‘The Color of Money’, released by Touchstone Pictures in 1986, was the sequel to ‘The Hustler’ and, once again starred Paul Newman, reprising his role as ‘Fast’ Eddie Felson, 25 years after his final showdown with Minnesota Fats in the original film. Minnesota Fats does not appear in ‘The Color of Money’, but Tom Cruise co-stars as Vincent Lauria, a talented protégé, not unlike Felson in his early years.

Together Felson, Lauria and his manipulative girlfriend, Carmen (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) embark on a tour of less-than-salubrious pool halls across the Midwest from Chicago to Atlantic City, where the professional ‘Nine-ball Classic’ tournament is their ultimate objective. Felson tells Lauria, ‘Pool excellence is not excellent pool’, but Lauria has difficulty coming to terms with his words of wisdom and insists on flaunting his talent at every opportunity, including, on one occasion,

to the accompaniment of ‘Werewolves in London’ by Warren Zevon, much to the dismay of his mentor. Felson and Lauria fall out and part company, at which point Felson comes out of retirement and resumes his previous career as a pool hustler.

Inevitably, their paths cross again when they come face-to-face in Atlantic City. Felson wins their match, only to learn that Lauria ‘dumped’, or intentionally lost, as part of a betting scam. Lauria gives $8,000 out of his winnings, but Felson forfeits his next match and returns the money. Felson requests a private rematch, in which, just before breaking off, he looks Lauria in the eye and tells him, ‘I’m back!’

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Though we all like to create a narrative where we’re in control of our lives and destiny, so much in life is down to chance. Somebody is no doubt at this very minute getting blindsided by a out of control rickshaw or  clobbered in the head by a for sale sign, due to an ill-timed gust of wind. If you can imagine it happening, it probably has, and though some misfortune is self inflicted, Darwin Award style, often it’s a case of ‘nobody saw it coming. The same of course applies to good fortune. Fate hands some a free pass in life and endless riches without much of a struggle along the way. Tonda Dickerson’s news story stands out on account that she experienced both the best and worst of what fortune can offer.

Dickerson’s life was as ordinary as can be, divorced and in her late 20s she was just going through the motions of everyday life. By day, she worked as a waitress at the Grand Bay Waffle House in Alabama and any one day resembled the next. That was until the day that Edward Seward walked in, ate a hearty breakfast and then handed her a lottery ticket as a tip. This simple task was a set a chain of events into motion that she could have never in her wildest dreams or nightmares anticipated. The date was Sunday, March 7th, 1999. The lottery took place on the following Saturday. She won that lottery.

Suddenly in possession of a winning lottery ticket worth $10 million, Dickerson’s fortunes looked to suddenly be massively on the up as she accepted $375,000 over the next 30 years rather than the lump sum payout.

Fate however had other ideas. She soon found herself embroiled in multiple legal battles, with both her work mates (who deemed that the lottery ticket tip should be split between them all), the IRS and even the man who gave her the ticket in the first place!  Though Dickerson stated that she didn’t agree to split the winnings, it took a jury took just 45 minutes to decide against her. She had turned down a settlement that would’ve allowed her to keep a cool $3 million of the Florida jackpot.

Not willing to let her millions evaporate into thins air, Dickerson took the case to the Alabama Supreme Court, which reversed the Circuit Court decision in 2002. Two years later she was taken to fend off a case by Seward, who had stated that Dickerson offered to buy him a stuck if the ticket was a winner. Her respite didn’t last long though, as the very same week her ex-husband who she divorced in 1997 was shot after attempting to kidnap her! He had taken her to a remote area and threatened to kill her, but while pleading with him to let her answer her ringing phone on account that people would be looking for her, she pulled a .22-caliber handgun out, shooting him in the chest.

Anticipating that possibly she’d experienced her last bit of bad (or rather harrowing) luck, her troubles were not over yet. She spend the next decade battling with the IRS, as they argued about how much she owed them. In March 2012 though her attorneys successfully argued that the IRS was wrong to demand $1 million in gift tax  after Dickerson gave most of her winnings away to her family business.

