Imagine a concession stand selling lemonade instead of sodas.
That's how long ago it was.
Check out Part 1 of the story here.
Time to Crunch the Numbers
There was another game of chance offered to us kids every Sunday at the concession stand (basically a table with homemade cakes on top of it).
The game was made of solid cardboard in a square with 20 x 20 pre-drilled holes. The holes were filled with 400 tickets at 1 krona (10 cents) a pop.
You used a small metal pin to pop out the tickets. A certain element of entertainment existed in the popping but it was a far cry from the excitement of the flap game of 21.
I asked a mother standing there if the grand prize had been popped yet. By the look of her, she was the best customer of the chocolate balls herself, but that did not concern me.
I was on to something big.
There were not that many tickets left, and if the grand prize was still uncovered it was time to crunch the numbers.
A Sure Thing
The fat mom said that the grand prize of 100 kronor was still in the cardboard square. I asked her if she was sure and she insisted she was.
So I counted the number of tickets left. It was 134.
I counted again. And again. It was 134 all three times.
Few things in poker, gambling and life are more important than doing your homework properly.
I ran away to my dad to get a short loan. He was a bit skeptical at first.
I insisted, without a doubt very enthusiastically, but he was still skeptical. I explained the details of the proposition.
He became even more skeptical and did not want to lend me such a sum to gamble. I explained to him that it was not gambling; it was a sure thing.
I would not take no for an answer and a couple of minutes later I had ammo in my pocket to make the score. It was exciting. I felt alive.
Equivalent to a Lifetime When You're 10
Back at the lottery the fat mom informed me that she had sold three more tickets, with no winners.
Yabba Dabba Do, I thought to myself. The odds kept on improving.
It was a massive investment. My weekly allowance was 20 kronor so this was an investment of six weeks, which is equivalent to roughly a lifetime when you're 10.
I crunched the numbers again. 100 kronor was in the bag. The 50 kronor win was gone. But there were prizes of 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 kronor.
It meant that for only 31 kronor I would get 131 tickets. There was no chance in hell that I could lose money.
A dude came by and bought 10 tickets. I was holding my breath while he and his two snotty sons opened their tickets.
I asked the mom again if she was 100% sure that the grand prize was left.
She knew that I was about to buy all the tickets left and now all of a sudden she wasn't totally sure anymore.
I sent her away to ask the mom who had been working the stand before her. I assured her that I would look after all the chocolate balls.
Most of All I Like Them Free
Probably all kids in Sweden have baked chocolate balls with their moms at some point.
All of them have eaten them countless times.
You take butter, suger, cacao and oatmeal and mush them together. You then form small balls that you coat in either cocoa flakes or nib sugar.
I prefer cocoa flakes; the nib sugar is too crunchy and hard work for my taste.
But most of all, I like them free. I was planning to buy a bunch after my big lottery score.
Tune in to the next blog for the conclusion.
About Ken Lennaárd:
Sweden's most controversial poker blogger, Ken Lennaárd has been around the professional poker circuit for almost 20 years. Among his numerous accomplishments are Swedish Championships both live and online, three WSOP final tables and over $1.5m in live earnings. He's now bringing his singular poker voice to the English world via PokerListings.com. Look for new posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Note: Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not inherently represent the views of PokerListings.com.
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