Rise of London Gambler. Second edition. Serik Jumanov
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Название: Rise of London Gambler. Second edition
Автор: Serik Jumanov
Издательство: Издательские решения
Жанр: Современная русская литература
isbn: 9785448509353
isbn:
“Well, I don’t know…”
“So, do you see my point? This is only one of my questions. It’s why I am not into religions. I trust something I can check using experiments or observations. People should have critical thinking, right? I can’t say I fully trust modern physicians too, but they have a more analytical approach to everything, they check and double-check their data and conclusions, it makes me trust them more, but I cannot say they are absolutely right in everything. You know, they develop own vision all the time, they don’t get stuck with dogmas etc.”
“So, what you wanna say? Scientists are right or religions are right?”
“Let’s say, none of them. The truth is somewhere in between, I suppose. I hope in the future they will come to a common solution. At least now they have one common point – definitions of God and energy are just about the same. God was there and will be forever and so is the energy. You can say I believe in energy. Not sure the energy has intelligence, though. Thus, there is no sin, but active and destructive actions since energy cannot judge you. You just get your energy and accumulate it, or you lose it, and that’s the only punishment you get”.
“So, you mean, saintly life is a spending your energy in right way which helps you accumulate more energy?”
“Good point! Probably, yes. Frankly speaking, I’ve never thought what a saintly life is since I don’t dare to be a saint or something. Wait, I need to do something.”
John looked at his laptop and placed the bets on odds he just has found attractive, and relaxed.
“By the way,” he said. “Investing is not a sin, right? You can say I invest in my bets. Any investment involves risk, so it is some sort of gambling, don’t you think? And if investing is allowed, then what could be wrong with betting? I’m not gambling blindly, I’m working hard to analyze the games and make my ‘investments’, but in the other form only! Also, this is absolutely fair business, no cheating. I win money, but it’s not easy. I take risks to lose, and for reward, I get a chance to win some money. It is absolutely similar to investing – except the fact that I am not producing any material or tangible asset. Frankly speaking, this fact is confusing me to some extent, but don’t the shareholders do the same? They invest money only, and then share the profit if they are lucky.”
Friday evening, November 25, 2011
John and Mike entered the room with plastic bags full of food and drinks.
“Hey, Emil, salam aleikum, bro! Get up, let’s celebrate! This is my friend Mike, you probably saw him in your shop.”
“Oh, aleikum salam, brothers!” Emil shook hands with Mike and looked at the bags amusedly. “Today you have a birthday or what?”
“No, just having a tea with my best friends! I’m celebrating my big victory, man!” laughed John.
“You won money?”
“Yes, man! £6,000 in one bet!!! Miracles happen, you see?” smiled John.
“OK, tell us, John! How did you make it?” asked Mike impatiently.
John took his laptop and switched it on.
“See, it is the history of my bets. I found two matches, which looked pretty interesting. These teams often concede the goals in the second half and lose the game even if they are winning after the half-time. I bet on so-called half-time/full-time result – it’s usually the highest odd offered – and the number of corners kicks. There were two matches, so it makes a 4-fold bet. Total odd was 5,848. My stake was £1 only – it’s all I could afford at that time.”
“25… 3… 17… 4…” murmured Mike, watching the screen. “You are a genius, man! You are a fucking genius!”
“Oh no, this is all about being sharp-eyed, Mike. Thank you anyway,” replied John, smiling.
“I will go to make tea,” said Emil and rushed into the kitchen which they shared with other tenants but John never felt comfortable with them.
“Yes, please! Emil makes brilliant Pakistani tea, Mike, you’re gonna love it.”
John sat on his bed and took a sigh of relief: “You know how great is it to feel you have money. A couple of days ago I had money to survive one month only, and now I have them enough to survive for one year! All my troubles are over now!” added he with irony.
Room table was small, so they spread newspapers like a tablecloth on the floor. Usually, Emil did it this way when John was occupying the table with his laptop, analyzing and making bets. Now John felt enormously thankful to this Pakistani guy for his patience and constant readiness to help. He recalled one day in his mind when John fell down with the flue, desiring to die as soon as possible since the pain in his head was tormenting him. Emil found him lying on the bed totally sick, all in sweat. He ran to the drugstore and bought some pills even though he was dog-tired after his shift in the fast-food shop. After taking that medicine, John fell asleep and woke up next morning, with no pain, but still weak. Smoking the cigarette at Amen Corner and looking at the sun shining, he started to think how beautiful life is. He decided to take a break from his bets, statistics, and studies since he had no power to continue. “Sweet surrender,” thought he to himself that day. “You’re sweet indeed…”
“What did you say?” asked Mike.
“Did I?”
“Yeah, you were murmuring something. I thought, maybe, you’re talking to me”
“Oh… never mind! I bought soft avocado to have them with doughnuts. It’s delicious, and it doesn’t make you too fat.”
They have heard a young white girl’s voice from the kitchen. The voice was smoky and boozed.
“Who are the other tenants? You know them?” asked Mike.
“Well, they are Pakistani guys too. Some of them are students, but it seems like they work most of the time as salesmen or cleaners, I don’t know exactly.”
“Come on, ladies, come on, ladies! One-pound fi-i-i-ish! Come on, ladies, come on, ladies! One-pound fish!” One Pakistani guy started singing the popular song, and a burst of laughter exploded in the kitchen.
“It seems like they’re having fun tonight too,” said John.
“By the way, what about Julie?” Julie was John’s classmate at business school. Once he invited her to the cinema, then a football match, and to his flat when he lived with Mike.
“I don’t know, man,” replied John. “I haven’t seen her for ages. I talked to my advisor at school so he let me work on my assignment at home, so… also, you know, girls are consuming a lot of time, effort and money… it’s kind of…”
“Oh, СКАЧАТЬ