Rise of London Gambler. Second edition

He took the doughnuts and went to the kitchen. He saw Karim earlier; it was young long-limbed and a gimlet-eyed guy. John never found him nice so avoided unnecessary contact with him. Karim was sitting at the table with a good-looking woman, approximately 27—30 years old, with tons of make-up on her face.

“Good evening! Sorry for bothering you,” said John, entering the kitchen. “I just need to use the microwave.”

The woman took stock of John, and said: “Hello, my name is Jenny.”

“Nice to meet you, Jenny! I’m John. By the way, we’re having tea in our room. Wanna join us? You’re welcome!”

“God’s sake, men stopped drinking beer around here or what?” asked Jenny slowly, becoming somewhat upset.

“He is a sportsman,” laughed Karim. “He plays football,” he added and broke into laughter.

“What’s so funny?” thought John.

“You play football?” asked Jenny, while microwave oven began buzzing.

“Yep, I play some football with my friends. It’s an amateur team, each Saturday.”

“Amateurs, you see?” laughed Karim again.

“Yeah, amateurs,” said John, starting to get mad about Karim. “Nothing special, just having fun to play footie.”

“Call me when you have some beer, sweetie,” said Jenny. “What is in the box? Doughnuts??”

“Yeah, we’ve just brought them from Sainsbury’s.”

“Fuck me-e-e! Fuck me! Jesus! Grow up! How old are you?! You’re a bunch of suckers!” Karim and Jenny burst into laughter again.

“I’d fuck you till you appeal for mercy, bitch,” thought John, starting to get mad, but he laughed with them instead.

The oven has signaled that doughnuts are ready. John took them and went out of the kitchen.

“See you, guys!”

“Bye!”

When he entered the room, Emil and Mikey were talking about John’s bets.

Emil was talking excitedly: “One player of Pakistani national cricket team was found guilty in fixing the matches. It was written in the newspaper!” He looked around at the floor, trying to find the lying newspaper he was talking about, but now it was impossible.

“Shit! Bastards! I can imagine how much they make out of it, man!” said Mike. “Wow, doughnuts!”

“Here you are. Help yourself, guys, don’t be shy. Nobody likes shy guys!” said John.

The tea was amazing, and so were the doughnuts. After having four or five of those, John asked Mike:

“By the way, how is your new roommate? What was his name, again?”

“His name is Stephen,” replied Mike. “Good guy, he studies a lot. The only thing he is too religious, so he talks about the doomsday and Illuminati all the time, but it’s okay. He would like to play football with us some day. He says he used to be a good defender at school.”

“Yeah, no problem. Let him come to our training on Wednesday. By the way, Emil also talks to me about Islam a lot, so we both are kind of on the firing line!” smiled John.

“Once he told me,” continued Mike, “he told me, that you can find devil’s sign “666” in the name of Coca-Cola, “‘cause each “C” looks like “6”. So he never drinks it. And he doesn’t celebrate Christmas because it is not really a Jesus’ birthday, and Santa is an anagram of “Satan’!”

The guys laughed. Emil started cleaning the room and said he had to go to the fast-food shop he worked at to help his back-to-back with cleaning. Also, he said, there might be some chicken fries unsold, so he’d like to bring them, as usually.

“You know what,” said John as Emil left. “Religious fanatics usually lack education or mental aptitude, I don’t know. At the same time, they either have an enormous ego or they are absolute nice guys. Nothing in between. They usually come from those who we think are nerds or losers, but they will never say so. They just want to look big, like ‘you all are plain shit, but I know the Truth with capital ‘T’. So, honour me!’ An easy way to the public recognition. No need to study, no need to work hard, etc. Just read only one holy book and feel important.”

“Yep, probably right. People like freebies. Some people like to think they are more important just because they are white, black, purple, or if they’re coming from some local area. Or if they got more money than you!” replied Mike.

“I bet there always will be someone looking for such reason to be more important than others. If all people would be black, they still will be looking for the differences – some might be deep black, some would be violet black, and some would be yellowish-black. I think, they just need a dream they could believe in, and it makes their day. Deep inside, they subconsciously realize that they are ‘plain shit’ and their existence is meaningless, but they want to be important somehow. They need a purpose in their lives. Well, Mike, do you have a purpose in your life?”

“Do I what?! What purpose, man? I’m just trying to survive here each fucking day!” replied Mike, laughing. “Do you have a purpose?”

John thought to himself for a moment.

“Good question, mate! Well, I don’t know what to say… I just want to be happy. That’s all. As soon as we were placed into this world, we have to survive and enjoy the process, if possible. But if you enjoy bullying others, then you’re a piece of shit.”

