Speaking of season closer, the pair knows that a smaller bankroll has its own set of challenges. The checks not having arrived in time are a bigger deal than having a $30 smaller bankroll for the season closer. So I may as well give her the reward of a bigger bankroll early; she made a $30 profit last week alone, Camden reflects on what happened in August on the racetrack. She's my good luck charm on the racetrack. I still play poker, but lately I don't earn as much as I used to.

"Since you have been able to turn a profit last month, for today, you will be able to play with a fifty-dollar bankroll" Camden then hands the cell phone over to her because he will be driving.

"Yay! My hard work has paid off!" Myriam starts using the app on her dad's phone for analyzing race forms and trends for the first 2-3 races.

Let's see: for race number 1, from the looks of it, horse number 2 is the one I pick to win. I mean, on Delta Downs' surface, that horse performs best in 5-6-furlong races. Others may have had too long or too short of a downtime, so I am focusing on race number 2, Myriam starts thinking furiously about what the report from the app for race #1 implies for her betting plan. And she scrolls down to sections regarding who could end up second or third.

Then she repeats the same operation with the second race, taking her time to properly think about what she could bet on, and, of course, her choice of whether to go for the exotic bet. And which one. But she seems to prefer the daily double for the first 2 races, and one combination she seems enamored of for the first race omni. However, she does not want to think of bets specific to the second race right now, nor does she want to think of the third race.

When they arrive, about half an hour before the first race, they go over the available information for the first race before placing their bets on it. Camden, after reading the information on his phone, is a little confused.

"You say horse number two is your pick to win? Which one should I pick if I wanted to go for the omni or the quinella?" Camden asks, while his head is spinning from driving the whole way to Vinton.

"I'd say, go for the omni with horse number seven" Myriam advises him. "There are no other horses I have any confidence to show, so I'll bet ten dollars each on the two-seven omni and two-seven exacta, and another ten dollars on two-five daily double"

Myriam is my good-luck charm in horse betting, but Futurity Force runs at the very end of the card. So I want to keep a bit of money for. However, Myriam is awfully confident in the 2-7 combination this time around, Camden muses while he inputs $10 on the 2-5 daily double, $10 on the 2-7 exacta and $110 on the 2-7 omni. She seems to be taking more risks than I, which results in a greater variance.

"And they're off!" the steward shouts in the PA system after the call to the post bugle has sounded.

It's so exciting! Hours of legwork on the passenger's seat boil down to about a minute between 9 quarter horses, Myriam's brain seems to boil in excitement as the pair watches the first race between 9 quarter horses.

Horse number 7 was in the lead for the first 2 furlongs or so, but he loses ground to both horses 2 and 6.

"Horse number two is in the lead, honey" Camden comments when the horses start galloping down the homestretch.

"Now I really, really hope horse number seven can get back to at least third place, or second place even" Myriam responds, fingers crossed as horse #2 fights tooth and hoof to hold on to the lead.

In a noisy racetrack, horse #7 is trying to overtake #2 from the outside. By the 5-yard mark, it no longer is a question of whether horse #7 can remain in the top 3 positions.

"Woohoo! I'm still alive on the daily double!" an overjoyed Myriam shouts after horse #2 crosses the finish line.

"Honey, check the other bets we made" Camden urges his daughter.

Myriam then ends up losing on the 2-7 exacta, but their $110 bet on the 2-7 omni yielded them ~$460, net of the takeout. And then Camden receives a text message from Alan asking where he is.

"You'll meet my business partners for the first time, and I'll introduce you to them" Camden then takes Myriam to them.

"I would like to place two more wagers: five-dollar exactas on the five-six and five-ten"

I'm up $22 now, but I know I will lose one of the combinations, and yet, provided horse #5 wins the next race, I will get my money back on all 3 active wagers, Myriam starts thinking, while Camden wagers another $50 each on two omnis between 5-6 and 5-10, after being told why she feels the race would play out between horses number 5, 6 and 10.

"Myriam, I'm Alan, nice to meet you. You're lucky to have a father that lets you pick horses"

"Thank you, Alan" Myriam then nods.

The other 2 partners in Futurity Force also placed bets of their own. However, they didn't bet the same amounts, nor on the same horses as the pair did.

