Hi there! NAFA grad from COVID batch here! I previously wrote tips to not waste time at NAFA. Currently studying in NUS. If you're looking for post O levels/ITE options, look no further! 4 years ago, I attended NAFA's open house after receiving my O level results and back then I was as clueless as the many DMs I've received asking about NAFA ;) . So I'm making this post to clear those doubts!
Edit: Added academic calendar to general curriculum and important degree update

Content

Things to note before entering NAFA

What is NAFA and who is it for
Available Courses
When and how to apply
Application Timeline
Financial Aid

During your study

Useful Acronyms
Life at NAFA
Understanding NAFA's SOAD Standard
General curriculum
Electives
Using workshops/Loaning of equipment
Internship
Overseas Immersion/School Exchange Programme
CCA

Post-Diploma

Furthering studies at NAFA
Furthering studies at a local university
Finding Work

Things to note before entering NAFA

[1] What is NAFA and who is it for?
NAFA, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is Singapore's pioneering art school. It is a private arts institution. It provides diploma studies with a study duration of 3 years just like poly. The special thing about NAFA is that it provides 1-year degree programmes which any student (usually from relevant diploma courses) can pick up.
Well, we always say 'art is subjective', it is a freedom of expression. The school is really open to anyone (and that is on the account that you have a portfolio or passed the test). Literally, you can have aunties and uncles as your classmates! You also have people doing art because it's fun but in all seriousness do not sign up if that's what you think. I'd like to think of NAFA as a school that guides you in the beginning and later on they just kind of let everyone be independent learners. Anybody can say that NAFA teaches you the foundation but they do not intend to fully teach you long term or up to a professional level. The school is excellent for people who have existing art skills (you've won SYF, art awards, distinction in art before you were even 17 years old) and wish to be a local artist. It is also great for people who are passionate and have some sort of basic skill or are/have developing skills already (that's me!) however this group should avoid Fine Arts. You can also be passionate and start on a blank slate but be prepared to work doubly hard for the grades. The school is not competitive, it depends on talent to stand out.
Do not come if you are doing for the sake of the diploma because the difficulty of NAFA's diploma is no joking matter. Dropping out is common in every course and you do not wish to contribute to that. That is also the whole point of NAFA charging exorbitant school fees so that you don't run away. Many people actually bet their future on NAFA because they couldn't go to poly/uni course of their choice and it ends up being wasted because it's not what they wanted! You may have heard people of saying that the school's standard is trash but the truth is, it's not the school's problem 100% of the time.
For students looking to enter NAFA Foundation Programme, it's still new and dodgy. I strongly advise you guys to take O levels and head to Poly instead if you still wish to pursue further education at local universities. I personally find no point in skipping a year and getting L1R4>25 with an O level cert where you might've passed math seems to be a more lucrative choice to use for entering NAFA. The only benefit you're getting from the programme is a debt $$$.
Entry requirements:
O Level: L1R4 equal or less than 25 points excluding English (can use CCA points)
ITE: Full-time Higher Nitec or Nitec
Other Local/International Admission Requirements
Important note:
NAFA diplomas do not equate with polytechnic diplomas.
NAFA being the oldest art school does not mean that it is the best place to go instead of Laselle.

[2] Available Courses
One misconception is that NAFA has double diploma programmes for 3D Design. I'd like to announce that it is false. The school is not capable of teaching 2 types of diploma at a time but rather mash it up. So if you intend to take my course for example Diploma in Design (Landscape and Architecture), it is usually the 1st word that is mainly taught which is 'Landscape'.

List of courses:
School of Art and Design
3D Design

Design & media

Fine Art

Fashion Studies

School of Arts Management, Dance and Theatre
Arts Management

Diploma in Arts Management

Dance

Diploma in Dance

Music

Theatre

[3] When and how to apply?
Once you received your results is usually the time applications are open. Local and international students have until March to apply. It varies annually. More here ->How to apply
Method of Application: Online portfolio submission or physical admission test
Neither is better than the other. You method depends on whether you can show what you have within a given deadline.

Online Portfolio Submission
Minimum 10 images, various mediums allowed and a short writeup of 100 words.
1.Make the portfolio for the course that you want
To make them pick you directly for the course, make it look like you are built for the course.
2. Have a variety of work
Fine Arts doesn't only consist of drawings, it can also include some sort of sculpture or performance work. Same goes for the other departments. Click here for what each course requires. If you wish to showcase a single type of work because you are unable to show more, it can make your portfolio look okay/bad compared to other people.
3. A passionate statement
Only 100 words. Tbh I wrote what I wished to do after my diploma (plans have since changed and it was an odd statement lol). I don't suggest writing about your contribution to the sch because as long as you're a student you're contributing. Make it short and simple.

In case anyone is wondering, my application portfolio was mediocre, showing 11 images consisting of sketches/paintings/photos. If you have a god-tier portfolio because you have that artistic talent, there's a good chance to achieve a 1st-year full-coverage scholarship once you step into NAFA. You can submit whenever you want but my estimated deadline was 2 weeks after applying at the open house which waived my application fees ($70 better treat yourself Haidilao).

Admission Test (if someone has taken the test feel free to provide more info)
The test dates are staggered once per month from January-March. Held in groups. Consists of a drawing test and write-up.
I only know that the drawing test isn't difficult. People who took the test do not intend to submit a portfolio as it's quick and efficient. Nothing much to add on.
Important note:
If you are writing a 2nd choice as a safety net please be cautious. I do not recommend as you may get the 2nd choice instead if the slots for your 1st choice becomes full. They will just shift you to the 2nd choice and that's where the 'appeal' part comes.
Choose to submit a portfolio if you can commit to the deadline, it usually gives you an upper hand over admission test applicants because you're showcasing more.

[4] Application Timeline (I only know O levels if anyone can kindly tell me I'll update)
O levels:
January
Receive results > submit JAE > apply for NAFA
February
Wait for JAE AND NAFA results > receive JAE results 1st > receive NAFA results 2nd
You’ll receive NAFA results before poly starts unless you apply late. I applied during Jan on the day of the open house and got my results mid-end Feb. March is the last month to receive results.

[5] Financial Aid
NAFA Financial Aid
Now, we all know private school isn't cheap and many passionate young souls I've met depend heavily on financial aid like I do. If you're a Singaporean with a tight family income, the bursary is attainable for you. It covers half of the annual school fee. Can only be taken once for each year of study. If you are able to claim the bursary for all your years, you’d pay a total of $7050.
For those who are hoping to start at NAFA but is at a really tight end, you need perfect grades in art and portfolio to be considered a scholarship/merit in your first year. You'll need testimonials and pass the interview. If you ain’t good in art, pass this opportunity however you can work for scholarship/merit during your diploma years. I’d score close to the 4.0 (3.8X) in Year 1 in order to get a scholarship to cover my Year 2 fees.
Other options are the 0% interest study loan by DBS. You can make use of your PSEA which you can also use your sibling account to cover your own sch fees.
Last option but not really one is the student assistantship scheme should you already be a student of NAFA. The pay is peanuts, I would not recommend but it's nice to have a one-liner in your resume that you did some work for the school :).
There are NAFA students with a possibly far worse situation than yours but they are extremely talented and hardworking to end up not paying a single cent. NAFA is really expensive so if you do intend to work to cover the fees, take care of your grades as well. It is not impossible to do so. I chose to not work as I was in a hectic design course and needed to maintain my grade for university.

Next, you would need to understand how the system works.

