As English Football Season Starts, Burma’s Gamblers Play the Odds

On a TV above the blue neon-lit bar in Rangoon’s Tamwe Township, the hapless-looking Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger grimaced, sputtering an indiscernible obscenity, his hands resting forlornly on his hips.
... But for some, such arcane methodologies are not that different to how odds are assessed in the West, and not just by small-time gamblers. Professor Reuven Brenner of Canada’s McGill University—who co-authored “A World of Chance: Betting on Religion, Games, Wall Street,” a respected book on the historic precursor role of gambling in mainstream business and finance— told The Irrawaddy that astrology has long been a crutch for Western finance professionals. “Even now you walk on Wall Street, you see storefronts with astrologers and palm readers,” he said.

Read full article: The Irrawaddy, August 20, 2013