Would you believe the shortest betting odd for finding the Loch Ness Monster were 6/1?

It sound incredible.

It’s interesting to read old books and Ron Pollard’s Odds & Sods: My Life In The Betting Business, published in 1991 by Hodder & Stoughton, details a wealth of stories about betting odds and the hope of big wins.

The story of ‘Nessie’ isn’t new. In fact, it goes back to the sixth century. The Scottish Highlands make the most of tourism which, even back in the day, was said to be worth £25 million a year.

Betting the Loch Ness Monster exists was something Ron Pollard, the odds-maker at Ladbrokes and PR Director, was keen to accept. However, that didn’t mean his job wasn’t on the line.

In 1977, American tourists liked to place a bets on ‘Nessie’. A betting voucher was something to take home to prove they had been to Scotland and visited Loch Ness. There was a steady steam of tourists who visited the Inverness Ladbroke’s betting shop.

Every springtime (perhaps cynically to build up summer tourism) there would be a sighting of the hump-backed monster. However, later that year, there was an illogical amount of money bet on its existence with a liability of £180,000. Amazingly, the odds were shortened from 100/1 – 6/1 before as Pollard said: ‘Sanity prevailed’.

Ladbroke’s top brass said: ‘If ‘Nessie’ was found, Pollard wouldn’t be.’

Meaning he would have lost his job.

Peter George, the Managing Director of Ladbroke Racing, rushed into his office and said the amount of money bet told him that the Loch Ness Monster was likely to be found.

‘Why all the money?’

But what really was the story? The location where the bets were placed and by who would give a better idea. As it happened, the bets were placed at university towns like Exeter, Bristol and Edinburgh. University students up and down the country were literally ‘swamping’ Ladbrokes with money.

But why?

Well, a student magazine would help explain. Back in 1974 a research team from Boston Academy of Applied Science had finally published a report with ‘photographic evidence’ about the Loch Ness Monster. The students being well-informed were betting on the report proving the existence of the creature from the deep.

As time would detail, the existence of ‘Nessie’ is still open for debate but none of the students have collected their money yet!

Win or lose if was great publicity for Ladbrokes.

Ron Pollard – the wizard of odds – kept his job.

Jordan Peterson is a psychologist but uses his understanding, researching and data to talk from a philosophical point of view to improve your life and make it more meaningful with truth and ethics.

Be a good, kind, decent person.

I have yet to read his book: 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, published by Allen Lane (2018) but I will

Writing is formalised thinking. It helps you think in a certain way and as he says the most powerful weapon you can every have. To write about your subject always has some aspect of conflict. It helps you question and find answers to questions.

It’s motivating but often painful and chaotic.

From listening to Dr Jordan Peterson I find so many of this thoughts and findings relate to gambling.

You may say: ‘I can’t see how gambling has much to do with psychology or philosophy.’

However, from a foundational point of view it most certainly does. To be a successful gambler you need to have passion for your subject matter and endeavour to find answers to questions. It always surprises me in life why so few people actually sit down and say to themselves about any subject or niche:

‘What is the answer to that question?’

And go on from that point trying to find the best answer to that same question. It takes critical thinking, perseverance, the gathering of data whether qualitative or quantitative, perhaps both. The point about viewing your gambling journey within a philosophical perspective is that it helps forward your learning and gives meaning.

Without meaning, everything is pointless. It also sets you on a path which has no limit to your understanding. This is no bad thing as you don’t want to reach your goal. Unless you are hell bent on finding the best answer to the question you will never reach that pinnacle.

You should always aim so high so you will never exceed your wildest ambitions.

As Peterson says: ‘We have evolved to walk uphill.’

But when we climb to the highest point we should press on to another level as that is what bring insight and further learning and meaning.

We can all learn something about ourselves and the subject itself by simply following that path of adventure.

To give up or change route or consider we have reached our final destination is pointless.

Finding meaning in life is about pushing through those difficulties rather than run away.

It may be a journey of much struggle but that’s what ultimately gives meaning.

As Peterson says referring to a quote from Carl Jung: ‘What you most want to be found will be where you least want to look.’

What do I do?

My wife hates me gambling. I’m asking for a friend of mine, it has nothing to do with me. I’m my own man. I must admit most wives aren’t keen on hearing their other half likes a bet. In ways I can understand it. For anyone who doesn’t gamble it seems a negative. The fear of the potential loss outweighs the possible gain. I really don’t want to go down the path that life’s a gamble even though it is. We cannot escape the inherent gambles of life although, I guess, betting on Tottenham Hotspur to win their next home game may seem a different kettle of fish. It’s a gamble that doesn’t need to be taken. It’s pointless so why don’t you just forget the whole thing and do something less boring instead.

If you are of a certain age you will have heard that phrase before.