During your study

[1] Useful Acronyms
SOAD: School of Art and Design (Department)
SOAMDT: School of Arts Management, Dance and Theatre
SOM: School of Music
D&M: Design and Media
FA: Fine Arts
3DD: 3D Design
FS: Fashion Studies
FYP: Final Year Project (used in almost every SOAD course lol)
OIP: Overseas Immersion Programme

[2] Life at NAFA
So you wish to know how life is like at NAFA? First thing, don't expect the same amount of glitz and glamour that exists in polys. It's much quieter where you won't even hear a mouse die.
Because entry to the school is quite easy, the population regularly consists of graduated ITE students (can’t make it to poly/NAFA is the last golden ticket) alongside many international students. O level cert holders are like a small 10% or less. So if you’re young, prepare to take care of the older lot and expect to carry lazy people.
You have to be very committed to the course and can’t skip class. More than 3 times and they start deducting marks. The workload is heavy and even if it comes in small numbers, it is intense. The number of student to lecturer ratio is not a big difference but later on, consultation times may not suffice. Facilities are sufficient unless you’re in a design course. There are CCAs in the sch but not all courses got time for it. Staying in school late is a common culture. Fine Arts students after class just camp in their respective studios and design students would camp till closing 11 pm at the computer lab waiting for renders to finish. Every student will experience staying late and you can say its #lifeatnafa.
The culture here is not as toxic and dramatic as poly but more towards weird because we’re creative artsy-fartsy people. It’s easy to get along with course mates but there’s a chance for things to get somehow cranky along the way. Could be you or your classmate. Everyone is pretty open and wild. There’s a lack of competitiveness which is both good and bad.
There won't be a course that goes without presentations. That's the point of producing works ain't it, to show it off to the audience. Group work to individual work ratio is about 3:6 so if you worry about bad groupmates, don't worry I've faced them too and it can't be helped ;). Carrying other people during group work is also common. NAFA does stand for lazy people what to do. Your complaints hold no power. (Arguably, many students want the school to make entry to the courses more difficult as there seem to be too many bums to handle)
If you're mentally depressed or anything the school does try to help but no legit support system other than the ECG counsellor (which I find it practically useless). Now, the school deals with this quite often so they don't give a damn about your life. Ownself take care ownself is the usual term.

School events anyone can participate:
Open House (1-day Sentosa fun time with other Open House ambassador)
Orientation (has a 1-night camp! Recommend)
NAFA Fun Day
Overseas Immersion Programme (1-3 weeks long, Asian countries. Recommend but need $)
Student Assistantship Programme (1 year-long contract. Peanut pay)

The list of programmes here may not seem much but you can add it in your portfolio (except Fun Day). There may be volunteer work available within some courses itself. Do try to be active
And that's about it. Nothing special just expensive and less fun.

[3] Understanding NAFA's SOAD Standard
Take a look at what past graduates have produced within their 3 years as a student. Only you can judge whether the school is great or the right fit for your goals (in being able to attain this particular level of skill for XXX course once you graduate for example). The best standard can be found under the best graduate tab.
2020 The Grad Expectations
Graduation Showcase

[4] General Curriculum
Academic Calendar
The 1st semester of your study begins at the start of August and usually ends late November or early December depending on the type of assessment received. The 2nd semester begins in January till May. The span of 1 semester is always around 4 months with a 1-week break in between. We don't really have any sort of term 1/2 thing like poly and is much compressed, so breaks are less. However, you do get compensated with a 3-month vacation between years so that's fair.

*Applicable to SOAD only
Year 1
1st Semester: Foundation Study (not the same as NAFA Foundation programme for N level)
+ Basic art and design theory
+General Education
2nd Semester: Course Foundation
+ General Education
+ Basic course theory
(+ Electives)

Year 2
1st Semester: 2nd Set of Course Foundation
+ Intermediate theory
+ 1st project
+ Basic report/essay writing
(+ Electives)
2nd Semester: Last set of Course Foundation
+ Another set of projects
(+ Electives)

Year 3
1st Semester: Internship/~~School project~~ (wouldn't want to get this)
2nd Semester: Final Year project (practically on your own)
+ Report/Essay writing
+ Research and development
(+ Electives, not recommended to do during this semester)

It’s clearly not much different from poly, slightly worse at certain points. Weekly school hours per week will increase each semester e.g year 1 sem 1 is 18hrs a week for classes, next semester you may get an additional 2-4 hrs increase of class time. The longest time I had for class each week was 24hrs, pretty sure the same goes for any SOAD course. Do expect late-night classes. It is inevitable because most lecturers are teaching part-time so do bear with them.
Important note:
For a lighter schedule, do electives early as that's one of the simplest things to do.
The difference in timetable won't affect application to university.

[5] Electives
1 common mistake students commit is not reading the student handbook (from studentnet)/contract on the number of credits required for graduation. They end up finishing their electives during Year 3 Semester 2 which is the time one should focus on their FYP. Start doing your electives once you’re in Year 1 Semester 2. Good planning consists of not stuffing your modules until it’s way past 24hrs/week (also known as overloading). You’re required to do cross-disciplinary modules 2-6 credits worth (meaning not related to your course, if you’re from D&M you have to do either FA/3DD/FS) and course-related electives worth 2-6 credits. Days before module registration, plan out the electives you want to do based on your given timetable and then rush to pick on the day of the module registration with no hesitation to secure your placement. You may have to do an elective that is unfamiliar to you.
My sample plan:
Year 1 sem 1: Can’t choose yet
Year 1 sem 2: Photography (Highly recommend, popular as well but must have time and skill + a friend who's free who be your model). 2 credits
Year 1 sem 2 special term (aka holiday): OIP to Hangzhou. China Academy of Arts for 3 weeks. Considered cross-disciplinary to FA. 3 weeks long. 4 credits
Year 2 sem 1: Intro to Rapid prototyping from 3DD (laser cut/3D print) (didn’t really learn how to use the machine as there are technical officers and I messed up at the end but still passed, great elective for embarrassing yourself if you’re a 3DD student who frequents the workshop ;) ). 2 credits
Year 2 sem 2 - onwards: No more electives can focus on FYP
Important note:
Plan well so you accumulate just nice 120 credits for graduation. No point in exceeding the total credits as you have to pay extra for it. If you miss a few credits for graduation, you will be retained for another semester to finish.
Cheat tip: if you go on the OIP to China only, you instantly get cross-disciplinary credits.

[6] Using Workshops/Loaning of equipment

The 3D workshop at wing B level 1 operates Mon-Fri 8 am to 6 pm but you need permission from the lecturer or Technical officer to use the machinery.
Laser cutting and 3D printing in the 3D workshop operates from Mon-Fri 10:30-4:30 pm and it is based on a first sign up first serve basis. Booking is always done a week prior to the day of actual usage and maximum of 4 people per day (unless you let others share your slot). Every Friday the slate inside the workshop outside the room is wiped clean for students to book for the week ahead. Even if your name is on the booking board and you don't end up cutting, you will get a temporal ban after multiple attempts. Do ask the Technical officer about the laser cutting template as well and follow accordingly when you create the template so as to not cause a problem of cleaning up your drawing which may overtake another timeslot.
Camera equipment for photography/filming can be loaned from a guy named 'Jack'. Priority goes to courses that require it, followed by the photography elective and so on. Loan lasts for a week and extension can be asked for after loan period.
Photography Studio/Darkroom use needs to have a form signed, given to 'Jack' and then approved. Literally, find this guy for all your photography needs.
Fine Art workshop time depends on the course instructor. People from other courses are free to walk in when its empty but usage not possible.

[7] Internships
Usually done in Year 3 Semester 1, this is one of the key semesters every student should complete for it plays a very important role in your portfolio for finding a job post-graduation. The school has a reputable network, however for courses like Fine Art and illustration the intern positions may be limited because Singapore is not very welcoming for such talents. There are top companies who are willing to hire NAFA students on the basis that they have good grades and a juicy portfolio. So if you want the best, you got to be the best.

