How I met Black Lab? (the early days) 09/28/2002 1:53 PM By sick gambler
I received a call from Black Lab asking me to post, but I really had nothing to say, so this is all i can think of right now. So folks, sit back, open up a can of beer, warm up the left over chicken from last night, and read this, because it will give all of us hope in life that one day, we all can actually change if we really want to. The motto of this story is "never give up on your dreams".
10 years ago when I was still booking there was this little kid in his late teens or very early 20's named Black Lab. I hadn't known him yet, but I was about to. This kid was about to turn into the biggest square this city of Montreal was about to see. This kid made BTJ look like Billy Walters in his finest days.
I had quite a few customers back then, and a lot of them were dime players, but when Black Lab would call, I don't care who was on the line with me at that time, that guy was going to hold till I finish with Black Lab, and sometimes it would go as long as 15 minutes, I didn't care. Even though Black Lab was only a 80-200 dollar bettor, he was worth more than any of my dime players. This Black Lab was my bread and butter. This kid was money in the bank for us. He was our MVP. I had NEVER seen a bigger square in my life, until BTJ came along.
I remember Black Lab calling everyday at 6:45 pm and placing all his bets. If he didn't call by then, we'd be getting nervous. I remember everytime the phone rang after 6:45 pm and it wasn't him, we'd be freaking out. We had call display and everytime the phone rang, my partners would say, is it him? I'd look and say, shit, no. This would go on for 6 straight calls and it wasn't him each time. He was making us sweat, and he didn't even know it. Then it would ring again, they'd say, please tell me it's him now, I'd look and say, yesssssssss, it's him. And we'd all jump up to the sky and high five each other. That's how great this kid was. He would always bet the same thing every night. All the favs and all the overs across the board. It wasn't hard predicting what he was going to bet. After a few days, I started bumping every favorite by 1.5 pts and every over by 1.5 pts, and BL was still betting each game fav and fav over. I loved that kid. I used to actually write all his plays before he called, because I already knew what he wanted, and I was always right. It saved me a lot of time.
Now true story, I later find out from my partner that BL is his roomates son, and all BL was doing was taking all his buddies bets and placing them (sort of like an agent) Well, I didn't believe him. NO way are these bets from a bunch of kids. I knew he was lying, but I minded my own business. BL was the best customer any bookie could have ever asked for. He paid on time week in and week out, he NEVER had a winning week in 17 straight weeks. I have NEVER seen anyone till today, lose so consistently like Black Lab. This kid was a legend.
One day, when I was taking the bets, I remember it being 6:53 pm, and Black Lab hadn't called yet. I was getting very nervous now. Then i can recall at 6:57pm, he called. All I can remember is telling him to hold one second. I remember screaming yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, and running up the stairs in my underwear, and running on the street screaming, yessssss he called. I remember everyone staring at me like I was a freak. Here's this grown man running around on the street in his underwear, shirtless, with this huge belly and tons of tomato sauce on it, and on my face, from the cold pizza I was eating, running on the street in the daylight. Alot of neighbors thought I was a nut. But they just didn't understand that Black Lab finally called. So when I got back to the phone, BL asked me why I took so long, and why I was out of breath. So i told him that I had to run upstairs and get my food from the microwave. I just couldn't tell him that I was running on the street in my underwear celebrating his phone call. I remember all the parents in the neighborhood telling their kids to stay away from that weird man. Then seeing me 4 months later being busted for bookmaking and coming out of my house handcuffed, with 4 police cars surrounding my house. They had NO idea why I was being handcuffed. I'm sure they were thinking that I molested someone or something. Everybody feared me in my neighborhood.
BL was always first on my list when it came to customers, even ahead of all my dime players. He was a VIP. Then later on, BL finally quits because of a bad streak, and apologizes to my boss for admitting that he really was NOT an agent, and that he just had an itch for gambling. I think we kinda felt bad for the guy and told him it's ok, he does NOT have to pay the balance of what he owes, because he lost too much to us for a kid so young, we all felt bad for him. He really seemed to have a major gambling problem, and I started to really feel bad for him. I didn't even want his business anymore. I started feeling very guilty for all those times I bumped those favorites and overs on him. I was actually waiting for God to punish me somehow by getting struck by lightning or something. Everytime I walked in the rain after that, I was very jumpy every time I heard lightning. I used to duck every time and try to dodge the lightning by hiding behind the cars, and using people walking on the sidewalk as shields. I thought for sure God was out to get me, as I had just ruined a kids life.
