First published – Feb 13 2007.
Back again folks,
I don‟t mind a punt either on the cricket, footy, Melbourne cup, the greyhounds or a bit of casino action it‟s all good.
But ill tell ya gaol is a true gamblers paradise!
Now gambling is banned in NSW gaols as it seems to start a bit of trouble but that doesn‟t stop the lads indulging in a bit of a wager.
I would have to say cards rules when it comes to gaol gambling mainly the games 41, Manilla or Chinese poker.
Sports, chess and table tennis got there fair share of punters too.
At Goulburn we ran a monthly 41 tournament usually getting around twenty teams of two entering at a cost of two packets of white ox tabacco (the usual currency) per team.
I never won a 41 comp but me and a mate did manage to make it to the final once.
I was more of a Chinese poker fiend or Manilla when it was on, we had more difficulty running Manilla comps as you would have like 20 guys around a table making plenty of noise and we also had to have a book to keep track of everyone‟s finances and betting chips ( special cardboard only one guy had access too).
We would start a weekly Manilla game on Tuesdays as that was the day you could choose what things to purchase from the gaol canteen so you would either buy things for people if you lost or request stuff from people if you won.
The game co-ordinator would assign who collects what from who.
It was an exciting game while it would last; your fortunes can go up and down dramatically! I once lost over $600 in less than a week only to go gung ho and win it all back plus $300 in the last hour or so of the playing week!
The gaol wage is between $30-$60 a week so the limit in all games is $60 per player per week unless you have access to funds outside of the prison and you better have that cash outside if you say you do cause "there‟s no where to run to baby and no where to hide".
I saw a few guys get the gambling bug and loose there $60 tell the table that they had madd cash on the outside etc only to lose a few hundred and not pay.
I always used to think to myself why would you take such a crazy risk?
Shit never ended well.
I‟ve done some less than sane things in my life but telling murderers that I have money to bet and taking that chance knowing I don‟t have the cash is not a move I would ever make!
They usually ended up in the hospital at Long Bay gaol.
The best Manilla player I ever saw, actually the best card player I have ever seen was an Vietnamese guy named "Dang" I never once saw him lose at Manilla every week he would be the highest winner the lowest I saw him win in a week was $800 and that is a shitload in gaol!
On top of the cards there was often a chess comp that payed reasonably well but was very hard to win.
In the footy season there were many tipping contests (your sentence had to be at least as long as the season), pick the winners, pick the score and head to head.
There was always a few guys running horse tipping but that never interested me.
I guess for once the screws were right it did create the odd bit of violence but it helps pass the time.
And hey if you and ya mates are any good it can help fund fun activities like smoking weed or buying new cds'!