Roundabout Dubai

Prediction Bet

Last night saw me wind up in Fibber Magee’s with D and a couple of friends, A and T, to watch the France-Portugal World Cup football semi-final. We got there at 10:45, a quarter of an hour before action. The place was packed! You really had to shove and push and squeeze through a mass of humanity to get from point A to point B. We had decided to go there for a change in the atmosphere from Nad Al Sheba and the Evory; and clearly we got more than we bargained for. But we stayed after we found a relatively convenient spot right at the entrance. T suggested we put symbolic bets on predictions for first goal scoring time; the closest to the time would win. Without thinking much I just said 35 minutes, as others threw in their times predictions. Well, we watched the beautiful and fast-paced game progress without goals, until, lo and behold, France earned a penalty kick and Zidane scored from it what would be the only match goal in the 33rd minute! I just couldn't believe it! Not only I won the modest bet, but I guessed the time with only a 2-minue difference! I'm now thinking of contacting some coaches of World-class teams and offer them my prediction services. Until then, please don't ask me to tell you who is going to play in the final game and what the score will be; I’m afraid such information is not freely available in the public domain anymore!

posted by bandicoot @ 4:03 PM