Mike a said he has to go since it is becoming late, and John went out to send him. For John, it was a chance to walk and smoke in a company.

“So what are your plans now, John?” asked Mike. “You wanna come back to our flat or move to some better place?”

“No, I’m fine,” replied John. “Yeah, this new place is shit. Recently I caught a cold here while sleeping. But I still have to make some more money. When I have enough, I’ll move out.”

They were walking down Southcroft Road. A red bus passed them by, leaving in silence.

“Okay, Steve seems to be sleeping already,” said Mike, looking through the window. “So, what time do we meet in the morning”?

There was a game with kick-off scheduled at 10am, as usually on each Saturday, so they had to meet and take a bus.

“Oh, yeah, nearly forgot. Darren said he’ll pick us up at 9:00am at Tooting Station. So let’s meet at 8:45am at my flat.”

“OK.”

“See later, man.”

“See later.”

John felt great – now he didn’t have to worry about money until the end of his training course. Also, now he could place bigger stakes to win more. “My road to million,” murmured he. “Then I could forget about the day job, and run my own business. Maybe, open another bookie?”

Through the window, he saw Emil cleaning the fast-food shop with his workmate. The guy waved his hand to John, and so did John. “OK, one more cigarette,” decided John and stopped by the shop.

“Oh, another Friday evening show-off,” thought John, looking at walking young girls, who were sexually dressed and made up. Two pretty Asian girls were passing him by.

“Good evening, ladies!” he said, trying to pick them up, but they ignored him.

“Yeah, nice. Very nice.” Emil was smiling and showing gestures to John so to stop the girls. His workmate was smiling too.

Emil went out of the shop and started pulling steel shutters down. “Did you see these two sisters?” asked Emil. “I know them. They often come to our shop. I want to invite them.”

“Oh, they are very nice, tut-tut,” said Emil’s workmate with a strong Pakistani accent, shaking his head and smiling.

“It seems like they are already invited, mate. Try it tomorrow or next weekend,” replied John.

“Are you hungry? I took chicken fries,” said Emil. John wasn’t, but the fries flavor was too attractive.

“OK, bye, guys!” said Emil’s workmate.

“Oh, bye, man!”

John and Emil went upstairs to their room. Tea was hot enough still. They sat on the floor again.

“I am very happy for you, brother,” said Emil. “You are a great man.”

“Thank you, Emil! Another ‘slumdog millionaire’, eh?” laughed John.

Someone opened the door and entered the room. It was Karim. He asked Emil something in Urdu and they started talking. Karim laughed.

“You have no girlfriend?” asked he, looking at John now. “Is he your girlfriend?” he pointed at Emil and laughing.

“No, I have no girlfriend, why?” replied John. “How can Emil be my girlfriend?” asked he, but Karim went out.

“This guy has very strange sense of humor,” said John. “When I was younger, I used to beat such guys senseless.”

“It’s OK, brother, don’t worry. I will punish him.” Emil looked upset.

“What you were talking about?” asked John.

“Oh, nothing,” replied Emil. “You know, he is a bad guy. This girl sleeps with men for money. He is her manager.”

“Really?! He is a fucking pimp?” laughed John. “How much does he make then?”

“He said £30 an hour. He asked if we wanna try her.”

“£30? And what did you say?”

“No, I don’t want such things. It’s not good.”

“OK, man, just relax. Look, I don’t mind fucking her brains out, man. Are they in the kitchen?”

“Oh, brother… Look, if you want I can talk to him.”

“Yeah, why not? Sorry, where will you stay when we…”

“I can Skype at the kitchen, bro, no problem. If you want – then no problem.”

“Okay, man. Sorry for it, okay?”

“It’s okay.”

Emil went out of the room with his mobile phone and earphones in hands.

John lay on the bed. “Maybe, I should buy some beer?” thought he, but at this moment Jenny, with only a few clothes on, entered the room with a bottle of beer in her hand.

“Hi, honey!” smiled she, and suddenly John felt he is almost ready to rape her. “So, we wanna have fun, ah?” said she and sat on the bed.

“Sure, why not?”

“You got condoms? A real man always has condoms,” laughed Jenny.

John had no condoms but he didn’t want to look like a not “real man” now. So he said:

“I have no condoms. I prefer having sex with a woman, not a condom.”

Jenny laughed.

“Okay, I will take a quick shower, sweetie. Come on, go with me!”

John took soap and towel. They went out the room and saw Karim sitting in the kitchen. He grinned with satisfaction right at the moment he had seen them.

John showed him “OK” gesture and pushed Jenny towards the bathroom.

They have had a shower together, and Jenny kneeled down in front of John.

