Two For The Money

There was a good Al Pacino film on BBC1 on Thursday night titled Two For The Money.

It was based on one of American sports betting touts who sells their picks and how he signed up one of the country's best handicappers to work alongside him.

I obviously enjoyed it because it's the sort of thing I have experience in as I have dealt with people who sell their tips.

Let it be known, however, that I have no paid for sports picks. I believe that to be one big con. the only thing I have ever done is bought a subscription to a weekly handicapping newsletter which points you in the right direction so you can compare your numbers with theirs. That's as far as I would go and would definitely steer people away from getting caught up in the massive hole of the hyperbolic 'Game of the Year' or 'Game of the Century' tips these guys promote.

Right, off the soap box I go...

The film shows this industry in a grey light - you see the positives and negatives that can happen from being involved in it.

Pacino had some great lines as well. The best one was when he described betting as a drug and the high is 'just before you take it. The dice are dancing on the table. Between now and the time they stop, that's the greatest high in the world'.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it's the 'greatest high in the world', but I can definitely see where the writer was coming from.

For me, it was when the ball was rolling around the roulette wheel and the adrenaline rush I got through the anticipation of a win or loss at the casino table was a thrill. Sure, winning was good but it was always the build-up that made it all the more exciting.