‘Keep your eye on the ball' was the advice I recall my games master giving us at grammar school as we were instructed in the fine art of cricket. It serves for these gamblers also.
Two versions today, starting with a black and white and below that a color version.
The game board has an even number of Apples and Bees so, in theory, the odds of the ball coming to rest on an apple or a bee is 50%. But I can't believe the game is that simple. Heads you win, tails you lose wouldn't be interesting enough for this crowd to be so engrossed.
So looking a bit deeper and going back to the overhead photo I posted a couple of days back, I notice some counters placed on the edge of the board. Something tells me that these counters, both the location and color, represent some form of premium if the ball comes to rest in that row.
If the players placing wagers get to indicate the row and the image in their bets, then the odds take on a more dynamic range which would better explain the crowd of onlookers.
The guys at the table all seem to have cash in their hands which suggests to me that they are playing and the guy at the end and in yesterday's photo, is a banker, not a player.
I'm still left wondering how long these players had to work to gain the money they were wagering and how short they had to play to lose it all. At the end of the day, most of the money winds up in the hands of those running the game, and I doubt that there was any form of official regulation over this game.
[ad name=”post”]
Get a 15% discount on your purchase or upgrade of any Topaz product when you enter discount code rdavisphoto at checkout. Click on the banner below for this offer.
