I don\u2019t play golf at all, and the only miniature golf experience I\u2019ve had in the past ten years was playing a few 9-hole rounds on a cruise ship with Bonnie. The putters had steel blades covered in brightly colored plastic. I used a blue one because those were the longest and I\u2019m pretty tall. Bonnie used an orange one. I did okay. I did better than Bonnie did, but this was hardly a real test.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For some reason, though, I recently had a dream about playing miniature golf for high stakes with some guy. I never learned his name. But I was making fancy shots right and left and ended up with a check from him for about $10,000. Pretty sweet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
I then woke up and went to the bathroom. I\u2019m 74 years old. This happens regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Settling back to sleep, I was hoping to resume my dream. This would be a longshot. Usually once I have woken, whatever dream I have been having is finished. And frequently forgotten. But this time, I got a continuance. Sort of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my next dream, I received a phone call from Billy Walters. Billy might be the best sports bettor of all time. He is also a golfer. And somebody we\u2019ve been trying to get on our Gambling with an Edge <\/em>podcast for ten years. He was convicted of insider trading and sentenced to five years in Federal prison beginning in 2017, but I think his sentence was commuted in the last days of Trump\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, still, he and I have never met. Although he\u2019s on top of my list of preferred interviewees, I\u2019m likely nowhere on any list of his.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Billy starts out by telling me that after that guy lost $10,000 in miniature golf to me, he lost quite a bit more than that to Billy in regular golf. I\u2019m being asked to sit on the check for a few days while everything gets straightened out. Billy assures me that we both will be paid in full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, sure. I can do that. It\u2019s a pleasure to talk to you Mr. Walters.\u201d I am star struck. Billy Walters is a hero of mine. Kind of on the level of Edward Thorp, the man whose book, Beat the Dealer<\/em>, introduced the world to the concept of counting cards at blackjack.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd while I have you on the phone,\u201d Billy continues, \u201ccan you give me a wake-up call for 4 a.m. tomorrow? I\u2019m in San Diego and can\u2019t seem to find an alarm clock that works.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is even more amazing. Billy is quite wealthy. He probably has hired assistants. And nobody has a smart phone with a wake-up alarm feature? He\u2019s probably calling me on such a device now. But who am I to argue with Billy Walters?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course,\u201d I respond. \u201cI\u2019ll be happy to do so. Should I call the number you just called me on?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat will be fine. Thank you very much.\u201d And he hung up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I must admit I was pretty full of myself. After I do him this favor, surely he will be a guest on our show. After all, we\u2019re practically besties now! Richard Munchkin is my cohost on the podcast. Won\u2019t he be impressed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bonnie and I use a communal iPad for an alarm clock. As we go to bed the next night, she asks me if I have any particular time I need to be up by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. 3:45 a.m.,\u201d was my response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGoing out to gamble then?\u201d she asks. This is a reasonable guess on her part. I frequently gamble during graveyard hours, especially during the pandemic. Fewer people around, less smoky, better chance of finding the machine I want available. But this time, that\u2019s not where I was going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m going to call Billy Walters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bonnie, of course, had never heard of Billy Walters. When I told her he called me earlier and asked me to hold on to a check for a few days and to call to wake him up, Bonnie wants to know what check? And when exactly did Billy call?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I go to my wallet and there is no check for $10,000. I check my phone log, and I\u2019ve received no call from Billy Walters in the past 24 hours. Or ever, for that matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bonnie asks if I\u2019m taking any new medication? Using marijuana or something stronger? Or, perhaps have I been drinking a lot more than she knows?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, no, and no!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I finally conclude that it was just a realistic pair of dreams. There was no miniature golf game. Billy Walters didn\u2019t call. And undoubtedly the man has figured out how to wake himself up. I haven\u2019t had such believable dreams for years. I have no idea what brought them on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now instead of Richard Munchkin being impressed with me, I suspect he just might be worried about me once he hears about this. Perhaps I just won\u2019t tell him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I don\u2019t play golf at all, and the only miniature golf experience I\u2019ve had in the past ten years was playing a few 9-hole rounds on a cruise ship with Bonnie. The putters had steel blades covered in brightly colored plastic. I used a blue one because those were the longest and I\u2019m pretty tall. 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