Gambler's Thread 01 (May 08 - Nov 10)

[kennynah]

i think eventually, it is about managing one's expectations of singapore's future...

if suppose, i have given up all hopes that this regime will do any good for singapore, then however bad they become, i can smile knowingly.

but if i have high hopes that singapore will be a solid place of abode...then when casinos spawn more social discords, i will be totally disheartened and even depressed. and then when this regime sideline more pedigree singaporeans over mercenaries, i will get upset and then when this regime enacts one single electoral boundary; ie the entire singapore becomes one big GRC, i will get disillusioned and so on so on...

gong buay liao...
lu gong lu tu lan !!!

[winston]

Man says prescription drug caused compulsive gambling
Wed Jul 9, 2008 8:03pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Wall Street banker who said he lost $3 million from compulsive gambling caused by a popular drug used to treat Parkinson's disease is suing companies involved with the drug for his losses.

The lawsuit, filed in New York State Court on Tuesday, accuses the privately held German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer and Pharmacia & Upjohn of breach of warranty, negligence and negligent misrepresentation.

Randolph Simens, 55, said that he took the drug, Mirapex, from 2002 to 2007 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and suffering hand tremors.

"It put a little tickle in me and then snowballed within a month," said Simens, who filed the lawsuit in New York State Court on his own because he said he cannot afford a lawyer.

A spokesperson for Pfizer said the company had not marketed Mirapex since 2005, when medical studies first linked the drug to compulsive behaviors, including gambling.

Pfizer said that it had "acted reasonably and appropriately during the entire time period it was involved with Mirapex."

Mirapex is still sold in the U.S. market and is also prescribed for restless leg syndrome.

The defendants "had a duty to provide adequate warnings and instruction for Mirapex, to use reasonable care to design a product that is not reasonably dangerous to users, and to adequately test their product," the lawsuit said.

A successful banker, Simens said that he had been a recreational gambler before being prescribed the drug. But he said he quickly became reckless, spending entire nights gambling over the Internet and traveling to casinos.

"It's stupidity. I just couldn't stop," he said.

After reading an article that suggested a link between Mirapex and compulsive behaviors, including gambling, Simens said he felt a wave of relief.

Simens, a father of two, joined a gambler's support group and, within five weeks of getting off Mirapex, he had stopped gambling, he said.

[kennynah]

this is probably very suitable topic under "can u believe this, crab!!!" hahahaha...

[winston]

Yes, I thought about that as well as the "Health" thread.

But when I read thru it again, it was quite serious.

Ever wonder why so many Asians are gamblers ? I think it is because of something in the rice and noodles

[kennynah]

Ever wonder why so many Asians are gamblers ? I think it is because of something in the rice and noodles

hahaha....i doubt it... it's just that we are generally more aggressive risk takers...

china's population is almost 1/3 of world's population.

her country was really poor for a long time... most poorer people will think like this... "i have $50, what can i do? eat, not full, hungry, wont starve...might as well use it and gamble...see if luck will favour and make it many folds of $50..."

but when a country is more well to do, people will naturally become more prudent...

just TOL.. no evidence whatsoever to support this thesis...

[HengHeng]

Actually it is pretty true , most people who become successful late in their lifes from nothing are people who have very humble backgrounds. The poorer they are the more they want to empower themselves to become rich.

Though it is easier to become richer being rich in the first place but it is hunger which that pushs people out of poverty. Being in singapore one becomes "content" with whatever they have. It is difference if your wish to become rich in just a "wish" and not an immediate "need". Mouth say i want to become rich and heart say i will become rich whatever it takes is two different issue.

Well i've mentioned about the loser mentalities some of our younger generations have , many after falling once find it hard to climb back up and go higher. Well i have many friends which belongs to this group and do know of many younger that might become in this group from the way they behave and think.

To me too sheltered and pampered.

[blid2def]

This guy is pretty amazing. I like to watch his performances on 综艺大哥大 - 大魔鏡 on cable.

郭安迪 千术大解密

"小心老千随时在你身边"

Watch the first clip, where he does the demo. Then watch the rest where he shows some of the tricks involved.

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Click to view video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlrNrJRFWxE

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Click to view video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDsZ0nNIsSs

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Click to view video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgDTNC010fo

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Click to view video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x648lt0lo9c

[millionairemind]

Isn't this scary???

"小心老千随时在你身边" - An eye opener for me...

[winston]

Student celebrates $12 million lottery win

LONDON (Reuters) - The credit crisis and tight student budgets hold no fears for a British teenager who won 7 million pounds ($12.68 million) on the Lottery.

Ianthe Fullagar, 18, from Cumbria, northern England, said she still plans to go to university next year to study law, despite her huge win on the EuroMillions game.

Although she won't need a student loan or inflated overdraft, she said she hopes to be just like the others at college.

"I'm going to live the life of a student. I'm going to live in student digs," she told the BBC on Tuesday. "I love baked beans."

The teenager said she screamed so loudly when she checked her ticket that her dog jumped up and bit her on the bottom.

She hid her winning ticket in her bra before moving it to a jewelry box and then her gym bag while she waited for her win to be confirmed.

After receiving an over-sized check at an official ceremony, she said she plans to spend her winnings on her family and friends and a new Ford Ka.

[winston]

Some hope for the you

====================================

French punter scoops 7.5m euros with 60 euro bet

A horse-racing fan made a French gambling record on Monday when he placed a 60 euro (HK$595) bet and went home with winnings totalling 7.5 million euros, the PMU state-run bookmaker said.

The gambler, who was not named, placed a bet known as a quinte, which means the better has to predict the first five horses to romp home, for a race in the Vincennes hippodrome in the Paris suburbs.

Placing a quinte bet automatically puts the gambler into a lottery by allocating him a four-digit number.

The lucky gambler correctly guessed the first five horses and then his four-digit number was picked in the lottery, which begins at a million euros and increases by 50,000 euros every day until someone wins it.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE