GAMBLING IS FOR FOOLS

I hope y'all can forgive me for ignoring you for a couple of days, but I've been doing vital work for cancer charities. Most of the cancer charities in my area (with one exception, that I won't harp on about) asked me to invest money for them. I had a plan, batman, and with enough Monet, I could be guaranteed to give them a handsome return on their investment. Armed with nearly £1 million channelled away from 12 year old girls with throat cancer and chain letters, I headed for the nearest casino. "Foooool!" I hear you cry, "You can't win at gambling unless you are in the Mafia." First up, those of you that know me will know I will now claim to be in the Mafia; secondly, I can win at gambling. It's called the Doubling Method where I come from, it may be called by its proper name where you come from, but I don't come from where you come from, and even if I did come from where you come from, I would come from it better than you ever could, from.

The Doubling Method consists of starting with a fairly large amount of money (in my case £1million) and then betting a small amount of it (£100) at any game with payout odds of 2-1. If you win, you walk out with a profit. If you lose, you double the amount you bet next time. If you win this, overall you'll be up and you quit. If you lose, you re-double your bet and continue. My sneaky plan was this: when it came time to quit - i.e. I was making a profit - I'd just start again from the beginning. After the first four £100 wins, I twigged that I needn't walk out of the casino, change into new clothes and walk back in as an ostensibly new person; I could just put the £100 profit into one of the thousands of pockets in my combat trousers (which go surprisingly well with a tuxedo) and then start the betting at £100 again. There were a few dicey moments at the roulette table; after an unbelievably long streak of red (on which some lucky bastard managed to win about £80,000 before losing it down the back of the sofa) I was down to my last £700,000. Feel the tension. Quake with me. Imagine all those young children dying painfully of cancer if black doesn't turn up in the next few spins. The ball bounces round like it did in Indecent Proposal, Demi Moore is blowing me under the table, Robert Redford is offering me millions to penetrate him, talk show hosts are flitting around in various states of undress with dinosaurs and the drugs are beginning to take hold. The wheel begins to slow. The ball bounces. Click. Click. Click. The casino switches on the magnets and bang. I win. Black. £100 goes into my pocket with the other 8 profit chips, and I brace myself for my 27th straight hour playing roulette. Who said you can't win at gambling?

I win the next two spins. My knowledge of chance informs me that the roulette table knows no history; there is no such thing as a lucky streak and I should quit while I'm ahead. I have made the cancer charities £1000, minus about £80 that I spent on non-Nestle (baby-killers) coffee and other stimulants (Demi Moore). I hand the money back. The charities are delighted. They ask me to do the same next year; how can I say no? I'm also offered a papal knighthood which I turn down to avoid giving the semblance of being pro-Fascism. I can't be doing with that: brain damage. NEEEEEXXXXXT.

PS Don't shop at The Gap. Hitler wore khakis.