Embrace Stupid People. They are a gift from God.

Today, I was mildly and briefly involved in a discussion on why people bet thousands of dollars, sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars, to make a couple of hundred or even a thousand. Anybody who follows horse racing knows this is a sucker bet which will beat you over time. One loss will wipe out 40 or 50 times being right and end up with a net loss for a very big risk. So, why do they do it, when the math alone tells you that it is stupid.
There is a simple answer for that. They are stupid and they don't understand math or probabilities. So, they are stupid. So what. Is that useful information to have?
Well, you can look at them as simply stupid, misguided people, or...you can embrace them for what they are. A gift from God.
Because every time someone does something stupid like that, they are giving you a chance to get ahead without doing anything but taking advantage of their stupid actions. 
Why compete with those who are on equal footing with you when you don't have to? If they are willing to throw their money away, you should be willing and eager to take it. These instances don't come along everyday. So, watch out for them. Take advantage of them. They are nothing if they are not consistent in making the same mistake over and over again, until they don't have the means to do that anymore.
But, alas. No worries. When they are out of the game, there are plenty like them ready to take their place. 
This goes for everyday life as well. People overpay for all sorts of things, like stocks and bonds and anything else you can think of.  P. T. Barnum put it best.


                "there's a sucker born every minute."

If there is a sucker born every day (or minute), then there is also a smart person born every day who can benefit from that. Are you that person? Which are you? The sucker or the one who takes advantage of the suckers?
Because of you are not that person who takes advantage, then in reality, you are as dumb as the stupid person. Think about that. They are stupid, but you are even dumber if you know they are out there and you do nothing but mock them. Others simply don't bother to mock them, but spend their time wisely searching them out, watching what they do and making a profit off of them. Mocking is for show, capitalizing is for dough.
So, embrace these stupid people. They are a gift from God. 
And the most important advice you can give any bettor of horses, or any other is to, 


    "Never look a gift horse in the mouth."

When you can pick his pocket with his blessing.