Best bets in History.

[The once and future king]

Hypothetical scenario.

You have 100$/£ and a time machine. You have to got back in time and place ten bets of 10$/£s.

What ten bets do you place.

I have no idea, so am asking just in case.

[daryn]

go to the race track with biff tannen.

[The once and future king]

who hell he?

I am Brit, so dont get this reference. I do have yellow teeth though.

[daryn]

hmm, this one didn't make it to merry ole england?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096874/

[Blarg]

I spend them on beads for the Indians who sold Manhattan for what was it, $24 and some beads?

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
I spend them on beads for the Indians who sold Manhattan for what was it, $24 and some beads?

[/ QUOTE ]
Actually not that great a deal. Do the math and you really barely kept pace with inflation over that time period.

[jakethebake]

What were the odds on that one?

[daryn]

why not just buy microsoft or apple stock or something

[The once and future king]

You dont get access to the time machine unless you make ten bets of 10 dollars.

On that note I would like to point out that going to the track with Biff is invalid because Biff is a fictional charachter.

[TylerD]

[ QUOTE ]
On that note I would like to point out that going to the track with Biff is invalid because Biff is a fictional charachter.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well of course he is...in this timeline.

[daryn]

joke
n.
Something said or done to evoke laughter or amusement, especially an amusing story with a punch line.

A mischievous trick; a prank.
An amusing or ludicrous incident or situation.

Informal.
Something not to be taken seriously; a triviality: The accident was no joke.

An object of amusement or laughter; a laughingstock: His loud tie was the joke of the office.

[elwoodblues]

I don't understand horseracing very well, but I would guess that there are many trifecta bets out there that are fantastic odds. Also, when Boston was down in the NY series this year a bet that they would win the world series would have gotten fantastic odds (more specifically a bet that they would win 8 straight games to do it)

[nicky g]

Put a 50,000 race accumalator on? There's no answer - basically, put an accumulator on every event you know of. You could make an infinite amount of money.

[ArchAngel71857]

James Buster Douglas and Mike Tyson

[Lazymeatball]

isn't the obvious answer lottery tickets? pick certain numbers that you know will win. Does any bet besides lottery have a payout greater than multiple millions:1

[The once and future king]

In a way pot meet kettle.

[Stupendous_Man]

[ QUOTE ]
James Buster Douglas and Mike Tyson

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm no expert on this subject, but this has to be one of the biggest upsets. Tyson was destroying everyone and then gets rocked by an unknown. I have no idea what the odds were on this. Nor what the odds where on the '80 US hockey team winning the gold medal. The Biff reference is appropriate as he used a sports almanac. If I knew I was going in a time machine for this specific purpose, I'd check one out in the library ahead of time! /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[mackthefork]

[ QUOTE ]
Put a 50,000 race accumalator on? There's no answer - basically, put an accumulator on every event you know of. You could make an infinite amount of money.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nah all bookies have payout limits, or else they would all go broke, edge or no.

Regards Mack

[Stupendous_Man]

[ QUOTE ]
isn't the obvious answer lottery tickets? pick certain numbers that you know will win. Does any bet besides lottery have a payout greater than multiple millions:1

[/ QUOTE ]

Good point. Given how the thread was going, I put a sports qualifer on the question. Pick the 10 biggest Mega Lottery payouts and buy the winning tickets. When Power Ball odds are 1:140,000,000 and you KNOW the winning numbers, hard to beat that kind of return.

[Stupendous_Man]

If you stay within sports, what about NC State over Houston in the '83 finals? Especially, if you pick NC State to win it all before the tournament even starts.

[M2d]

what price could you get on Moneymaker (not field)? Raymer? Furlong?

[ThaSaltCracka]

how could it be anything but the lottery?

[The once and future king]

Thats my bet right there.

Of course to just bet on Raymer and moneymaker would be an act of absolute wastefullness.

The obvious bet is on the placing of the entire field or at least the last 100 or money places. The odds you would get on that would be astronomical.