[8] Overseas Immersion/School Exchange Programmes
Slots for OIP is limited (especially the ones to China), requires an interview. I think the max for some trips were 35-40 people at most. There are subsidies available and coverage varies.

Places NAFA has flown to:
*Xiamen (3 weeks)
*Hangzhou, China Academy of Arts (3 weeks)
*Beijing, Beijing Technology University (3 weeks)
Bangkok (1 week?)
Korea (might've stopped)
Japan (might've stopped)

*Special programme during Year 1 Semester 2 vacation only
I forgot the cost but I've personally have flown to Hangzhou. Best experience ever despite getting a C. Crazy stuff happened at one of the finest Arts school in China :)
Important note:
If you miss the chance to fly, fret not, NAFA's degree programme is a collaboration with a foreign university and they will open an exchange programme for 1 month (that is if COVID doesn't persist). Not sure about the cost though.

[9] CCA (The price list is not updated as of 2020)
List of currently available CCAs:

Muay Thai ( $63 10 sessions)
Yoga (basic: $50 12 sessions, intermediate: $42 10 sessions)
Entrepreneurship club
Urban runners club
Volunteer club

Short story: Long ago, I actually joined the photography club only to end up leaving before they even started anything because everybody was too busy to meet up and thus disbanded.
During my time, Muay Thai is the most popular followed by Yoga. Do check out NAFA OSC account on IG to find out what they do. Looks like they added Korean language class too hmm

Post-Diploma

[1] Furthering Studies at NAFA
NAFA Degree courses for Arts Management and Music
Update (thanks to the comment below): NAFA is going to change its programmes and collaboration starting from AY2021/2022. The new degree courses are collaborating with UAL (University of Arts, London) and it’s changing from one year course to two-year course which includes 5-7 weeks of going to the colleges in London. All the courses are affected except for Arts Management and Music.
Students with A Level certificates, as well as those without relevant diplomas will be allowed to enrol into NAFA’s degree programmes.
The stuff I wrote may not apply anymore but I will still leave it here as a reference for NAFA's 1-year degree. The degree website is empty for now.

How do you determine if taking NAFA degree is worth it and why should you take or not take the NAFA degree? There’s always a mixed bag of opinions over the degree. Personally, I’m not a fan of it but I won’t be biased and input the pros and cons that can better aid in one’s decision.

PROS
1.Existing CGPA from diploma is Low
Finding a job with the private diploma cert and low grades can affect your career progression. Make up for the mistakes that were done during the diploma study and try to do well for the degree.
2. High CGPA, expecting a scholarship (or free ride) for the degree course
If you easily meet these 3 criteria (1) Singapore's local unis are too expensive for your taste, (2) you might be older than 21 years old and need to work ASAP, (3) "broke" but did quite well during your diploma and has an excellent portfolio to show, taking the degree might not be such a bad option. In some instances, the 1-year degree + years of work experience can allow one to take up a master degree at local uni if the pre-requisites are met.
3. Changing career path (still art-related)
It's possible to change paths from design to fine arts. However, for a degree that lasts only for 1 year, it is impossible to acquire a decent knowledge at a degree level compared to the diploma stage in my opinion. Usually, the people who apply for the design degree e.g Spatial Design, have prior knowledge from the related course of study either from NAFA or other polys. 1 year is not enough but never said that it’s impossible and has been done over the years.
4. Increase in starting salary
Nobody says this when asked why they want to take the degree but I'm sure they want an increase in starting salary. If you have a fear of starting out with low pay and want to bump it up by sacrificing a short amount of time and money, go for it.

CONS
1.Not a legit degree
This isn’t a biased answer but an honest one. NAFA's degree is not a professional degree. 1-year won't be enough to acquire a lot of knowledge. There are no internships and full training of Softwares/techniques whatsoever. It's basically aimed at NAFA/poly students who have an existing skillset and internship experience during their diploma studies or international students with similar qualifications. I'm not discouraging anyone who wishes to take the degree because some companies do take in students and if they're lucky, they can work for them after graduation.
2. Not 100% applicable for postgraduate studies in Singapore
The local universities may not kindly cater to all NAFA degrees. A number of students after getting a NAFA degree would choose to study overseas to pursue a masters. If getting NAFA's degree is a mean of broadening your studying experience by going overseas, why not? One real-life example that I've heard of works is landscape and architecture diploma + Spatial Design degree + 3 years of work experience at a good company + an excellent portfolio which eventually led this person to enter NUS Masters in Landscape Architecture. Spatial Design has a chance for relevant postgraduate courses although this may not be the same for the other NAFA degrees.
3. Not worth if you are a Singaporean
The cost of NAFA's degree is considered affordable for an international student and it was practically built for them. If a Singaporean were to study at local uni for 3/4 years including subsidies + tuition grant for a design degree, it'd still be cheaper than a NAFA degree. Plus an actual degree from the public unis is still considered much valuable.

If you stand for better higher educational standards after staying there for 3 years, I say work hard and flee.

[2] Furthering studies at a local university
It’s not impossible. It was already allowed a million years ago. It just a matter of effort you put during your diploma years. The current standard at NAFA has dwindled where only less than 10 NAFA grads emerge victoriously so don't be surprised knowing that NAFA barely has high flyers, the school doesn't even push for it. Even my juniors don't know my degree existed 1 year ago...
2 things to note:

NAFA diploma is not allowed entry into many courses that are irrelevant from the diploma unless the GPA is high. The usual entry requirements are GPA 3.5-4.0 also dependent on the 10th percentile, juicy portfolio and testimonial (I didn't need it FYI)
Chances are higher for relevant degrees although any degree will definitely have entry requirements to meet. Some degrees require O level pass in elementary/additional math (they say they don't check anymore after 2019 but I don't want to play out my chances). I know of students who were optimistic about their GPA but they did not read the instructions beforehand.

You will be fighting with the best from poly, JC and beyond. Do your best to represent yourself as a student from NAFA and you'll find a way to stand out from the crowd.
A warning note to future/existing international NAFA students: I know most of y’all only started living in Singapore just before the beginning of the diploma. I don’t know whether your international qualifications can equate with O levels so consider your future plans in Singapore carefully. My dear international classmates weren’t called up for uni interview (GPA already wasn’t helping, no offence) and the super stringent admission criteria crippled their hopes. Many have remained in NAFA to do the 1-year degree or have returned to their home country. I cannot answer for employment rates. If neither one is the option you want to end up with, do take note.

[3] Finding Work
COVID really struck a lot of people hard. I can count the number of my coursemate who is employed with my 10 fingers or less. The full-time employment rate is terrible, believe it or not. The school hides it like the fine print in the student contract. Here in the Graduate Employment Survey, you can see the ending choices of NAFA graduates.
I really can't tell the success rate of one finding a job even based on IG stories itself. I see quite a number of freelancer or people doing other things. Who will remain in the same industry? The top 10% in the cohort but even the best have struggled or are still struggling to find a job. NAFA students are not only fighting among themselves, there are poly students with similarly named courses out there too with a proper educational lineup that a NAFA diploma can't compare with.
A portfolio is usually the passport for finding work and the past 3 years of study is meant to fill it up. Don't waste time being a stubborn student especially when you will be spending a lot of money to study. The best way to make yourself look hire-able is to definitely have good grades and a portfolio. Can't emphasise anything else other than that to convince the company to hire you.

