One of the great things about college is that you can take electives that have nothing to do with your major or even have any significance. You take them for fun and as a break from your regular hectic schedule. So a friend of mine convinced me to take a sports ethics and gambling class. We learned about everything from horse racing bets to the euro lottery.

We talked in depth about the ‘euro millions' for some reason in our class and about how it is one of the biggest lotteries because it has nine participating countries so when someone doesn't win that week, it rolls over to the next week and becomes larger and larger. You can check the UK lotto results online and we did so and talked about the chances of winning and how many people have played and how long it has been since the last winner and even the average amount of time between winnings.

The class takes something simple that most people take mindlessly (like buying a lotto ticket) and goes into great depth and actually spells out your chances of winning. It is really cool to actually look so far into statistics but in a fun way that the whole class enjoys.

We even get to go to casinos and beforehand we learn about the games and we talk about winning and odds in games like poker and blackjack and the slot machines. And then we go as a class (there is a casino about 30 minutes from our university) and we get to play with an allotted amount of money. And then afterwards we go back and talk about what happened. We even got to watch the movie 21 when we talked about card counting.

And then for a few weeks we discussed horse racing and we went to the track and talked about what the racing forms meant and it was actually a lot of fun to go as a class. I have been going to the race track my whole life with my dad and knew already most of the things the teacher was talking about but it was still a lot of fun to go and experience it all in a class setting.

It is great that the school offers classes like these. We are able to have a great time, while relaxing and actually learning.

My family has always really been in to the race track. We live in Chicago so we have two that are right near our house and we always go to the million. It isn't just a fun thing to do when you are betting on horses and watching the races, it is also time to spend with your family.

When I was little we would go with my dad to the track all of the time. He would teach us about betting odds and explain what everything in the racing form meant and we would sit on his lap and watch the races. There were also a lot of other things to do besides looking over sports odds and watching horses run. There were shows and places that kids could play and fun drinks (now that I'm older I really think they're fun ha). But we always had such a good time.

Now every year we go for father's day with my dad and all of his brothers and my cousins. We have such a great time spending the day with my dad doing something that we all love and he is great at sport betting (which is weird to say but he just knows things I think ha) and I almost always win money. I also think it is really fun to see all of the different kinds of people that go and bet. There are families and business men and then you also see buses of older people coming from nursing homes which I think is hilarious and really cute (I hope to be like them one day).

Now that I am older and can go on my own, I bring my friends and my boyfriend we'll spend the day there drinking and betting and just having a great time. There are places to get lunch and it is fun to just hang out and watch the horses (and also get a tan). I like that I can take something that I grew up doing with my family and show my friends what it is all about (and most of them love it).

I know when I grow up and have a family and I am going to make this part of my life with them. I also plan on taking my dad a lot too. You're never too old for the race track!

So as you guys know I am headed off to Vegas this weekend and am super excited. My family just got back and was telling me played a lot of video poker and I should check that out. I was googling poker and things like that as I was interested in learning more. I ran across this Full Tilt Poker website that lets you play on your computer, both Mac and PCs can use it so no worries on which you use. It seems like a great way to hone in your skills and talk to both professional players and amateurs alike. I read it was founded by all these amazing poker superstars like including Phil Ivey, Allen Cunningham, Gus Hansen and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson which is pretty darn impressive. Now I am not about to go challenge them to a game or anything but I thought it was quite awesome indeed. The customer service department is one of the best out there too so if you have any problems, let them know! The service can be reached via two web domains, fulltiltpoker.com, and full tilt poker. People can choose to gamble with real or play money so it is not like you are going to blow through your savings but can play for sheer fun. You can build your skills and talent and then go to make some bucks if you master it. That is probably the best thing to as losing your tuition money is not wise but spending a few hours on there on your days off from school or work would be a nice way to have some safe fun, right? I am sure after my excursion to Vegas this weekend I will come back and be itching for more gambling fun and be in there a lot. Depending how much I lose at the real tables I may play for real money at that point but we all see. American Idol is on in just a few minutes so I must go get ready, pack for Vegas and get ready for the most amazing night of Idol results shows. I'd put money down on Idol if I could. I wonder if Vegas has American Idol pools going? I will look into that. I know about the American Idol slot machines so I must check that out and take a few photos for you guys. Hope you all are well and catch ya guys later.