[The once and future king]

Ok your right I can see that I need to qualify this.

A crazed Marty Mcfly gave you the time machine.

He aslo straped an Acme eplosive magno lock to your bollox (while you were asleep).

Unless you return with ten betting slips (no lottery tickets) he will trigger the device (it works across the dimension of time) and blow your nads back to the future.

I should have made this clearer but I thought it was explicit in my first post.

[ThaSaltCracka]

[ QUOTE ]
I should have made this clearer but I thought it was explicit in my first post.

[/ QUOTE ] you are annoying. Your initial post was decidedly vague, but so what, its better if its vague, then we all can have fun with it. Now it is to strict and un-fun /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Bubbagump]

On it's face, lottery seems the way to go, but I think anybody who won the lottery 10 times in their lifetime would raise some suspicions.

I think you'd have to spread the cash around. Say, 1 lottery, and a few longshot sports wagers and then parlay the whole thing into a well timed stock pick. Like yahoo in the earlly 90's.

Bubbagump

[The once and future king]

Salt ive had to tell you this a billion billion times. Turn on your sarcasm detector. Obviously it was not explicit in my first post.

Also if your idea of fun is turning up and using that hyper charged intellect of yours to go : "Lottery" (after someone had allready suggested it) then we get our jollies in very different ways.

Now piss off and get fraged at Halo.

[ThaSaltCracka]

I take every thing on this board very seriously. I have invested too many hours in the OOT forum for some stupid Brit to come in here and mess it up, okay? /images/graemlins/mad.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Also if your idea of fun is turning up and using that hyper charged intellect of yours to go : "Lottery" (after someone had allready suggested it) then we get our jollies in very different ways.


[/ QUOTE ] How about I use my hyper charged intellect to agree with someone that has stated the best choice, is that okay?

seriously dawg, its all fun and games in here.

[ QUOTE ]
Now piss off and get fraged at Halo.

[/ QUOTE ]
so try to remember that. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[The once and future king]

[ QUOTE ]
seriously dawg, its all fun and games in here.


[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
so try to remember that

[/ QUOTE ]

What makes you think I have forgoten? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[ThaSaltCracka]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
seriously dawg, its all fun and games in here.


[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
so try to remember that

[/ QUOTE ]
What makes you think I have forgoten? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't start with me!

[daryn]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In risposta di:</font><hr />
In a way pot meet kettle.

[/ QUOTE ]

in another way, you are a complete idiot and will always be.

[The once and future king]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't start with me!


[/ QUOTE ]

Coughs, actualy you started with me. Your the big man (boy) when dishing it out, but soon get hysterical when it gets served back.

[The once and future king]

Whos lost there sense of humour now. Hardly a zinger put down. Is that your best shot.

I wasnt calling you a hypocrite, just pointing out that I was obvioulsy joking when I said that biff was disqualified for being a fictional charachter. The whole scenario is absurdly fictional so who cares.

Why the unprovoked aggresion? It makes sense from salt as we have history. Dont remember us having a beef.

[ThaSaltCracka]

[ QUOTE ]
Whos lost there sense of humour now. Hardly a zinger put down. Is that your best shot.

I wasnt calling you a hypocrite, just pointing out that I was obvioulsy joking when I said that biff was disqualified for being a fictional charachter. The whole scenario is absurdly fictional so who cares.

Why the unprovoked aggresion? It makes sense from salt as we have history. Dont remember us having a beef.

[/ QUOTE ]
The fact that you even need to ask this question amazes me. Read all of your posts, you are basically being an ass to everyone.

[Bubbagump]

You could by a lot of stock with $100 in the early 1900's. Sell it all before the crash and make a killing.

Bubbagump

[The once and future king]

Please quote me where I have been an ass to anyone except possibly you, and then that would only be me being a counter ass to your intial ass strike.

Also given the nature of these forums, If what you suggest is true then I would be drawing A LOT more heat than one comment from Daryn.

Being a bit hysterical there salt. Put down the handbag and take ten steps back.