"Don't forget, Futurity Force is running in the last race of the night" Diego warns the other people in the partnership, while the bugle call to the post is being sounded. "Please keep some money for betting on that race; I will be paying for everyone's meals tonight"

"And they're off!" the steward signals the start of race #2, while everyone is watching the action unfold on the track.

Fast forward about 60 seconds later. The noise intensifies as horses 6 and 10 jockey for second place. As with the previous race, the pair hopes that horse #5 can hold on to their lead, but once the dust settles, it appears that horse 6 bit the dust, and horse 10 barely finished third.

Oh well, I lost both exactas, I can't always win, but the daily double more than makes up for my losses. However, dad won the 5-10 omni. I won $187 from that bet so I'm $199 ahead. Not too shabby, Myriam then counts what she won from the daily double.

"Honey, please stop playing the horses until further notice!" Camden hollers at her, while counting his own winnings from the 5-10 omni.

I wagered many times more money than she did, and yet I only won slightly more, net? What's going on here? Camden resists the urge to fume at his own daughter.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"You're just jealous!" the pre-teen girl lashes out at her father.

"Jealous? How can I be jealous of you? You got lucky! Or rather, we got lucky!" Camden retorts about a harsh reality of horse betting.

"It's not the first time you asked me to stop betting after a win! I want to keep playing! Please?"

"I don't want us to return home empty-handed! Hot streaks don't last forever, and neither do cold streaks!"

The two seem to be fighting each other over whether to allow Myriam to continue to play, but this fight removed any desire for her to play at least for the time being.

"Honey, stop it please. You're making me miss wagering on the third race!" Camden scolds his daughter.

"You know what? Don't wager on the third race!" Myriam, embarrassed by this fight in front of other bettors, backs off.

"Fine. But once we return home, you'll be punished!" Camden then warns his daughter, before Myriam starts eating fries. "I'll show you that I can win wagers on horse races without you!"

"Good luck, you're going to need it" Myriam then deadpans her father.

From what I've seen, Myriam is a much better bettor than I believed kids her age could become. What did Camden do, or fail to do, for that fight to happen? Alan, feeling that it's not his turn to intervene, is puzzled by this turn of events. I can't say I saw a whole lot of kids her age bet on horse races, but better that than getting into trouble.

Was that her attempt to sabotage the both of us in betting? Camden ruminates, while watching the third race he failed to bet on. He then turns his betting attention to the fourth race, while eating his meal. Am I being too harsh on her? Should I have let her bet on the third race, rather than making a fuss of preventing her to do so?

Yet, as the races go on, he doesn't feel like he would normally be when betting on horse races. It becomes clear to him that his betting behavior isn't what it is when he doesn't bring Myriam to the races. By the end of race 6, he's in the red for the night, while setting aside $250 for her.

"What's going on here tonight? I lost three bets in a row, but was it because I was unlucky, or because Myriam really is a better bettor than I am?" Camden questions himself while he lost $700 in the last 3 races.

"As I said earlier, make sure you have enough money for the last race!" Diego warns him.

"Yeah, just don't try to "chase your money" at this point" Brianna adds to this chorus of comments. "You know better than this!"

"What do you mean, chase your money?" a clueless bystander asks Brianna.

"Chasing your losses means that you keep gambling in an attempt to earn back what you previously lost"

My bankroll must last until the last race. However, relative to the beginning of the night, I lost about $80. Good thing my app can tell me how much to bet if I want a bet to yield me a certain amount of profit. I won't let my daughter get all the glory! I MUST win here tonight! Camden keeps an eye on Myriam, seated some distance away from him. At some point, I should win a bet, he thinks while reviewing what went wrong on betting on races 4-6. And ensuring that these mistakes weren't a result of carelessness on his part.

Meanwhile, Myriam has a lot on her mind. If only I was able to bet by myself... I wouldn't need to fight my father over betting on horse races! Why is it that he only seems to make me stop playing when I win big? Last week, I won smaller-time bets and I still managed to win $30... he ruined what could have been the best betting day in my life!

Yet, as much as he knows that there's only so much he can control when betting on horse races, only so much he can do, he only dug a bigger hole in races 7-9: losing $250 in race 7, $300 in race 8 and $370 in race 9. Damn it! I lost more money than I should have! May as well ask Myriam for help!

