Gambling a bit...

Tuesday evening was pleasant weather so Linda and I went out to our local casino / horse track to watch the horses run. The number eight looked feisty to Linda so I suggested she place a bet on him. We had a few minutes prior to post for her to put two dollars down; I put two on the six, one of the more favored horses. Tickets in hand, we headed down to track side to see them come to the finish. The starting gate was in what I'd call turn two, the far side of the big oval. The horses would have a long straight before heading into turns three and four and then coming to the finish.

As the horses were being loaded into the gate, one of the few other people out along the rail said "He bucked him!" Linda's horse had thrown it's jockey! That re-affirmed the feisty nature of the horse but made us wonder whether it was actually going to be a good horse to have money on. The jockey climbed back aboard and the horse was loaded; the gates flew open and the race was on!

It was now, as the horses raced down the backstretch obstructed from our view by the tote board, that I realized we'd only paid attention to the numbers; the call of the race was by name! While the announcer called off names, we had no idea if our horses were doing well or fading fast. Fortunately, we saw a lighted sign that listed the numbers of the front four horses; unfortunately, our numbers were not among them.

As the horses came around the turn and pounded for the finish, we could make out the silks of our horses. As they went by us, the eight was moving up fast, possibly to contend for the money. My number six was ... well... not last. The finish was close enough to require photo review to determine third; Linda's horse was neither first nor second but she'd bet he'd show... it was still possible. When they posted the official results, third place went to the eight. Linda had won! We went to the window to collect her winnings: four dollars and forty cents; more than we'd arrived with and we'd enjoyed the weather and watching the horses run. We'll probably go back when we can actually watch several races.

On the way out, I took Linda over to the craps table to teach her a bit about my favorite casino table game. While intimidating to many, the game can be simplified and still enjoyed on a pretty reasonable budget. We stayed for about twenty minutes and left a little wiser and with enough winnings to more than pay for the gas. A good time!