Am awfk now so feel free to ass strike at will.

[ThaSaltCracka]

don't ever say "ass strike" again.

[astroglide]

buying all of the honus wagners you could find would be decent right? i know it's not a bet but it's certainly lottery-competitive in terms of roi

[ThaSaltCracka]

damn, thats an even better idea, go back and buy a bunch of old baseball cards.

[daryn]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In risposta di:</font><hr />
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In risposta di:</font><hr />
Whos lost there sense of humour now. Hardly a zinger put down. Is that your best shot.

I wasnt calling you a hypocrite, just pointing out that I was obvioulsy joking when I said that biff was disqualified for being a fictional charachter. The whole scenario is absurdly fictional so who cares.

Why the unprovoked aggresion? It makes sense from salt as we have history. Dont remember us having a beef.

[/ QUOTE ]


The fact that you even need to ask this question amazes me. Read all of your posts, you are basically being an ass to everyone.

[/ QUOTE ]




DING

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
damn, thats an even better idea, go back and buy a bunch of old baseball cards.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is going to sound really dumb, but I've thought about this scenario before.

My conclusion - if I could go back in time with $100, I'd go back to late 1986 and buy 10 boxes of 1986 Fleer basketball, which were being given away practically for $9 per box at the time. By 1991, a legit box was going somewhere in the $8000-$10000 range.

Sell them all, and buy stock in AOL. I believe I remember reading it was the stock that saw the most gains in the decade of the 90s, since it split like 9 or 10 times, even outgaining Microsoft. Retirement here I come!

Now, as for actual bets, what kind of odds could you have gotten before the 91 season on a Twins/Braves World Series? Remember, both teams finished last in their division in 1990.

[ThaSaltCracka]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Whos lost there sense of humour now. Hardly a zinger put down. Is that your best shot.

I wasnt calling you a hypocrite, just pointing out that I was obvioulsy joking when I said that biff was disqualified for being a fictional charachter. The whole scenario is absurdly fictional so who cares.

Why the unprovoked aggresion? It makes sense from salt as we have history. Dont remember us having a beef.

[/ QUOTE ]


The fact that you even need to ask this question amazes me. Read all of your posts, you are basically being an ass to everyone.

[/ QUOTE ]




DING

[/ QUOTE ]

Brilliant minds think alike Daryn.

[ThaSaltCracka]

[ QUOTE ]
This is going to sound really dumb, but I've thought about this scenario before.

[/ QUOTE ] I have thought of the same thing before too, except I go back to the 50's for Mays and Mantle.

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This is going to sound really dumb, but I've thought about this scenario before.

[/ QUOTE ] I have thought of the same thing before too, except I go back to the 50's for Mays and Mantle.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, that's true. If you had $100, you could have bought a few cases of 1952 Topps before they dumped them in the Hudson River. Those alone would have been worth millions in 1990, when you could sell and buy tech stocks. I always limited it to a time during my lifetime though. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[ThaSaltCracka]

my dads mom threw away all of his baseball cards when he joined the air force in the late 60's. He had all of those cards man, every big name. In fact several years ago when SI did a cover story on baseball cards my dad was reading it in the bathroom and started crying. My mom was like wtf and he said, I can't believe my mom threw these cards away! I would be a millionaire right now. True story.

[nolanfan34]

I love that I've hijacked this thread to talk about baseball cards.

While a lot of people our age have Dad's with similar stories, the fact is 99.9% of their collections would have been in such crappy condition that they wouldn't be able to get the millions for them that they think. Of course I don't tell my dad that, why ruin the dream?

[ThaSaltCracka]

I think my dad kep pretty good care of his, he is a pack rat and a neat freak. Who knows though, as for the hijacking part, Once and Future King ruined all the fun of it anyways, so might as well hijack it.

[offTopic]

[ QUOTE ]
I love that I've hijacked this thread to talk about baseball cards.

While a lot of people our age have Dad's with similar stories, the fact is 99.9% of their collections would have been in such crappy condition that they wouldn't be able to get the millions for them that they think. Of course I don't tell my dad that, why ruin the dream?