After race 9 ends, he chases Myriam all over the racetrack, while also being reminded that, while Futurity Force might have placed or shown earlier this season, he never won a race. Once he finds her near the starting chute...

"I apologize for my actions earlier tonight. Will you please forgive me? If you do, I will let you bet our last two hundred fifty dollars in our bankroll" Camden starts begging for Myriam's forgiveness.

"Only if you will allow me to place bets in the future!" Myriam imposes her condition.

"Whether I will let you bet in the future will depend on whether you can win this one!"

Oh boy. It's risky, but I have the feeling that, even if I won the wager, I may not be able to bet again until well into the thoroughbred season. Mom and dad won't let me wager online, Myriam shakes in her seat.

"I will forgive you just this once" Myriam announces him while he hands over the phone to her for analyzing the data from the last race's forms.

"What's your conclusion?" Camden asks him, while his daughter senses urgency.

"You want me to win, just don't rush it"

Urgency gives way to doubt in Camden's mind. Will Myriam cause my losing streak to end? I'm down to the last of the family's bankroll! The way I see it, I'm not only betting the last $250 of our gambling budget, but also Myriam's future and reputation as a horse race bettor! Her rep is tied to my bankroll by now! Would I rather regret losing the entire budget, knowing that Myriam could have prevented it? Or would I prefer to have this loss on my conscience, knowing that I used everything at my disposal to prevent it? My partners' money is theirs and I have no business telling them what bets to place!

"My heart tells me to wager without you, but my mind tells me that you're my only hope!" an increasingly desperate Camden yells at Myriam.

"Why, dad? What makes tonight different from any other night where you were about to lose the last of your bankroll? Deep down, you're jealous of my skill as a bettor!"

"That's precisely why my mind tells me you are my only hope! Two minds wager better than one!"

"You're jealous and using me when it suits your needs, dad!" But, for tonight, I'd say split the bankroll into two trifectas, because I can feel like Futurity Force is going to win, and then you have two horses I feel can reasonably finish second and third, in any order"

On a per-dollar net basis, either trifecta earns more than four times more than a straight win bet on Futurity Force. But should I go $250 over budget or take the $250 from Myriam? I don't want to be overshadowed by my daughter, but taking $250 from Myriam would force me to admit an implicit defeat! Camden's thoughts race against time as his turn to place the bets is fast approaching. It's up to me now! I am the one placing the bets in her name!

Once he arrives at the betting machine, he is shaking in front of the machine and, out of despair, he just bets on what his daughter told him to.

"I guess, I have no choice, if I go down, I may as well take Myriam with me..." he sighs and then sobs as the call to the post is being sounded. He then turns to Myriam. "We're all-in, and may your predictions come true"

The pair goes down to the first row, near where the winner's circle is. With his other partners right next to them. Maybe this bet, and this race, will be a moment I will cherish, or curse, for years to come! We're all-in, it's all down to the horses on the track down below!

Yet, as much as the action on the track could excite the people in the stands, Camden struggles to keep himself from vomiting. And Myriam is hardly better. However, Futurity Force isn't a horse that's a strong starter.

Yet, Futurity Force seems to overtake horses from the outside by the halfway point, gaining ground as they go. And, by this point, the horses Myriam had her father go all-in on are in the lead.

"Come on, Futurity Force! Time to finish strong!" his owners holler as the horses are down the homestretch. And the other 3 just placed straight bets on him.

A few more seconds and it would be all over. The lead 3 horses are neck-and-neck with a few more seconds to go. Futurity Force has one small burst of speed. Apparently, it's enough to force a photo-finish. If Futurity Force doesn't win, then tonight's bankroll is lost.

Once the race ends, a sweating Camden starts looking for a washroom to vomit in. In doing so, he misses the action happening among the track's stewards. However, once he is done vomiting, the stewards are about to announce the result of the race.

"After review of the photo-finish records, here are the final standings for this race" the steward announces the results over the PA system. "The winner is Futurity Force"

"Yes!" the partners owning Futurity Force seem to be willing to get down to the winner's circle for the stewards' photo, since the horse won the race.

And it appears that Myriam has saved them their money, and even made a profit (relative to their initial bankroll). So, as they cash in their gains from the last race...

"We did it! We won!" an overjoyed Myriam shouts upon seeing the amount on the check.