents involving a fatality occur less that 25 miles from home.

What a wake-up call finding that out was - in fact, it was one big reason why I moved away.

A 'Buzzer' on the Betfair Forum is also statistically challenged, writing that:

Two or three kids a wife and a mortgage means you need around 5k a month for an average standard of living.

Say that again. £5k a month is hardly 'average'! As I wrote here in March this year, the latest figures show that the median weekly pay for full-time employees in the UK in the year to April 2010 was £499, so a £5k monthly income would be well ahead of 'average'.

Still no NBA any time soon, with games now cancelled through mid-December. At least the college version of the game is underway now, although until the conference games start, competitive games are few and far between. For the last two seasons, I've actually lost money on college basketball, including one £2,900 loss in 2010 that still stings. Perhaps liquidity, which traditionally lags well behind that of the pro game, will be up as NBA fans like myself try to make ends meet.

Finally, in the US, the Department of Justice has responded in a case brought by two men that the UIGEA [Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act] did not apply to poker, "as it is a game of skill". In the DoJ's reply to the court, they reference a legal citation from an 1888 case (Jack the Ripper was active and Preston North End were winning the League) and another argument used is:

that the Kenny Rogers song contains the lyrics “about knowing when to ‘hold em’ and when to ‘fold em’” because it is called “The Gambler.” They do, however, misattribute it to Willie Nelson.

You can't make this stuff up!