A Top Ten Industry Professional Thankful List

With the American Thanksgiving just a day away, people are making sure to give thanks for everything. Certainly, there are many places in the world where there isn’t much more to be thankful for other than the fact that one is still alive. Moreover, there’s many professions where the thankful list is awfully short, aside from a discount on eye-glasses and a mediocre dental plan. So as industry professionals, here’s a nice general list of things we can be thankful for.

1. Gambling– Celebrity, Entertainment, Sports betting, horse racing, casino, poker the whole nine, without this, we would have no profession. It’s ironic that many historians trace the origins of gambling back to religious rituals in primitive pre-historic societies. Those pagan rituals had a purpose of foretelling the future or explaining what was beyond comprehension. The procedure of the rituals was simple and consisted of casting lots. The result was checked to see if the number of the objects on the ground was “odd” or “even”. They gambled their stakes on the outcome that depended on Chance only. It’s ironic in the sense that now many religious leaders openly protest gambling…Hey, ya’ll started it!

2. Drinking – Hard alcohol, beer, wine, champagne, spirits, thank you for them all. Again, drinking and humanity/civilization has gone hand in hand from the earliest of civilizations. We thank our forefathers for this invention which has led to many nights of reckless debauchery, insane antics and countless one night stands. For years alcohol has turned ordinary weekends and for some of us, weekdays, into endless nights of fun we can barely remember, and morning hangovers to remind us of the previous night’s great times. Raise your glasses, for a toast!

3. Online Gambling– There are many visionaries responsible for the proliferation of this industry, including Bodog founder and the visionary behind CalvinAyre.com, a tablog by industry professionals and for industry professionals, Calvin Ayre. Together with efforts of countless others, the leaders in the online gaming industry despite initial obstacles have overcome the resistance and have made online gaming one of the most profitable and reputable industries in the world. Even the US is getting up on thangs.

4. Las Vegas– Just close your eyes and think of your most memorable moments in Las Vegas…Enough said. Thank you Vegas.

5. Mobile Gaming– It’s the here and now business, to many it’s the greatest thing since beer and nuts. Gambling in the palm of your hand, a huge new revenue stream for gaming operators, I’d say a thank you is in order.

6. Calvin Ayre.com Reporter Contest– There are dream jobs, and then there is the ultimate dream job as a CalvinAyre.com reporter. It’s not just a job, that doesn’t do it justice, it’s a lifestyle. But it’s not just a lifestyle, it’s one hell of a lifestyle of traveling to major industry and sporting events, parties, with VIP access to everything, it’s a life on the right side of the Velvet rope and if I wasn’t such a pussy on camera I’d be all over it my damn self. There’s going to be one very, very thankful winner.

7. New Jersey– Never thought the swamp state would be on the thankful list. But thanks to lobbyists like the PPA and Senator Lesniak New Jersey is changing the way governments think about online gambling, one state at a time.

8. Industry conferences/parties– Affiliate Summits, G2E, Sports and iGaming, the list is endless when it comes to opportunities for the industry to address issues and provide networking and learning opportunities for its members. It’s one of the reasons we continue to grow. Of course, what would an industry gathering be without the parties? You gotta love it, and you gotta be thankful, you could be a some Rich Dad conference instead where they take your money and kick you in the balls before pushing you out the door.

Ahh, the working girl

9. Internet– Again without this much of our industry wouldn’t even exist, and of course where would be without online poker, online casinos, and for some of us, online porn.

10. Working Girls– Whether it be in the Philippines, Vegas, or Canada working girls, thank you for making the good times great times and leaving before we wake up in the morning.