Wrapping it up

NAFA is one of the schools that provides a unique and alternative route away from the usual poly lifestyle. I had some crazy times in there be it social life or workload. It isn't a bad school (I quote 5/10) but if you can work for what you love, you'll do just fine.
The Open House is open and I suggest for those interested to take a look. A whole bunch of admission guides are up for talks.
NAFA Virtual Open House
If you guys have any questions, comment down below so others can read or if you're shy, drop me a DM but I may be busy to reply. Thanks for dropping by!

I live in a small mining town in the mountains of Colorado. Someone is building a massive casino nearby, Pictures Included

I grew up in a small mountain town named Eureka. It was founded in the late 1800s during the gold rush, but after the mines dried up the town began its slow descent into decay. Half the houses are empty or abandoned now.
You can see a picture of the kind of houses here in Eureka:
First house
Second house
When a massive construction project began nearby, it was the talk of the town for weeks. Why would they build something in a sleepy dying town like Eureka? It wasn’t until my sister Selene talked to a few construction workers that we discovered they were building a casino.
A casino up in the mountains, over two hours away from Denver. None of us could understand why they’d chosen here of all places. After a few months of work, the casino was done.
I took a picture of the town with the completed casino in the background to the right. The ten-story-structure sticks out like a sore thumb off in the distance.
Town+Casino
After the casino opened, they hired a few dozen members of the town, offering high paying jobs to work as dealers or cleaning staff. I was already employed as a firefighter, but my sister Selene got a job as a blackjack dealer. She’s a widow with two young kids, so the paycheck was a real lifesaver.
Still, something about the situation seemed too good to be true. The jobs over there paid far too well, and the management was far too accommodating. The fire station where I work is located high on a hill overlooking the town, so I began watching the casino from a distance each day.
I had initially thought that the casino was located in a terrible location, but I was apparently wrong. True, Eureka was hours from any major city, but despite that, a bus full of people arrived every morning and left every evening.
One night I was over at my parent’s house and had dinner with Selene and her kids. I asked her about her experience as a dealer.
“It’s Ok,” she said. “Just a little boring I guess.”
“Boring?” I asked. “I’m surprised you don’t have your hands full.”
“Why’s that?” she asked. “It’s like you said, Eureka’s too small. I never have people playing cards. The casino is almost always completely empty.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of that. If the place was always empty, what happened to the people who I’d seen arriving on buses? “I’ve been keeping an eye on the building,” I said. “A bus full of people typically arrives around 9 AM every day.”
“Really?” she asked, looking confused. “If that’s true, I’ve never seen them.
“I can see it from the fire station,” I said. “If you head out for a smoke break at 9 AM, you’ll probably see them arriving.”
“Interesting,” she said. “I’ll do that. If they’re being processed for their organs or something, I’ll let you know.” She laughed.
“Har har,” I said sarcastically.
The next night she sent me a text calling me over. When I arrived, she was nearly breathless with excitement.
“Orin, You were right,” she said. “A big group of people did arrive, but they didn’t walk into my part of the casino. Instead, they all walked into an elevator at the back of the building. I’m not sure where that goes.” She looked thoughtful. “It was weird. They looked… How can I say it? Desperate? Something about the whole situation was very off. I’m gonna check out the elevator tomorrow.”
I told her to be careful, though, to be honest, I was excited to hear about what she discovered. When I visited my parent’s house the next night, I found her two kids there alone. They told me that Selene had never returned from work.
I called all her friends, then all our neighbors, but no one had seen her since she left for work that morning. Our conversations regarding the casino flooded my mind, then a plan began to form.
Early the next morning I walked across town in my nicest pair of jeans and a button-up shirt. I pushed through the door to the casino and saw that Selene wasn’t lying. The place was all but deserted. Three dozen slot machines crowded the walls surrounding a few tables interspersed throughout the floor of the casino. The only players in the whole building were Bob and Donald, two locals.
I walked up to a nearby table where Bridget, a girl I’d gone to high school with, was shuffling cards. She broke into a grin when she saw me. “Hey Orin, you here for a few rounds of blackjack?”
“I wish,” I said. “No, I’m here to ask about Selene. She never made it home last night.”
Bridget’s expression darkened. “Really? Have you asked around?”
“I already called around. Have you seen her?”
She shook her head. “No, our schedules rarely line up. I’ll be sure to let you know if I--” Her eyes focused on something behind me, and she cut herself off.
I turned around to see the casino’s pit boss watching us both. He was a tall thin man in an impeccably clean black suit. When I turned back towards Bridget, she was looking down at the table and shuffling cards absent-mindedly.
“Well, if you hear anything, let me know,” I said.
She nodded, so I turned around and headed for the pit boss. I stuck out my hand. The temperature of his hand was so hot that I had to pull my hand away after a few seconds.
“Have… have you seen my sister Selene?” I asked. “She hasn’t been seen since her shift here yesterday.”
He smiled. “Sir, this floor is for players. You’re more than welcome to head to the tellers for chips, but barring that I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
I stared at him for a long second before stalking towards the door. When I looked back, he was talking with Bridget.
I checked my watch. 8:55 AM, just as I’d planned. I walked around the back of the building and waited as the morning bus pulled around the building. I waited for the telltale hiss of the opening doors and the sound of people descending before I rounded the corner and joined the crowd. None of them paid any particular attention to me as I walked with them into the casino.
The crowd walked through a side door down a hallway to an elevator. Small groups of people entered the elevator as the rest of us waited for our turn. I shot a glance at the casino patrons, surprised at their diversity. There seemed to be people from all different countries and ethnicities. I heard one speaking Japanese and another speaking what sounded like an African language.
My turn came along with a few other patrons in the elevator. A sickly woman hobbled into the elevator beside me carrying an IV that was still connected to one of her veins. We piled in and rode up to the top.
The elevator rose for a few long seconds. I wasn’t sure what I would find, but I steeled myself for something horrible. The elevator’s speaker let out a TING, then the doors opened.
We all walked out onto what looked like a standard casino. Another few dozen slot machines ringed the walls, but on this floor, they were almost all occupied by customers. I took in the scene, confused at why they’d have a ground floor that was almost completely empty when this place was almost--
Selene was dealing cards at a nearby table.
I jogged over and sat down at an open seat. None of the players around me paid me much attention.
“Selene!” I said. “Are you OK? Did you spend the night here last night?”
Her eyes were glassy and confused. She looked up at me with a dumb expression and didn’t respond to my question.
“Selene?” I asked.
“What’s your bet?” she asked me. “This table is for blackjack players only.”
“I…” I trailed off, looking at the players around me. None of them were betting with chips of any kind. “What’s the minimum bet?” I asked.
“Three years,” she responded.
“Three years then,” I said, not knowing what that referred to.
Selene nodded, then began dealing cards. I shot a look down at my hand. King and a 9. Selene dealt out cards for herself, showing a 9. I stood, then leaned forward again. “Should I call the police? Are you--”
“Congratulations,” she said tonelessly.
An almost impossibly warm hand grabbed my shoulder. I spun to see the pit boss I’d spoken to earlier. He gave an impressed smile. “Orin, was it? I’m impressed, truly. Would you mind if I had a word with you?”
I shot a look back at Selene who was dealing the next round of cards. Then I got to my feet, balling my hands into fists. “What did you do to her?”
The pit boss clasped his hands behind his back. “Nothing more, and nothing less than what I’m going to do to you. That is, offer you the chance to play.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
The pit boss nodded his head towards a nearby slot machine. A woman in a wheelchair pulled a lever and watched the flashing numbers spin. They exploded in a cacophony of sirens and flashing lights. “WINNER WINNER WINNER!” The machine screeched.
The woman in the wheelchair put her feet on the ground and stood up on a pair of wobbly legs that had clearly never been used before.
“As in any other casino,” the pit boss said, “you must wager for the chance to win.”
“She... won the use of her legs?” I asked, feeling light-headed. “Wait,” I said. “I played blackjack just now. ‘Three years,’ Selene told me. What does ‘three years’ mean?” I asked.
“Three years of life, of course. Did you win?”
My mouth felt dry. “I-- Yes, I won.”
He smiled warmly. “Congratulations. I hope you enjoy them. I can tell you from personal experience that watching the decades pass is a bore. Give it some time and you’ll be back to spend them.”
I watched the pit boss’s face. He couldn’t have been more than a few years older than me, and I was in my early thirties. I looked around at the casino. No one was playing with chips of any kind. “So what?” I asked. “I won years of life. That woman won the use of her legs. What else can a person win here?”
“Oh, almost anything. They can win almost anything you can imagine.”
A cold feeling settled in my stomach. “And what do they wager?”
His eyes flashed with greed. “Almost anything. They can wager almost anything you can possibly imagine. Anything equal in value to the item they want in return.” He nodded towards a nearby roulette table.
A man stood by the table, cradling his hands. “Another finger,” he called out. He only had three fingers remaining on his left hand. As I watched, the ball came to a stop, and another finger disappeared from his left hand.
The pit boss extended his hands. “Feel free to try any of our games. Bet and win whatever you’d like.” He reached out and snatched my hand. A feeling of intense warmth passed up my arm to my chest. “There,” he said. “I’ve even given you some house money to get you started. An extra decade of life, on me.”
I ripped my hand away, staring at him in horror. Then I looked back at Selene. Something clicked in my mind. “You offered her the chance to play. What did she want?” I asked.
“Her husband,” the pit boss said. “Quite the sad story. He died two years ago. She wanted him brought back to her.”
“What did she wager?” I asked.
“She wanted the chance to win a soul, the most valuable object in existence. I’m sure you can imagine what she needed to wager for the chance to win it. What she wagered is unimportant. The important question is: What do you want, Orin?”
I stared at Selene with a flat expression. “I’m sure you can imagine.”
His eyes flashed with greed again. “How wonderful. The casino could always make use of another dealer. Feel free to make your wager at any one of our games; I’ll be eagerly awaiting the results of your night. Oh, and do take advantage of our waitresses. We always supply food and drink for ‘high rollers’.” He walked away.
I spent the next few hours trying to decide which game to play. I was going to be wagering my soul, so I wanted the highest chance possible. Slots and roulette were out. I’d done some reading online about counting cards, so I figured that blackjack gave me the best odds.
I walked up to Selene’s table and sat down. “Bet?” she asked with that same toneless voice. “Three years,” I said.
I spent the next hour or so doing my best to remember how to count cards. I knew that low cards added one to my count and high cards decreased it by one, but the casino used three decks. I had read something about how that was supposed to change my calculation, but I couldn’t quite remember how.
Every time I won a hand, I cursed myself for not putting everything on the line. Every time I lost, I breathed a prayer of thanks that I’d waited. And all the while, I kept track of the count.
I had lost fifteen years of life when the count finally reached +5.
“Bet?” Selene asked.
“I wager my soul so you can be free,” I said.
The table around me fell silent. Selene’s eyes flickered, but she showed no other emotion as she dealt the cards. I watched my first card, punching the air in excitement when I saw a Jack. My excitement turned to ash when my second card was a four. Fourteen.
I looked at her hand. One card was facedown, but the faceup card was a King. I swore loudly, staring down at my hands.
“Hit?” she asked. The entire table was silently watching me.
“Hit,” I said, not looking down. The table erupted in cheers. I looked down to see a 7 atop my two other cards. 21. Blackjack.
I looked at Selene who flipped over her facedown card to reveal a 9. 19. I won.
The glassy look left her eyes immediately. She looked around in surprise, then her eyes locked on mine. “Orin?” she asked, then almost immediately began to cry. The entire casino broke out in cheers.
I grabbed her hand and headed for the elevator. The doors had begun to close when the pit boss reached out with a hand to stop them.
“Congratulations,” he said, beaming. He seemed to be honestly excited.
“Shouldn’t you be upset?” I asked.
“Not at all. Casinos love it when we have big winners. It inspires the other players to make larger bets. I imagine I’ll gain two or three dealers before the night is through from your performance.”
“Great,” I said flatly. “Now let us go.”
“Not yet,” he said. “You didn’t just win, Orin. You got a blackjack. And blackjack pays out 1.5 times your bet. You won your sister’s soul and more.”
I stared, not sure what to say. “What are you saying? I won half a soul extra?”
The pit boss grinned wildly. “Just remember what I said. You’ll find living for decades and decades to be a boring experience. After a few centuries, you’ll be back to gamble that half a soul away. Congratulations!”
He removed his hand, and the elevator doors slammed shut.
I helped Selene back to her house. Her children were relieved. I watched them cry, then moved into the kitchen to start making dinner.
It’s been a few days since that experience. The casino is still out there, and buses full of people still arrive. I… I cut my hand pretty bad a few days later. When I checked it an hour later, it had already healed, no scar or anything. I’m not sure exactly what I won at that casino, but there’s no way I’m ever going back.
X