My good friend, who I will call Ernie Wise, likes a gamble. To be fair Ernie is very good at gambling and he knows his stuff. He loves a bet on the horses. He has his own system and proclaims that it works. I can’t say I’ve ever thought too much about this point and just accept it is true. I have no reason to question him. Some times you simply have to take that approach.

My brothers and I often go to Great Yarmouth races and stay at a hotel and visit the Grosvenor Casino for a bit of a gamble. I said to Ernie: ‘You should come along and enjoy yourself.’ I know he would have a fun evening at the Grosvenor. A lovely listed building with a little bit of the James Bond about it. Well, in my mind it does. It’s a great location.

I said: ‘You may like it too much!’ Implying he may get carried away and his wife will divorce him. Obviously, I said that in jest. I know he has discipline and isn’t the type of person to bet too much.

So, unfortunately, he said he wouldn’t go to the casino as it would cause problems.

It’s disappointing that someone cannot have a day or night out because their wife disapproves. I guess everything is about give and take but I can guarantee he would enjoy his evening, lose a minimal amount of money, if not win and few quid and it would probably improve his relationship. I can understand people being careful about someone gambling because it isn’t to be taken lightly. In fact, unless you have self control, I wouldn’t advise anyone to gamble for fun. You are probably saying: ‘You sound like Ernie’s wife!’

However, I feel restricting someone from having a night out isn’t really the answer. I mean, on the grand scheme of things, it makes no difference to me. I’m not going to knock on their door and plead for him to be allowed out.

Thankfully, I have never been in a relationship where I have been told: ‘Don’t do that!’ Well, not for gambling, anyway.

That’s a joke too.

Gambling is one of those subject matters that people cannot get beyond. It has a stigma attached to it. If you talk about gambling then you are on the edge of divorce. Don’t push the issue. It’s nothing like my weekly stint at bingo.

Here’s an interesting thing, if you bet and win a fortune no man, woman or child wouldn’t want their share of the dosh.

‘Go on, let him go!’

‘Have a heart. Like the queen of hearts.’

I’ve been reading Dave Nevison’s book: A Bloody Good Winner: Life as a Professional Gambler.

I know what you are saying: ‘You must be a slow reader, it was published by Highdown in June 2008.’ For those of a sarcastic nature, I’ve read the book a few times. Every so often I like to recap and assess my progress as a gambler with the thoughts of Mr. Nevison. Things have moved on a little some 15-years later but the foundations to gambling don’t change too much from a philosophical standing.

Well, that’s what I say.

It’s interesting to read about the early days of Nevison’s gambling life as a pro punter back in 1993. Going from working in the City as a foreign currency trader – where deals were in the millions – to getting a bet on at a blustery racecourse were literally poles apart. It was a learning curve on so many fronts and by all accounts a difficult pill to swallow. He often he wished he could go back to those leisurely years where money really wasn’t a problem.

Not only did he struggle in those early years but he found his approach was all wrong. Being a traditional gambler, he would find a couple of decent bets on the card and bet on the nose which worked well if they came in but if they lost he found himself chasing his losses because he didn’t much fancy heading back on the train to Kent with that empty feeling in his pockets.

Things weren’t going to plan until he bumped into another familiar face Eddie ‘The Shoe’ Fremantle who was much more successful in his pro gambling with a very different stance on how to find value bets.

Fremantle made his own tissue on each horse in each race and looked to see how they compared to those of the bookmakers. If he had a horse priced 2/1 and the bookies had it at 5/1 he’d bet on the potential value. He may even bet on a number of horses in the same race. If his tissue odds detailed value he would win and the bookmakers would lose.

Upon hearing this approach, Nevison had a eureka moment and couldn’t believe he hadn’t worked it out for himself. From that day he formed his own tissue prices and by all accounts never looked back. He had found the key to being a successful professional gambler. Not only did it allow him to make the most of a race card (being able to bet in every race) but it also helped spread the money around with some bookmakers winning while perhaps one lost. This was a crucial part of his success in getting bets on rather than betting on one or two horses on the card. Bookmakers would be wary of taking selective bets if they were frequently digging into their readies.

A Bloody Good Winner is a great book for not only its humour and big bets but also from a learning point of view. Nevison could have started his book at any point of his professional gambling journey which may have given the impression he never backed a loser. But he is an honest bloke who didn’t flinch from detailing that his early years didn’t go to plan, that he made mistakes and listened to someone who had a better approach.

He says to this day that he appreciates and respects Eddie Fremantle while his book was rather scathing at other pro gamblers at the time who he felt didn’t put their money where their mouth is or simply bet such small money it could barley cover the costs of living.

Gambling is very much a learning experience. You don’t just wake up one day and find you are a successful professional gambler. It’s a journey of trial and error. It is a life of hard knock. But, like Nevison, it was a profession he felt he had to take because it was his ambition.

He did it well.