“Do you want it right here or should we go to your room?” asked she. The look of her eyes was gorgeous.

“Somebody might come here to have a shower. We better go to my room,” replied John.

This time when Karim saw them, he started whistling the “Come on, ladies! One-pound fish” tune. John didn’t turn back to see him.

“Oh, boy, you seem too horny… Come on, lie down. Did you lock the door?” She locked the door, turned the light off and closed the curtains.

Lying on the bed, he saw her coming naked. “Oh boy… your dick is so hard already” said she, holding his cock. John closed eyes and relaxed.

Jenny kissed and licked his belly, going lower and lower. Then she started her “sex magic”.

“Sweet surrender…” remembered John and then he cleared his mind from all thoughts he was overloaded with the last couple of months.

December 10, 2011

During December, John tested his theory of fixed matches. Nights and days were spent in analyzing match results, league tables, history of matches, and so on.

“Well, currently I have few ideas,” was he saying to Emil as it helped him to put his thoughts in order. “The first one is friendly games. Usually, they are conducted to test the team and new players, so results of underdog teams are higher than expected. Depending on odds, I select an event to bet on – underdog team is not to lose, or win with goal handicap. Odds have to be really attractive – either higher than 2, or pretty likely to win”.

“The second idea is,” continued he, “to find teams in some tournament, like a regular championship, which have lost motivation to play – for example, they have already avoided relegation or lost chances to promotion. There are many tournaments around the world, so you can often find one where some teams meet the criteria. You can make the same type of bets I just mentioned or even more – the half time/fulltime results. These odds can be really high, from 17 to 81 or so. Assuming that the match is going to be fixed, it will be fixed for higher profit because if you fix the match, you’re going to make money as much as possible, right? Usually, it is when one team leads the score after halftime, and then another team wins the match finally, i.e. leads the score after full-time. Am I clear?”

Emil nodded his head.

“Oh yeah, cup games are also good to bet on in the case of halftime/fulltime results. I think it is due to the nature of the tournament. It is a playoff, only one match played usually, there is lots of excitement, and thus the team tactics sucks. I mean, losing teams have to go all-in, and sometimes it works for them.”

“Hm…”

“Then you collect all your single bets and make a few-fold bet. For example, today I collected 14 bets and made 2-fold bets on all combinations of them. If only one pair of bets wins, I will increase my stake up to 10 times. If I also make 3-fold or even 5-fold bet, it can make me a millionaire just like that.” Saying it, John snapped his fingers. “So I hope, someday I will, sooner or later. It’s just matter of time and luck.”

“You are winning money now? I mean, every day?” asked Emil.

“No, not every day, unfortunately, but my balance is okay, I’m not losing money. Currently, I’m thinking of adding another type of bets, which is a stronger team to win from behind, since the odds are worthwhile too, from 8 to 10. But it must be a really stronger team which is able to make a comeback, you see. And, of course, all these teams of leagues have to have a history of such match results, that’s’ my observation.”

“Yes, brother, we must make money to help our families. If you can make money this way, it is good for your family,” said Emil.

Recently Emil got a lack of money in the till, some £50. He got very upset but refused to accept any help.

“Emil, how much do you make a day? Or per month? £500? You can also bet if you want. But I cannot say my bets are 100% sure win. I noticed that when I give bet advice or tips, they lose. You see, I bet my money, this is my responsibility only, but when I give advice… it’s not my money under risk. I feel really uncomforting when people lose, using my bits of advice.”

“Look, you can sell your advice and make money too,” said Emil.

“Listen, I don’t like fooling people around. Also, I don’t understand why people trust those guys who sell their betting tips. If, as they say, every day the tipster makes 100% win, then bet with odd of 2 at least, then in a month he’ll be a billionaire! If I were a billionaire, I would never mess with selling my tips for £5 or even £500! I better sit alone, smoke my cigar, drink my coffee and make money like a money-printing machine! It’s why I believe those tipsters are liars! Somebody should get them and kick their asses!”

Emil nodded. There was a minute of silence. Then Emil said:

“Some people become bet maniacs. They lose all their money, and every day they want to bet again and again.”

“I see what you’re talking about. That’s not my case. I saw some crazy guys at bookie shops; it looks like they live there. Poor guys! But it is a fair business. Nobody forces you to bet. You either accept the odd for your bet or not.” John sighed.

“It is very hard to work every day, and do not make money enough to help your family. It’s like running, running and running, but you do not get closer to your goal,” sighed Emil too.

“Oh, fuck it, man! Just fuck it! We’ll make it, I’m sure! Someday we’ll buy that shop and it will be your own! Come on! Let’s go to the cinema! I’m inviting you. I’ll pay for everything,” said John.

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