Then 9 years later, I am posting here at MW, and there's this annoying kid named Black Lab, who I had NO idea who he was. He just kept on asking me what part of Mtl am i from. I told him many times, that he does NOT know me if he is only 20 something. All of a sudden, me and BL are now going at it and we are about to fight. We plan a meeting, and just as I'm about to set the date, I find out that I indeed know this kid very well. Imagine that, there are 7 billion people worldwide, and 400 members here at MW, and I happen to know someone. Do you know what the odds are of that happening? That's 1 in 17.5 million. Thank God I knew this kid. Someone was watching down on me, because had I gone to meet this kid, my life would have been over today. I would be walking with 2 broken arms and 2 broken legs. This kid is one helluva tough kid. He's a pro wrestler, and you don't want to get on his bad side. When i found out it was BL, I kissed the ground and I promised God that I will be going to church every sunday from now on for saving my life. Of course I haven't gone to church yet, but one day i will.
Now here is the moral of the story. Today, BL is a totally different kid. He has now become one of the sharpest guys here at MW from what I'm reading. It's absolutely incredible how someone can change. This gives hope to even guys like BTJ who is the nations #1 square. I don't know what BL has done different in the last few years, but I have NEVER seen anyone change so much. He went from being a bigtime square, to a very well respected sharpster here at MW, and I am very proud of the kid. I hope he can keep it up. How in the world did he do it? It's mind boggling. I'm very proud to have BL representing my home town of Montreal, Canada here at MW. He's giving our city a good name.
Moral of this story, it's NEVER too late to become a star at something, even if you suck at it. BL proved it by turning his whole life around, and becoming a world renowned MVP. What BL did is the exact same thing as a lifetime .203 hitter with 3hrs and 26 rbis avg per season, to a player who starts hitting .326 with 39 hrs and 126 rbi's. He just went from an NBA bench player who only averaged 4.9 pts per game, to a 1st team all star who plays 42 minutes a game, and avgs 31.2 pts a game. He completely changed overnight. How he did this, I have NO idea.
I received a call from Black Lab asking me to post, but I really had nothing to say, so this is all i can think of right now. So folks, sit back, open up a can of beer, warm up the left over chicken from last night, and read this, because it will give all of us hope in life that one day, we all can actually change if we really want to. The motto of this story is "never give up on your dreams".
10 years ago when I was still booking there was this little kid in his late teens or very early 20's named Black Lab. I hadn't known him yet, but I was about to. This kid was about to turn into the biggest square this city of Montreal was about to see. This kid made BTJ look like Billy Walters in his finest days.
I had quite a few customers back then, and a lot of them were dime players, but when Black Lab would call, I don't care who was on the line with me at that time, that guy was going to hold till I finish with Black Lab, and sometimes it would go as long as 15 minutes, I didn't care. Even though Black Lab was only a 80-200 dollar bettor, he was worth more than any of my dime players. This Black Lab was my bread and butter. This kid was money in the bank for us. He was our MVP. I had NEVER seen a bigger square in my life, until BTJ came along.
I remember Black Lab calling everyday at 6:45 pm and placing all his bets. If he didn't call by then, we'd be getting nervous. I remember everytime the phone rang after 6:45 pm and it wasn't him, we'd be freaking out. We had call display and everytime the phone rang, my partners would say, is it him? I'd look and say, shit, no. This would go on for 6 straight calls and it wasn't him each time. He was making us sweat, and he didn't even know it. Then it would ring again, they'd say, please tell me it's him now, I'd look and say, yesssssssss, it's him. And we'd all jump up to the sky and high five each other. That's how great this kid was. He would always bet the same thing every night. All the favs and all the overs across the board. It wasn't hard predicting what he was going to bet. After a few days, I started bumping every favorite by 1.5 pts and every over by 1.5 pts, and BL was still betting each game fav and fav over. I loved that kid. I used to actually write all his plays before he called, because I already knew what he wanted, and I was always right. It saved me a lot of time.
