Fun with Credit CardsWritten by Terry Mitchell
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I take these subscriptions only for cards that I don't use, so it never costs me anything. What's better is that when I try to cancel it, they bribe me again to keep subscription active! The bribe is usually in form of rebate tickets of $10 to $25 per month for about six months. When I make a purchase that equals or exceeds face value of ticket, I send in receipt along with ticket and get a cash rebate about eight weeks later for face value of ticket. Then, when tickets run out and I attempt to cancel my subscription again, they offer me even more tickets to stay subscribed. Sometimes, I have tried to cancel before six months ran out and got even more tickets for same card in overlapping months! If you have several cards you don't use, each with one of these subscriptions, rebates could really add up! In addition to cards issued to me by credit card companies, I have several cards issued by store chains like Sears, JC Penney, Hecht's, etc. Most of store chains that issue credit cards will offer discounts of 10, 15, 20, or even 25 percent at various times for simply using those cards to make purchases at their stores. Some will even offer a bonus discount for just signing up (and being approved, of course) to take one of their cards! They can afford to do this because they know that most people will not pay off their balance each month, but will instead make minimum payment along with paying an ungodly amount of interest. The stores will more than make up for those discounts right there. Meanwhile, those of us who don't run monthly balances reap benefits of discounts that other people are paying for! What I have just described is not illegal, immoral, or unethical. Credit card companies and store chains are in business to make money and sometimes they'll offer things that don't seem to make sense in order to maintain and/or expand their customer base. Contrary to popular belief, credit card companies do indeed make money off people like me, who never pay a dime in interest or annual fees and take full advantage of all of their offers. The money comes from businesses that accept those cards by way of fees they pay each I time I use one of my cards. Those businesses, in turn, are willing to pay these fees in order to attract as many customers as they can. Therefore, everyone in credit card cycle benefits. Those who use credit cards way I do are just making sure they are getting their piece of pie.
Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, and trivia buff from Hopewell, VA. He also serves as a political columnist for American Daily and operates his own website - http://www.commenterry.com - on which he posts commentaries on various subjects such as politics, technology, religion, health and well-being, personal finance, and sports. His commentaries offer a unique point of view that is not often found in mainstream media.
| | The Rules of Horse Racing - types of betWritten by Alan Cramer
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Superfecta bet. That's right - you guessed it! four horses to cross finish line in exact order you specify. At www.supabets.com we quite like this one. Daily Double. Allows you to select winners of first and second races of day, placing your bet before start of very first race. To bet you say something like "$5 daily double on 6 (your pick to win in first race) and 2 (your pick to win in second race)". Jackpot bet. Like lottery, you pick six winners in six races. Prizes vary, but because odds are so extreme, they tend to be very large. Accumulator bet. A sequence of bets of your choice, where you 'let it ride'. You bet on multiple races, and winnings are passed along to next bet in sequence. If you get it right, this can multiply up to very large sums quite rapidly, although even one wrong call will mean you lose everything. Not for faint of heart! (tied or cancelled races are simply removed from accumulator). Future bet. At start of each horse racing season, you will be able to get odds on a horse to win a certain event at some future point which you specify. The odds you get are fixed, so even if they shorten for everyone else as race approaches, you still get original odds you were offered. In UK, bets are done slightly differently. If you want to place an each way bet, you need to know that with 2 to 4 runners you can't do place betting. With 5 to 7 runners you can bet on 1st and 2nd and will win one quarter odds. With 8 or more runners, you can go all way to show and will win one fifth odds. To complicate matters, handicap races have different rules - with 12 to 15 runners you can go all way to show at one quarter odds. With 16 or more runners you can bet on 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th at one quarter odds. Don't ever be afraid to ask for advice - bookie WANTS you to bet and will explain ant term you don't understand. For more on Yankee bets and other horse racing tips, consult www.supabets.com .
Alan Cramer is turf correspondent for www.supabets.com the free site all about betting and gaming.
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