Finally past these challenges (but without any money), Dickerson has not been heard of much since, though the fact that she now works as a poker dealer at the Golden Nugget casino in Biloxi, perhaps is a strange yet fitting endless to her ‘run in’ with ‘good fortune’.

Of course this isn’t the first rags, to riches, then back to rags again type story of huge lottery wins. How about  Ronnie Music Jr, the Waycross, Georgia man who won $3 million then had the bright idea of using it to invest in a meth ring. or Urooj Khan, poisoned with cyanide a day after a $1 millon win. Sometimes getting everything you’ve ever dreamed of is just the beginning of the story, rather than the end.

Time waits for no man, and the casino environment is no exception to that. It’s of course only a stones throw back when all casinos were offline, and payments were generally in cold hard cash. The world moves on though and electronic payments and the like were suddenly part of the picture.

The advent of online casinos was the real game changer. The convenience factor was suddenly at the fore, with no need to enter a dark and dingy environment with strangers sidling up besides you. Instead it was now possible to play your favourite casino games such as poker or roulette in the comfort and privacy of your own home. It was a revelation for many and certainly transformed the entire gambling environment.

Technology marches on and now we enter the era of crypto gambling. Individuals preferring to gamble with the additional layer of privacy and convenience offered by digital currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC). Indeed, there are both online and offline venues that now accept cryptocurrency. They frequently use a respected and reliable third party to deal with payments. Using cryptocurrencies is typically faster than other waging options, which is another factor that appeals to many.

There are numerous Bitcoin casino sites out there, which has resulted in the emergence of crypto gambling news and also review sites, to keep gamblers in the loop with both developments and which sites are the most trusted. Reputation is everything in this area and understandably so. Cryptocurrency gambling is well suited to the under the radar type gambler and well as those whose businesses or lives routinely deal in bitcoin. Over all it still currently only makes up a small portion of the online casino environment, but it’s expected to assume a growing role over the coming months and years.

The past couple of years have seen major changes in the US gambling industry. There are now an increasing number of US sportsbooks and betting with companies such as FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM are now common place for American gamblers. This is especially the case on Android and other mobile devices.

The change has come about after an important Supreme Court ruling in 2018. This saw individual states being allowed to make decisions on gambling legislation, rather than it being a Federal task.

The state of New Jersey had been instrumental in the push for change. Since the ruling many New Jersey operators, especially casinos have opened sportsbooks. The battle for sites such as PointsBet and FanDuel to get new customers is an ongoing one.

There has been a big increase in the number of European mobile sporting apps. What lessons can the US learn from Europe? The provision of plenty of in-play betting is definitely a way of attracting new customers.

It’s so exciting to be able to bet on an event as it takes place. An even better experience is if you can provide your customers with live streaming of sporting events. Being able to watch on your Samsung or Android the event you’ve bet on is so exciting. Providing more live streaming of sports such as tennis, football, and basketball for example, will definitely attract new customers.

There are some great sites that give invaluable information about mobile betting. These include reviews looking at areas such as betting opportunities, how trustworthy they are, payment methods and the bonuses and promotions offered. Mainly thanks to advances in technology, the rise in popularity of legal mobile sports betting apps has exploded over the last 2 years.

The covering of events from all over the world has played a key role in the success of European mobile apps. The global coverage ensures that there is a steady flow of betting opportunities throughout the day and night. This is a feature that apps such as BetMGM and New Jersey operators offer to their customers. Offering more in the future can only be good news for them.

All sites will cover the main sports that take place, however covering others can pay dividends. Offering odds on dirt bike racing, pool, rugby, or even professional wrestling can see more customers joining. The more events that can covered, the better the service that will be provided.

Offering plenty of bonuses and promotions is another practice that US betting apps can use. This has been used a great deal in Europe and has provided a steady stream of new customers all eager to gamble on their Android and Samsung devices.

Welcome offers are already becoming common place on sites such as FanDuel and DraftKings. The provision of offers that are exclusive to those playing on their Android devices is another popular service carried out by European gambling sites.
It can be seen then that the offering of as many betting opportunities as possible is important for US apps such as PointsBet. If these can be offered throughout the day with lots of promotions too, then a healthy future looks guaranteed.