And that is why I don’t go to Vegas very often.  The over/under on Joey Chesnut eating hot dogs was 74.5.  I said that I would take the over.  And then he ate, 74.  Stuff like that kind of makes you go “Hunh?!”  And yes, there was a betting line in Vegas on how many hot dogs he would eat.   I bet that the books made money.

I’ve been to Vegas several times.  There are no big loss stories and yes, I have lost money there.  I know several people that go out there 3 or 4 times a year.  “Yeah, I save up a couple of thousand to gamble on while I’m there.”

Me:  Do you win?

Them:  “No, but I can have fun for several days on that money.”

Me:  Silently doing the math in my head of several days of fun, a couple of times a year and several thousand per trip.

Same person.  “You spend how much on a show animal?  That’s stupid.”

At this point, I normally begin to think out loud.

It may be stupid to spend thousands on a show animal.  But, I prefer to gamble on a kid.  It costs money to go to college and I am real sure that a kid will learn more real-world lessons from a show project than they will in college.  Actually, the show animal can help them get through college.  How?  Work ethic, goal setting, priorities, win vs. loss, building a social network, time management, etc.  Not to mention, they possibly could make money on a show animal and earn scholarships.

Ironically, Duke doesn’t have a wether goat in his pens yet.  We’ve tried but some have been willing to gamble more than we have.  No worries.  But, I would bet that it won’t be long before there is one in there.