Sporting Chancer

From tennis against McEnroe to attending an illegal cockfight with Britney Spears' babysitter—a hilarious account of one man's attempts to gamble his way around the globe
 
Ed Hawkins grew up following his father, a horseracing journalist—the frantic betting ring was his math class, and the press box, thick with the haze of cigarette smoke and expletives, his English lesson. So when he found himself out of work after taking a misguided gamble on his career, he took another: by deciding to wager his way around the globe. Setting himself three challenges to see if he can get that life-changing win, the fun never runs out—unlike the funds. He embarrasses himself playing poker with Hollywood's finest at the World Series in Las Vegas, challenges world champion Phil Taylor to a game of darts, wastes dollars on rooster fighting with Britney Spears' babysitter in Louisiana, and fleeces pensioners on planes. Hawkins tries anything to stay afloat, culminating in a trip to a Glasgow bingo hall to try to land the odds that stare back at him in the mirror after being diagnosed with a rare illness.