Chapter 8: Paradigm Shift

                                    

                                          
But Myriam's joy proves short-lived. Winning thousands of dollars on the back of a $125 trifecta might have been the best bet of her horse betting career, just that something else is coming for her upon returning home.
"Because you made a fool of yourself at the racetrack by throwing a tantrum after race two, you're grounded until the math team season opener! And no horse betting for you for the next two months!" Camden scolds his daughter.
"It wouldn't have happened if you let me bet on later races!"
For some reason, Brittany understood how important the quarter horse season closer is to me, and, as such, she let me go. But while I might have been a bit hard on Myriam, I am embarrassed by her behavior at the season closer, Camden reflects on his own experience of the season closer. Yet, for the final race of the closer, I was able to make good money. But maybe I really should let her bet on a whole card going forward, and not stop her if she wins a certain amount early.
Myriam then returns to her room, crying. She feels like she has been wronged by her father at the racetrack. Her mother catches her crying and lamenting:
"It's not the first time dad does this to me!" Myriam sobs. "He's just jealous! I can play the horses better than he gives me credit for!"
"You seem to be implying that betting on horse races is a game of skill!" Brittany yells at her daughter.
"It's because it IS a game of skill! How can I become a better horse bettor if I can't play? I can only play the horses when I am with dad!"
"You need to look at historical data, the most recent being the most important, you need to pay attention to what horses do best, track and weather conditions, and then picking the best value bets based on that!" Camden intervenes, when an incredulous Brittany was about to question Myriam about the skills needed to bet on horse races.
"If it's a game of skill, why is it that I keep hearing about addicts losing everything by betting on horse races?" Brittany asks both.
"They might be, what we call in the horse betting world, poor handicappers. That is, they can't use information about track and horses properly, or worse still, ignore that outright, like the vast majority of casual players. Others lack bankroll discipline..."
There have been 2 occasions where I was on the verge of losing my entire bankroll. I guess, I was lucky in both occasions, but I know others haven't been so lucky, Camden reflects on these near-misses, and his discipline as a bettor.
Until I can come back to the track, I must focus on mathletics! Myriam ruminates while she storms off to the bathroom and get ready to go to sleep.
"Are your coworkers in Lacassine gamblers and/or drunk? You seem to have been on designated driver duty often these past few weeks!" Brittany keeps yelling at him.
"Most of them are still fairly new to me, but when I started working there, it seems like everyone is in a rush for the finals season, AP or regular, so they didn't ask for happy hours as much as they do now"
"Last year, you were stressed out by having to write recs for outgoing seniors; has that changed?"
"I have fewer of them this year, but those I do have would feel mostly like how it was among the VAs, just without the Williams and Imélies of this world"
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A few days later, Camden receives a letter from Delta Downs. I have a bad feeling about this... a nervous Camden fetches the mail without Brittany noticing. From what I heard about other bettors getting letters in the mail like this, it's often because something is seriously wrong with them to the racetrack's eyes. It's either about me or about Myriam, let's find out, he shakes so much that he feels an irresistible urge to go to the bathroom. And make sure that no one else is watching him open the letter.