TO BET OR NOT TO BET

By all accounts, I should have become a professional gambler, or at least a well-dressed hustler with a permanent seat at the poker or mahjong table and high-roller privileges at the newest casino.

- RICARDO T. PAMINTUAN

While many kids my age were playing with toys or getting dirty on the streets, I grew up enjoying a good book or watching sci-fi TV shows; listening to legends like Led Zep, the Stones and the Beatles, Aerosmith, Steely Dan, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Traffic, The Who, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, Jeff Beck, John Mayall, and Yes; all while augmenting my measly allowance through... gambling.

My childhood, you see, was not just about school, library, cinemas, and TV (in other words, a self-confessed geek and nerd). I dabbled in street games, that's true, but most of my free time was devoted to side hustles. And my most lucrative racket was gambling.

I had lucky coins for cara y cruz, dominoes with faded pips, and unmarked "Bicycle" playing cards. It's important to stress that I used only my own unmarked decks because I almost always played the dealer or banker in popular games like Black Jack and Lucky Nine (a.k.a. Baccarat)—I was advised early enough that the player/bettor is always at a disadvantage.

But I was also open to Monte, that glorified shell game for people with poor impulse control, and I knew Stud Poker and Panguingue before I even learned fractions. Though I played Bridge like it was a contact sport, I can't recall ever not knowing what pares-pares meant (hellooo...it literally means pair-pair), or how to suspiciously eye someone on a roll in pekwa.

As I got older, I picked up the local favorites: pusoy, pusoy dos, tong-its. Of course, my gambling journey would be incomplete without my casino forays. In the few times I visited the casino, Black Jack was still my game, only because I could count cards. I quit when the pit boss started hovering a little too long.