Robin Hood Heads to Las Vegas for a Spot of Gambling
Not the Robin Hood of Nottingham, England. And not the Robin Hood of poker rakeback. But Robin Hood in Sin City! It’s not a place that would spring to mind to discover a real life Robin Hood, but an anonymous person has changed lives with his/her donations in the past 12 months. The Las Vegas Blackjack Player began a campaign to reward kindly families that had fallen on hard times. Taking on the name of Robin Hood 702, with the 702 standing for the Las Vegas area code, their plan was to win money from well off casinos and ensure the winnings were given to a deserving family in need. To be considered for selection, people were asked to submit their information on a website built especially for this purpose.
The website was inundated with people who had been going through tough times. The one consideration for the financial assistance was that you had a debt of between 25,000 and 50,000 US Dollars. From the thousands of emails that came through, the mysterious donor chose a family who had sadly amassed a huge hospital bill to pay for the cancer treatment of their daughter. They also chose a second family. Then he gave away a huge sum of 55,000 US Dollars between the families. The modern day Robin Hood then also treated the families to an all expenses paid trip to Vegas.
A unique concept to this story is that the blackjack player funded all his games himself. He had apparently approached the casinos asking for assistance to fund the plan, but has always been declined help. He has no intention of revealing his true identify and is in no way looking for any fame.
He is quick to point out that cheating is not something he advocates and absolutely denies card counting or any other winning strategies. Our Robin merely relies on pure luck. The amazing part is that even if he had lost, he had already promised to pay half of the recipient’s debt even if it had to come out of his own money!
It has reached the time now where Robin must start finding a new family to help and his website has been receiving a massive 300 applicants a day.
At a time of economic hardship and restraint with money, it is nice to hear a story of such unselfish giving. Usually people who visit the Vegas strip are there for their own gain, but our modern day Robin Hood is an inspriation to us all with his selfless act.
Marriage is a Contract, Not Just Love
The Evolution of Marriage
If you go back a century or so, you’ll see how different marriage was than it is today. You remember the dowry? A dowry was a cash gift or gift of property a woman brought with her into her marriage – which is code for what she essentially was sold for by her parents. In essence the marriage was a financial exchange and the amount of the dowry told a man how much “value” his new bride had. The definition of marriage changes as time goes by, and there is little that objectively defines the word. Throughout the 20th century, people began marrying for love. It might sound romantic, but side effects included higher divorce rates that only climbed as time went on and now are over 50%. People are getting wise to the potential deceptions of love and once again turning to the idea of a marriage being a business transaction.
Marriage is a Business
It may not sound romantic, but marriage is a business. There are a few things to be aware of these days when it comes to nuptials:
- How does each spouse feel about saving?
- How does each spouse feel about spending?
- Is there to be a joint account, or separate accounts?
- Will there be a house account in addition to separate accounts?
- Should charitable donations be made and if so, how much?
- How much should you put towards retirement?
- How much should be put into college funds?
- How much should be in the emergency fund? When should it be utilized?
These are some of the questions that every couple about to marry must discuss. There must be consistency in the answers, even if they don’t match. Could you live wiht someone who wants to save 12 percent of total income, if you want to save only 10 percent? Probably. If your spouse is accustomed to only saving three percent, there might be a problem.