26 Capital Corp (ADERU) is a new at-NAV SPAC with world-leading online gambling expertise - worth a bet

EDIT - one week after i posted this, Britain's most successful hedge fund manager Michael Platt has taken a 6.5% stake
tl;dr
At-NAV new SPAC with world-leading expertise in online gambling. Worth a bet on potential to be next DKNG on the hype train

+++++++
Hi all - have had a lot of great tips from this sub. Hopefully this pays some of you back. I have been watching and researching this since 23 December when it first filed S1, awaiting the units to be listed - they are available today trading as ADERU
Positions - 500 units @ 10.42 to start. Will be monitoring and building position below $15, especially if attention starts to build ahead of units and warrants splitting and shares coming available to Robinhood.
(My other SPAC positions are OPEN, IPO-E-F, PSTH, FUSE, PIPP, ACTC, CCIV and DMYD, 100 to 1000 shares each mostly around NAV and numerous warrants and options around these.)
As ever, this is not investment advice and do your own research
+++++++

26 Capital Acquisition Corp or ADER
is a 240m SPAC with usual terms - 10$ units, 1/2 warrants. Seeking a merger in "gaming and gaming technology, branded consumer, lodging and entertainment, and Internet commerce sectors".
I think this is highly worth a play on the online gambling hype if you can get in at near NAV, based entirely on the management which is unbeatable in its knowledge of the gambling industry

CEO Jason Ader
has held director level positions at Las Vegas Sands Corp. ($42bn one of biggest casino groups in world), IGT (£3.72bn multinational gambling firm specialised in software and slot machines) and Playtech (£1.4bn multinational gambling software firm)
Before starting his own fund in 2013 he was regularly ranked Wall Street's top analyst on the gambling and leisure sector
His fund, Spring Owl Capital, is a small activist fund focused on gambling and leisure. They are probably most famous for ousting the CEO of Viacom in 2016 and a crusade against Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer in 2015.
Ader knows the gambling - and online gambling - industry inside out. He drove bWin to a £1.1bn takeover by gambling giant GVC (now Entain) in 2016, and has been driving similar change and demands for improvement at board level at Playtech
The fund mostly manages money for a select group of wealthy families, which could be a positive sign for the SPAC (although I don't know how much skin in the SPAC the fund has, if any)
Here is a video of Ader from November talking about how he's excited about SPACs. He talks about how he has been advising certain States about legalising sports betting and how to maximise value and liquidity by linking up with European companies in the space (Playtech e.g.??).
Ader is extremely bullish on US legalising online casino and more sports betting options, accelerated by need for revenue because of pandemic