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh. I used to work in a card/comic store in the early 90s, and a guy brought in a beautiful, almost perfectly centered, 86-87 Fleer Jordan RC...beautiful, that is, except for the glue marks on the back where it had been glued into a photo album. /images/graemlins/blush.gif He asked me how much it would be worth, I told him (truthfully) and he was not happy when he left. /images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[nolanfan34]

The saddest part about that, is in the 80s there were plastic sheets, and card specific holders, so there's no reason to glue it in a specific notebook. Funny story...

[offTopic]

[ QUOTE ]
The saddest part about that, is in the 80s there were plastic sheets, and card specific holders, so there's no reason to glue it in a specific notebook. Funny story...

[/ QUOTE ]

We also had a customer who'd done what you talked about...almost. He bought 4 unopened boxes of the 86-87 for something like $9 each. As of 1994 or so he still had them. Amazing willpower...I personally would have had to open at least one box (though that would be like setting money on fire, unless I happened across a PSA9 or better Jordan). I'll have to start another thread about that, perhaps...

[youtalkfunny]

[ QUOTE ]
I spend them on beads for the Indians who sold Manhattan for what was it, $24 and some beads?

[/ QUOTE ]

I doubt anyone is still reading this thread--I gave up halfway through--but in case there is.....

Paul Harvey says that after pocketing the $24, the Indians got back in their canoes and left. THEY DIDN'T EVEN LIVE ON MANHATTAN!!! They swindled the settlers! They sealed the deal, and rowed home....to Brooklyn!

[GuyOnTilt]

Hey King,

The idea of time travel into the past is becoming more and more plausible. In fact, the more and more I've looked into what the leading names in that area of physics have to say on the topic, the more and more it seems as though time travel into the past is probable. (Forward time travel of course is a fact.) CERN's made some very huge discoveries public in the last few years that relate to this. It would necessarily require multiple universes. Assuming we were able to harness a technology that would enable us to travel backward in time (a time machine), we would have to find a way to make sure we didn't stray too far from our own worldline, ideally within 2 to 3%. But even if we were able to do that, the universe would be slightly different from the one we came from. Given a very small change in worldline, things like Presidential elections, natural disasters, and the like would most likely remain unchanged. However, things like the outcome of sporting events would not necessarily be the same, since they require a lot of short-term luck and chance and have a lot of variance.

All that to say, betting on the outcome of sporting events would definitely not be the best way to go.

If you want some interesting reading on time travel, google John Titor. And, as usual, wikipedia has the best broad info on that particular topic (John Titor, not time travel).

GoT

[Lazymeatball]

Ok, I used to collect baseball cards and a few football cards from the '87-'92 era, mostly Topps and Donruss, mostly good, but not mint condition. They've been sitting in my attic for the past 10 years. Cards of note that come to mind are Barry Bonds on the Pirates, Mark McGwire on the Athletics, Nolan Ryan on the Rangers, and Randy Johnson on the Expos.

Any chances I have something of value in these? Should i start going through them with one of those annoying pricing guides and picking out the good ones yet, or wait 10 more years? I've probably got around 300-500 cards.

ps. Does anyone remember those Starting Line-Up figurine things. I have a '92 Scott Erickson, and I ask myself, who the hell was Scott Erickson?

[ilya]

This certainly doesn't make it into the top ten but Greece were 500:1 to win EURO2004 before the tournament started.

Go back to ancient Egypt or thenabouts and bet some guy that you can't put a mint-condition coin in your pocket. Don't go back to Rome, though, too many of those coins still around.

Oh, it's only sports bets. I dunno then. Those Greeks look good to me, probably shows how little I know about longshots in sports.

[The once and future king]

[ QUOTE ]
DING


[/ QUOTE ]
Not a ding at all. In fact it was just an ass strike.

Daryn, I thought you had much a higher standard of wit than that.

Obviously mediorce minds ass strike alike.