Reality TV Trading

A couple of comments, one of them quite ridiculous, on my last post.

Upandathem wrote:

Hi Cass - Keep stirring it, a great read, far too many on here take themselves too seriously.
Think it is time we had your tuppence worth on The Sultan v Speedwave trading debate as you are surely the one best qualified to give an opinion, so please don't be shy.

I'm not sure what makes me qualified to weigh in on this debate, but a lack of qualifications has never stopped me offering an opinion before! For those who don't know, the Sultan posts over at Centre Court Trading, and is generally recognised as one of the better blogs BEHIND this one.

A Speedwave (no idea who he is, but the name makes me think of a film of the Queen waving to her subjects being played at 8 times normal speed) comment over there included this:

Taking money from others for our advantage is not a good ethical thing to do. Sometimes you can make a trader lose his bank with a good single trade. Will that fit your educational standards?

Perhaps Speedwave doesn't understand the concept of trading. It's a zero sum game. Every penny I have won on the exchanges has come from others. The key point to remember though, is that every one of those people whose money has ended up in my hands, entered their bet fully aware of what they were doing. Every one of those individuals chose to open an account, and every one of them made the decision to fund that account. One would hope that, as with any speculative venture, the money they invested was money that they could afford to lose, but if they chose to invest money they needed for food or shelter, then that's not a problem for the rest of us. If you lose more than you can afford to lose, you have only yourself to blame.

The exchanges are faceless. We win on Betfair or BETDAQ, not from Betfair or BETDAQ. I doubt that many of us think about the origin of our wins, or dwell for too long on where our losses have gone. There's no point. 

What does sometimes cross my mind, usually when there are four figures or more on the line, and I do find interesting, is the thought that while a trade is still in play, somewhere in the world there is someone experiencing the exact opposite of my emotions. It would be great reality TV to show an event on the top of a screen, with the lower half of the screen split between the two of us. Perhaps it's a feature Betfair could look at introducing. Find an interesting bet - a bank buster or a decent amount, and with almost everyone having a camera built in to at least one of their four screens, start a live stream. 

"And now, we go over live to tonight's NFL game between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. Pre-game favourites Green Bay were layed heavily at 1.47 by Cassini - on the left, and on the other side of the transaction is Speedwave. Let's take a look in as the fourth quarter unfolds with the Packers up by six, and Speedwave hoping to pocket Cassini's entire bank of £16.27".

Seriously, if poker can make it on TV, I think this could catch on. 

"Cassini is in trouble here. He's called for the trainer, Mrs Cassini, who is bringing him a restorative cup of tea (black, no sugar), while Speedwave thumbs casually through holiday brochures. The Isle of Wight has been put to one side, replaced my the Maldives, but wait, an interception by the Packers in their own end zone - he's at the 10, the 20, the 30...."

The left hand side of the screen is chaos. Tea cups flying, dogs flying, bird flying (well, that's what they do), papers flying, Cassini leaping around like a demented idiot punching the air shouting "I KNEW it was a value bet" while Mrs Cassini ignores him as the lower right hand side of the screen shows a sobbing Speedwave, being handed a brochure for the Isle of Dogs as his wife packs her bags.

"... the 50, the 40.... he could.....go.....all.....the.....way - Touchdown!"

Game tied, just enough time for the extra point attempt. Once can only imagine the ratings as the ball is kicked through the uprights to win the game, except that a time-out was called just before it was taken. The second kick hits the right-hand post, flies across to hit the left-hand post, drops on to the crossbar and rolls....cut to adverts. Reality TV at its best.

"And now we go to Cartmel, where some course-siders, seen on the left of your screen, have just layed 'Ithoughthedfallen' at 1000, but he hadn't fallen at all and is now 20 lengths clear, with one to jump. On the right of your screen, well, we'll just wait a moment while Soccer Dude slips into something a little more uncomfortable - what most of us call trousers.... ok, we can now go over live...". 

I'm almost reluctant to post this, it's such a brilliant idea. The human drama. Forget SuBo - it is I, Cassini, who has a dream. As for Big Brother - finished. Big Betfair Bettor more like.

Of course, there will be those who will say that it's a terrible idea, that it will encourage irresponsible gambling and so on, and once again, the majority suffer and miss out on such a brilliant idea, simply because a few people can't control themselves and don't know when to stop. 

The second comment I referred to in the opening paragraph was one from whistle-blower and bully-(almost) naming Derek, whose thoughts included this:

Glad you liked my post!! I do like how you write though, probably the second best blog to read behind Soccer Dude's and this gave me good laugh.

I say 'thoughts' but clearly, there's not a lot of thinking that goes on between Derek's ears. I have to say that I nearly choked on my tea (black, no sugar) when I read that line.

"Second best"? Seriously? Second? As in 'not first'? You're 'aving a larf! It took me a while to regain my composure, and move on to the next, but if I wasn't quite apoplectic after reading that first comment, I certainly was after reading the following one:

I'd just like to endorse the comment about this being the second best blog behind mine :-)

Oh would you indeed, Mr. Smuggypants? Be warned - this blog is not finished yet.

1.01 this is something you will NEVER see