Rafi Ashkenazi
One of the most highly respected names in the online gambling world, including COO and CEO positions at major online gambling firms such as Playtech and Stars Group (a world leader in online poker and casino). At Stars he led the $4.7bn takeover of Sky Betting to create the world's largest publicly listed online betting firm in 2018. Most recently he led the £10bn merger between Flutter (biggest gambling company in world by revenue, market cap £26bn), and Stars Group (Ader also involved). Also has connections into the booming Israel tech space which is interesting

Joseph Kaminkow
Special Advisor to the Chief Product Officer at Aristocrat, a leading gambling software provider and games publisher, previously Vice President of Game Design at Zynga Inc. This guy is a former video game / pinball designer who is credited with revolutionising the slots industry after moving into gambling software from video games in 1999. Regarded as a "legend" and "hall of famer" in this niche. At Zynga he designed so-called 'social casino games' which don't involve real-money gambling but are otherwise basically gambling apps (revenue from microtransactions etc). 130 patents on gambling/gaming design inventions

Greg Lyss
This is a very interesting but extremely low profile person. He was Bill Ackman a.k.a SPACman's right hand man at Gotham Capital. Ackman respected him so much that when Ackman set up a personal hedge fund to invest the Ackman family's money, he put Lyss in charge of it. To repeat - Bill Ackman thinks this guy is such a good investor and trustworthy that he put him in charge of investing his family's money. Don't know anything more about him, but I like this association with Ackman, which suggests to me some integrity around management of this SPAC, especially as the gambling world can be very murky.
The other member of the team is the CFO of SpringOwl with 20+ years' hedge fund experience and not notable (although clearly competent)

Thesis / potential targets
Based on the above experience and many public comments by Ader over the past year, I would be very surprised if ADER is not looking to merge with an online gambling technology provider / existing online betting website / social casino app / possibly a supporting technology provider
They are activist inventors, and specifically say in the IPO prospectus that they could look for businesses that can benefit from turnaround or are not being run well. I speculate that their deep knowledge of the European / global online gambling industry means they have a target in mind that they think would benefit from their expertise and US liberalisation of gambling legislation.

1) Ader believes the listing of UK-listed gambling companies in US is immediately big in terms of market cap because of the premium on online gambling stocks in US. He has pitched DraftKings to takeover Playtech and called on Playtech to spin off non-core business. This makes me wonder if he would spin off some element of Playtech to list in US to cash in on gambling hype.
This might be Finalto.com / TradeTech which is an online financial platform owned by Playtech. Playtech has been trying to sell this for 200 - 240m since August so it fits. This company provides liquidity and trading to brokerages and runs markets.com a trading site. I wouldn't be that excited although apparently the business has been booming during COVID and there could be a decent pop just on fintech hype.

2) This could be a 'picks and shovel' type data/B2B betting software play a la DMYD, or something like e.g. Israel based CRM software Optimove which works with some of biggest online gambling cos and has links to Ashkenazi. This would be interesting but probably not a huge pop

3) Possibly - given Ader's links to Sands - an online gambling tie-up with one of the big Vegas casinos who are desperate to get into the online betting space (see MGM's attempt to buy Entain for $8bn last week). Interestingly, Sands' owner Sheldon Adelson, previously a major opponent of online betting, has just died. Ader predicted a few months ago that Sands would be moving in this direction.

“There’s no stopping online gaming,” Ader said [before Adelson's death]. “(Las Vegas Sands’) initiatives to stop online gaming, at this stage, are largely historic. There hasn’t been a lot of spending recently to do that, especially post-pandemic.”
“I think the company will see the value created by DraftKings and FanDuel and Penn (National) Gaming and others. They’re not foolish,” Ader added. source

4) Ader is very confident that Macau will legalise online gambling in next year or two. Sands is big in Macau, the biggest gambling market in the world. A SaaS-type product positioned to capitalise on Asian gambling would be MASSIVE - at present however, China's attitude to gambling and local regulations mean this is unlikely

5) I also wonder if they might try to take legitimate one of the offshore bookmakers with big customer databases and brand recognition but which have been grey-area/illegal under US gaming legislation. For example, Five Dimes recently announced a settlement with the FBI to attempt to transition into newly legalised US markets. This might have the most hype potential

Potential upside
This is entirely a play on management experience and the meme factor / hype around online gambling in the US. I think if they pick a good target - which given their experience and connections seems likely - and get the right publicity and attention from retail investors looking for the next DKNG this could easily 3x and maybe 5-6x if on DKNG-type hype levels.
There is currently little spotlight on this and it is a good time to get in at NAV

Potential Downside

Ader has been vocal that he thinks US online betting is overvalued and in a bubble - why is he starting his own SPAC in the space then? Does he just want to cash in while the hype is at all-time high or does he have a legitimate business goal?
If he just wants to dump a part of Playtech which he does not like onto retail investors, this is a bad deal.
Other targets could be e.g. hotel industry or other leisure sector which would be zero sexiness to retail. Given Ashkenazi and Kaminkow's background this seems unlikely though
Usual SPAC caveats apply about potential difficulty finding a target, locking up your money for unspecified period of time, and the fact I may have completely misread the potential and my above thesis might be totally wrong

December 2020 Guide to Getting A Driving License at SSDC

When I was researching online about how my driving journey for class 3 license as a school student would be, I discovered that while there were a lot of tips scattered here and there, cohesive guides were rare and outdated with varying degrees. There were even fewer regarding SSDC, which is more ulu than the 2 other driving centers. Thus, I promised myself to the higher powers in the world that when I pass the test, I will give back to society and write an updated guide as of December 2020 about what is the current situation like. Three things to note: First, there were still many changes and updates even during my 3.5 months journey the driving school, and you should expect many more to come. Secondly, this is after COVID circuit breaker era, so to the future you who are reading this, hopefully, the pandemic is over and there may be changes, but changes in this aspect should be unimportant. The third thing, I have coordination issues, which made my driving journey a lot more difficult, just a little something to take into consideration when listening to my story. Heads up, getting a license in Singapore is filled with LOTS OF hassle, so be prepared. Without further ado, let’s start!
The first hurdle you need to clear is to register an account and pass your BTT. Their steps overlap so I will explain them together. What do you need to start an account? Paylah and at least $2K (Ok, you don’t technically need so much cash to start the account, but it’s important to have, explain later). Go to the SSDC website, register an account online. You will pay a lump sum for all the miscellaneous things, which includes the eye test and the BTT & FTT theory book (so don’t buy!). I always paid using Paylah. You have an account now, good. It’s a bit confusing hereon. I will list the steps before I explain why.

Register and pay for the account
Watch all the BTT theory videos online.
Go to SSDC for the eye test, photo-taking, take the BTT&FTT theory books, and get an important small record booklet.
Book (optional: BTT practice test) and compulsory BTT mock test.
Pass BTT mock test.
Book real BTT test.
Pass BTT test.

