My laptop is open and I am playing a quiet game of roulette in an online casino in the midst of all this chaos. People are yelling and swearing at each other and I’m learning lots of new words in many languages. The tickets have all apparently been sold out and now the scalpers have moved in with outrageously priced tickets or tickets that are not tickets but copies made on home computers, color copy machines and maybe even hand painted. These people are called the "huang niu" or yellow bulls, from selling thousands of tickets online, despite threats of fines and even possible detention.

My game in the online casino is going well even though I’m not concentrating. I keep thinking that if a single number bet comes up and I win a few hundred dollars, I will pay for a high priced ticket but so far Lady Luck is looking after me and making sure I don’t get to see any of the sports. A pity as I live very near the stadium. I walked over a week ago, swinging the laptop in one hand and packets of sandwiches in the other. 

Did I say I’d like to win a few hundred dollars in the online casino for a ticket? The man next to me - we are good friends after 5 days together - has just told me that tickets are being jacked up to over 10 times their original price, meaning a $440 closing ceremony ticket is going for nearly $4,400. The Australian next to him said that some $750 opening ceremony tickets sold for up to $38,000.

I switch to playing with $50 chips, but I can only afford a few. Finally I hit it with number 23, my birthday, which I am trying for the tenth time. I won $1,750 less my losses of about $700 so I’m up a thousand. I log out of the online casino, give what’s left of my sandwiches to the pesky pigeons and head for home. I will watch the games on the TV while I gamble online for some real money.

Posted on: August 3, 2008

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