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
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.
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.
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.
Bookmarks