One question that has no answers elsewhere is: If you watch the videos online, do you still need to go for the physical theory classes? Answer is: No. You either watch the videos online OR go and attend physical classes, and you only need to do one of them. Obviously, I chose the videos, and I watched them right away I registered my account. You have to watch for at least a few seconds before you can proceed, and there is a mini quiz after each section which you have to get all correct for. In my opinion, BTT is not difficult, but those people who think they can pass with sheer common sense are very mistaken. You need to study for it.
After you watched the videos, you think you can book the theory mock test, right? No, you need to pass your eye test before they allow you to book the mock test. For me, I registered my account on a Saturday. I studied the BTT with the e-PDF BTT theory book over the weekend. Then, hopefully, when I go to SSDC to do the eye test on Monday, I can try to see if I can book a mock test right afterward and pass it on the same day.
On Monday, I went to SSDC. A simple layout of SSDC. Level 1 is the lobby and the traffic police department. All your real-deal tests like BTT, FTT, and the eventual PT, as well as the actual test circuit, are all on level 1. Don’t go to the wrong level. Level 2 is parking I think, but I never went there as there is an escalator that takes you straight from level 1 to level 3, which is where you will spend the majority of your time. Level 3 is the reception for SSDC, as well as the place to report for your driving lessons. Level 4 is classrooms for theory lessons, BTT & FTT trial practices, and mock tests (TTT), as well as the simulator lessons. Level 5 is the roof, mostly for motorcycles and sometimes driving lessons for cars.
Due to COVID, they will usually ask everyone about their intentions before letting you into the lobby. When I went, I was stopped right there. Apparently, they strongly encourage you to book an appt before coming, and they don’t really allow walk-in. However, since I was there already and have nothing on for the rest of the day, I asked if I can just wait. They said okay. So, I took a queue number joined a group a people waiting in the lobby… for the chance to proceed to the third floor! Yes, you are not even at the reception yet, you’re just queueing for the chance to go to the third floor. Why didn’t I choose an appt? The next appt date is a whole week later! I decided to just sit there and study for my BTT. Do note if the lobby is filled up, they won’t even let you enter to wait. My visit from the start till the end took 3 hours. Damn tired. However, if you come at a quieter time (like early morning once they open, after 3:30 on Tuesday- Thursdays), your waiting time can be shortened to about an hour. If you want anything shorter than this, book an appointment. Do not come at 2:30 pm, cause 2:30 - 3:30 is their break time. So I waited in the lobby, wait wait wait, got to go to level 3 to queue to get ANOTHER queue number, wait wait wait, then I finally get to a counter. They did my eye test and later take a photo. NOTE! This photo they are taking right here and now is the photo that will eventually be on your license! I read online from old guides that they always take the photo after their PT, so I thought this photo would just for the school’s internal record booklet, so I just anyhow take. The photo was a nightmare. I was so horrified when I realised this fact that I ran down to SSDC right away to retake a photo that shows me as a human. The one important question they will ask you throughout the registration is if you will take manual or auto, so make yourself clear. Can you change it later? Yes, for a fee. Should you take manual or auto? Well, well, well, no offence to newbies but I am so sick of this question and the whole argument around this. I will explain this at the end if I still remember. Anyway, I chose manual. If you choose manual (class 3), you will get a blue booklet. If you choose auto (Class 3A), you will get a pink booklet. Talk about stereotypes. This is just the beginning. In my opinion, there are a lot of implicit and underlying gender stereotypes in the whole SSDC for both females and males. It’s not outright rude or unacceptable, but I just haven’t been anywhere where I have to face gender stereotypes in such a way for a long while. Anyways, don’t lose that booklet. It’s a booklet to record your progress, and in my opinion, for you to keep a record of who are the good and bad instructors.
Finally, you’re done… with registering your account. Phew. I didn’t get to book a TTT session (theory trial test-> the schools' internal practice or mock test sessions) that day, but I got one the next day. I do stand by the advice that it’s best if you book 2 TTT sessions back-to-back. For each session, when you sit in front of the computer, then you need to decide whether you want to do a practice or a mock test. If you have 2 sessions as advised, do a practice for the first one before doing the mock test for the second session. I thought I was well-prepared, so I just did the mock test straightaway. Passing mark for mock test is 46 marks, and I scrapped past with 46 marks, and this was even after I’ve done a lot of mock tests online. I was surprised! I thought I was well-prepared until I started the test. I was shocked to found out that the questions don’t ask you directly things from the book! Sometimes, they even test you things that are not stated clearly in the book, but things you will infer from the book. If you think you just memorise the book can already, no. You have to get used to THE WAY the questions were asked. Learning the book is basic knowledge, but to pass the test, you have to do a lot of questions. After this, I went to popular and bought the printed question bank, and did all the questions. When you have passed the mock test, you can finally book the real BTT test. The waiting time depends on the availability of slots. I registered on 23/08/2020, pass my BTT mock test on 25/08/2020, and passed my BTT real test on 03/09/2020. It took a little more than a week, and I’ll say I’m lucky. Expect more waiting time. This journey will train your patience more than your driving skills.
For the BTT real test, go to level 1! Wait at the area in front of the counter for the TRAFFIC POLICE department. There are some signs on the chair asking BTT/FTT students to wait there. Just wait. Close to the test time, some people will come out with a list and call your name. Show them your IC, squeeze some sanitiser onto your hand, go in, and pass the test. Then, if you have Singpass, register your PDL online. They will say wait until the next day, but impatient me found out that you just need to wait a few hours to register for the PDL.
When I got home, my mother asked if I have passed my PT. I told her, after all I’ve been through, I haven’t even touched a car yet. But that’s coming up next.
After you get your PDL, you can take driving lessons and prepare for FTT at the same time, which was what I did. Since FTT is largely similar to BTT, I will explain FTT first. So, you need to study for your FTT, pass mock test, pass real FTT test. FTT is more difficult than BTT, so be prepared. I studied the book, bought the question bank from popular, did 1 practice session, passed my mock test, and finally cleared my real FTT test will full marks. It’s not super hard, but please don’t underestimate these tests. That’s the failures’ undoing. More importantly, it takes such a long time for retests, so why would you want to waste your time? I was just super eager to get these miscellaneous things over and done with asap.
Finally, let’s move on to the real thing, the driving lessons.

Now, remember what I said about having $2K aside when you start this whole thing? Yes, that’s coming. When the system update my PDL and it finally lets me try to book a driving lesson, I was horrified to find out that the next available slot is *drumroll* 1 month later. Yes, 1 month later! What?? Right there and then, I was ready to cancel my account and go private. However, I remember a previous guide saying that some people will cancel their slot at the last moment. So now, I’m going to impart the ultimate skills to combat this system. Come, my disciples.
You want a slot and it’s available, you book it. You don’t want a slot? Cancel it. However, you can only cancel slots 3 days in advance. If you find out you can’t make it for a timing less than 3 days in advance, you enter the try sell period. This means that you put your slot back up on the market for sale. If someone buys it, good for you and the money is refunded back to you. If no one buys it, you have to attend the slot or waste the money. Now, almost every night, there is going to be someone who can’t make it for tomorrow’s slot, and that’s where you come in to snap that up. That’s also how I booked my first slot just a day later at 05/09/2020, and also how I booked the majority of my slots thereafter. However, if you have a relatively stable schedule, those lessons which are available 1 month later are still very important to you. Thus, you can just dump $2k into your account, and book all the slots 1 month later. Advisable to book about 20-25 slots from the onset, yes from the very first lesson. Don’t wait until later to book. You will prob need at least 20 lessons on average to clear. Then, when you find a try sell lot closer to you, you cancel the slot which is furthest away (no need for try sell if its more than 3 days away, you will be refunded immediately in this case). Your schedule is NOT fixed, in fact, it’s always changing. You found a better slot timing? Cancel this slot and change for that slot. Slot can appear at any time for any day, and it’s an always-changing market, so keep a lookout for it. If you are like a post-a level kid who have too much time on your hand, just camp there, and you will get all the slots you need. Just a thing to take note, if you can try selling your current slot for another try sell slot, you’re gambling. If you cannot sell the slot you don’t want, you will waste money, so take the stakes into the consideration and choose for yourself. Prices are different for peak and non-peak periods. To book all these slots, you will need at least about $2k. Don’t worry, you will get the unused balance back as cash after you pass your PT. If you top-up online, there is an additional $1.07 per top-up, and max top-up $500 each time. Might be nice to top-up at the counter when you get your booklet right at the start.

