One Peck

[Flanders]

Parenthetically, wise guys tell you “Never bet on anything that walks on two legs.” They meant stock brokers, jockeys, wrestlers, and roosters.

https://www.justplainpolitics.com/sh...34#post3025934

https://s4.freebeacon.com/up/2021/07...-1-736x491.jpg

I am working from memory on this one; so correct me if my details are slightly off-center.

I attended a cock fight way back when I shipped on a few break/bulk freighters that called in at Guam.

AGANA
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One ship I was on happened to be in Agana, Guam on Sunday —— the day cock fights were held in a WWII Quonset. If I remember right, I had to buy a ticket from a booth like the ones in movie theaters. I think admission cost a buck.

The fights were held in a boxing ring surrounded by the kind of stands you see at Little League baseball games.

After I was in I walked around and saw the chicken owners arranging bouts behind one side of the stands. As I later learned —— determining the odds for wagering purposes had a lot to do with the size of the gladiators.

Eventually, I sat down next to an elderly Guamanian. Before long we had a friendly conversation. We talked and watched a few bouts as he explained how to a place bet and so on.

Apparently, my friend was waiting for a specific bird to enter the ring. Naturally, I wagered a few quid along with my newly-found financial advisor.

My bird was wearing one knife. His much larger opponent wore none. The fight began and ended in 15 seconds. I won the bet —— the big bird was dead.

Sad to say, my advisor was crestfallen when the crowd began chanting “ONE PECK. ONE PECK.”

In a minute or two the referee called the owners to the center of ring carrying their bird. I then learned that the live bird had to give the dead bird one peck.

I watched in horror while my bird looked around the arena as if to say ‘The other guy is dead. What do you want from me?’ In short: No peck was forthcoming. To be precise: I lost my bet to a dead rooster.

Legal cockfighting in Guam ends Friday as federal ban takes effect
By Steve Limtiaco,
Dec 19, 2019

https://www.guampdn.com/news/local/l...1cc1a5c7c.html

NOTE: A few years after my Guam misadventure I spoke to several Puerto Rican cock fight afficionados. They never heard of one peck.

Finally, I assume if the Agriculture Improvement Act is struck down in Puerto Rico it will also be struck down in Guam:

The 2018 Agriculture Improvement Act included a provision that criminalized cockfighting in every state and in U.S. territories like Puerto Rico.

Pitrunners Press Supreme Court To Strike Down Ban on Puerto Rican Cockfighting
Kevin Daley
July 19, 2021 5:00 am

https://freebeacon.com/courts/pitrun...-cockfighting/