How was it I came to be sailing Paradise with an All-Girl Crew?
Was I born with a silver spoon? Did I rob a bank? Did I win the lottery? Was I a dot com billionaire? None of the above.
Fresh out of University armed with a degree in mathematics and computer science, I did happen across Thorp’s book on card counting. How to beat blackjack at Las Vegas. Millions of simulated computer hands later, I was convinced Thorp was correct and headed off to Vegas with a couple of buddies.
We played and played and had great fun around the no-tell motel pool and made “our fortune”. Enough to barely pay our bills and buy gas to get home. Shortly afterward the guys from MIT rolled into town, made some serious money card-counting, got busted, and spoiled it for everyone else.
As a result, I was forced to get a real job. However, in tribute to my early days of card counting, I have included links to Beat the Dealer, Play Los Angeles, and Play Louisiana.
As luck would have it, I ended up in banking, as they needed help counting all their money. And who better to count money than a mathematician with a computer? And time went on and the economic storm clouds gathered.
Reading the tea leaves on the wall, and armed with the power of credit I bought a boat. From there I learned how to sail offshore in all kinds of weather, incase opportunity knocked.
And it did. Interest rates went to 20% due to a little something called inflation. My employer responded by cutting our wages by 20%. A lot of friends were driven to bankruptcy, losing everything. After years of smooth sailing, I also found myself headed for the bricks. Clearly, a brilliant, level-headed plan was required.
Not having one I took a Leap of Faith and sailed off to warmer climates, trusting that we would figure it out as we went. Better to be broke in Paradise than broke in a cold, wet northern city. Like some more famous sailors, I ended up sailing to Paradise by accident, by heading in the wrong direction. But of course, the Devil must have his due.
And the Devil? He made good on his promise. True to his word, I sailed Paradise with an All-Girl Crew. Only thing was, it turned out my all-girl crew was my wife and two daughters!
Now as a young man, I might have thought the Devil played a fast one on me. Not a young man’s idea of an all-girl crew. But, as a considerably older and hopefully wiser man, my view now is quite a bit different. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Just maybe there is a lesson. Make your deal with the Devil if you must, but always aim off-center. With luck, when the Devil jostles your aim, you might just score a bullseye.