Now true story, I later find out from my partner that BL is his roomates son, and all BL was doing was taking all his buddies bets and placing them (sort of like an agent) Well, I didn't believe him. NO way are these bets from a bunch of kids. I knew he was lying, but I minded my own business. BL was the best customer any bookie could have ever asked for. He paid on time week in and week out, he NEVER had a winning week in 17 straight weeks. I have NEVER seen anyone till today, lose so consistently like Black Lab. This kid was a legend.
One day, when I was taking the bets, I remember it being 6:53 pm, and Black Lab hadn't called yet. I was getting very nervous now. Then i can recall at 6:57pm, he called. All I can remember is telling him to hold one second. I remember screaming yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, and running up the stairs in my underwear, and running on the street screaming, yessssss he called. I remember everyone staring at me like I was a freak. Here's this grown man running around on the street in his underwear, shirtless, with this huge belly and tons of tomato sauce on it, and on my face, from the cold pizza I was eating, running on the street in the daylight. Alot of neighbors thought I was a nut. But they just didn't understand that Black Lab finally called. So when I got back to the phone, BL asked me why I took so long, and why I was out of breath. So i told him that I had to run upstairs and get my food from the microwave. I just couldn't tell him that I was running on the street in my underwear celebrating his phone call. I remember all the parents in the neighborhood telling their kids to stay away from that weird man. Then seeing me 4 months later being busted for bookmaking and coming out of my house handcuffed, with 4 police cars surrounding my house. They had NO idea why I was being handcuffed. I'm sure they were thinking that I molested someone or something. Everybody feared me in my neighborhood.
BL was always first on my list when it came to customers, even ahead of all my dime players. He was a VIP. Then later on, BL finally quits because of a bad streak, and apologizes to my boss for admitting that he really was NOT an agent, and that he just had an itch for gambling. I think we kinda felt bad for the guy and told him it's ok, he does NOT have to pay the balance of what he owes, because he lost too much to us for a kid so young, we all felt bad for him. He really seemed to have a major gambling problem, and I started to really feel bad for him. I didn't even want his business anymore. I started feeling very guilty for all those times I bumped those favorites and overs on him. I was actually waiting for God to punish me somehow by getting struck by lightning or something. Everytime I walked in the rain after that, I was very jumpy every time I heard lightning. I used to duck every time and try to dodge the lightning by hiding behind the cars, and using people walking on the sidewalk as shields. I thought for sure God was out to get me, as I had just ruined a kids life.
Then 9 years later, I am posting here at MW, and there's this annoying kid named Black Lab, who I had NO idea who he was. He just kept on asking me what part of Mtl am i from. I told him many times, that he does NOT know me if he is only 20 something. All of a sudden, me and BL are now going at it and we are about to fight. We plan a meeting, and just as I'm about to set the date, I find out that I indeed know this kid very well. Imagine that, there are 7 billion people worldwide, and 400 members here at MW, and I happen to know someone. Do you know what the odds are of that happening? That's 1 in 17.5 million. Thank God I knew this kid. Someone was watching down on me, because had I gone to meet this kid, my life would have been over today. I would be walking with 2 broken arms and 2 broken legs. This kid is one helluva tough kid. He's a pro wrestler, and you don't want to get on his bad side. When i found out it was BL, I kissed the ground and I promised God that I will be going to church every sunday from now on for saving my life. Of course I haven't gone to church yet, but one day i will.
Now here is the moral of the story. Today, BL is a totally different kid. He has now become one of the sharpest guys here at MW from what I'm reading. It's absolutely incredible how someone can change. This gives hope to even guys like BTJ who is the nations #1 square. I don't know what BL has done different in the last few years, but I have NEVER seen anyone change so much. He went from being a bigtime square, to a very well respected sharpster here at MW, and I am very proud of the kid. I hope he can keep it up. How in the world did he do it? It's mind boggling. I'm very proud to have BL representing my home town of Montreal, Canada here at MW. He's giving our city a good name.
Moral of this story, it's NEVER too late to become a star at something, even if you suck at it. BL proved it by turning his whole life around, and becoming a world renowned MVP. What BL did is the exact same thing as a lifetime .203 hitter with 3hrs and 26 rbis avg per season, to a player who starts hitting .326 with 39 hrs and 126 rbi's. He just went from an NBA bench player who only averaged 4.9 pts per game, to a 1st team all star who plays 42 minutes a game, and avgs 31.2 pts a game. He completely changed overnight. How he did this, I have NO idea.