Now, about driving lessons and driving instructors. In my experience, there are 3 groups of instructors spread across the spectrum of good to bad. On the good side, there are really earnest, nice and patient instructors that will make learning driving fun even if you really suck at driving (like me). There are those which are neutral, they do their job, but nothing outstanding about them. Then, there are those really bad ones. Impatient. Bored. Distracted. Take long breaks. One even left for a toilet break for like 15 minutes. Hey, I didn’t pay for those 15 minutes for you to go to the toilet. But if I have to choose, the most horrible are the ones that are impatient and scold you for making mistakes. And that, my friends, was how my first lesson started. Yes, with the most horrible instructor.
So, I was excited to touch the car for the first time. To be fair, he is not intentionally nasty, but in my opinion, it doesn’t negate the fact that he made my experience horrible. He drove me around the 3rd and 5th floor circuit just to show me around, all the while asking me questions about myself. That was find, but I had a strong feeling he was asking those very stereotypical questions (where school you graduate from? What is job? What car does your father drive?) Pfft. How come you assume only my father drives? Then, instead of introducing to the manual car, he started on a 2 hour persuasion talk on how I should convert to auto. Even in my eagerness/good mood for the first lesson, I was very annoyed by him towards the end. To top it off, he said that since I’m a girl, there’s no need for me to learn manual, and auto will be enough. Like *bleep* you, who the *bleep* are you to determine what’s enough for me? If you tell your daughters to learn auto, that’s your problem, but my parents brought me up to choose the option with more potential, even if that’s the more difficult one. (To be clear, I’m NOT against learning auto. I’ve considered that too. I’m just pissed off by him). Besides, don’t you think a 24-year-old woman is a bit too old to be called a girl? Girl?? I know I look baby-face la, thank you, but please address me appropriately. I didn’t call you an uncle just because you look like one, right? Yes, by the end of the lesson, I didn’t have the excitement or exhilaration mentioned by other learners, I just want to get this over and done with and get out of the car. When I was stopping the car, I released my clutch too quickly again and the car stalled. In that exact moment, I knew he was going to go on and on and on about the manual/auto thing, and sure enough, the next moment he started saying that if I should learn auto since I don’t have to worry about the clutch. Do you know he even went so far as to tell me the fee for switching to auto and told me I just had to counter to ask them that I want to switch to auto? I was thinking *bleep* you! Did I say I want to convert??? *bleep* you! You like auto so much you go and teach auto la! Why come to manual and waste MY time and money. I was displeased.
With the try sell slot, I got another slot the next day, and I was so relieved that there was another instructor. This instructor was TOTALLY different from the auto promoter. The only question he asked me was “where did you stop the last lesson?”, and the lesson starts straightaway. I learned a lot from him, and the lesson was much better.
My third slot was on the third day. This was downright the most horrible lesson I’ve had throughout my journey. This was my first night time lesson, and I wanted to try if I am able to take lessons after work, and also learn at night. My slot was from 6:20- 8:20 p.m.. When I saw my name next to the car number I had for my first lesson, my heart sank and I texted a string of vulgarities to my friend as I head to my car. Yes, it was horrible. It was hot and stuffy in the evening with the masks on, no air-con as the windows had to be rolled down for COVID. That instructor had even less patience than before, though he didn’t mention auto as frequently as before. He didn’t “scold”, but his impatience was so obvious. I was tired from work, and I couldn’t focus as well-> more mistakes, more impatient comments. I was uneasy from driving at night at that dreary industrial building as I was worried about. All these piled together and I felt absolutely horrible when the lesson ended. It was till the point that I even thought about giving up, though I know I will get over it after a good night’s sleep, which I did.
The next morning, the first thing I did was to cancel all the nighttime slots I’ve prebooked. The only right thing auto promoter said was it’s harder to see in the circuit at night, and since none of the PT takes place at night, it will be better to take my lessons during the day. The next thing I did was to research how to block auto promoter. Though my own fatigue and uneasiness contributed to the previous night’s terrible experience, he was a big factor too. I know he doesn’t mean to be mean, but that’s not my problem. I don’t want to see him again. However, it would involve going to the head instructor’s office and telling him and I want to block this instructor, and that’s kind of bad too. doesn’t help that the office is in plain view of all the cars, so argh, I didn’t block him in the end, but I tried to book all my instructors for each lesson thereafter. In any case, I didn’t see him again. Booking your instructors cost an additional $8+, which may seem a lot. However, in my opinion, getting a not-so-good instructor can waste your whole 2 hours’ time and money. Might be better to just pay $8 for a good instructor.
I just want to be clear that not all the instructors are bad. There are some angel instructors, who never ever said a bad thing even when I made horrible mistakes repeatedly. They patiently guided me to do it again and again until I get it right, and we cheer together. There are also instructors that are a mix, they teach very well, but they will also disappear for toilet breaks or end lessons a bit earlier. That’s your choice. It’s a pro and con of learning at school, where you can try various instructors. This means bad instructors at some times, but it also means you can learn different skills from different really good instructors. It’s important because I found that another instructor can find out and pinpoint what the previous instructor didn’t notice, and if you gather all their opinions together, it will really help you to prepare well. I will go more into auto/school later if I feel like it.

In school learning, there are 33 parts categorised into 4 sections. You can clear multiple parts in 1 lesson, but there are also some parts which is compulsory minimum 1 lesson per part. Once you clear part 2, you can go for simulator lesson. Once you clear part 3 (which involves a mock PT test), you can go to the counter to pre-book your PT. Once you clear part 4 (more mock PT tests), you can book PT by yourself online. Given the long queue at the counter, you might as well just try to clear part 4 asap and book the PT on your own online. Advisable to have about 4 revision lessons before your PT. If you pass on the first try, it will like cost you about $2K-3K depending on the number of lessons you take. Now, it sounds like taking school doesn’t sound very nice, but there is a reason why I chose school after all. Let me talk about the simulator lesson first. I a bit tired of typing already, *yawn*
Simulator lesson is a new thing required by LTA for all, whether you are school or private. You have to take 3 simulator lesson in auto or manual version. Basically, you drive an arcade car that vibrates in a way that makes you want to puke through common accident scenarios in Singapore. Seriously, that vibration made me felt so dizzy and sick, and I’m not the only one. Prepare some sour plums before you go. It felt better on the second and third try, when I’m more prepared, but the first try was really horrible. I was wondering why they didn’t allow us to book a 1-hour slot, and instead required three 20minutes slots on different days. I bet car sickness is the main factor. I’d rather drive a real car for 2 hours instead. You have to clear all 3 sessions before you can book your PT. Even though I said this is like an arcade car, you should know that the traffic police department will screen your sessions before they certify you. Yes, that's right, so don't think you can go Fast and Furious on this simulator. Now, the simulator is a pain in the *bleep* too. If you want to clear this extra fast, you have to play with the system quite a bit too. Now, sessions are usually available 1 week later, and most importantly, once you booked a slot, you’re locked out from viewing the available slots again. The tricky thing is, sometimes they will release slots much closer at unpredictable and irregular hours. So what did I do? I book the latest available slot, usually about a week later. Then, late at night when hopefully no one else is online, I cancel my slot and enter the system again. If my slot is still the latest available slot, I booked it back. If a new slot (hooray!), I book a slot. They can be as close as 2 days later. IMPORTANT: you have to be SUPER fast when you do this. why? When you cancel your slot, if someone else happens to be online too, they can take your slot, and you’ll be left with nothing. So be fast! A bit ridiculous, right? All I want to do is just to get a driving license quickly ORZ.

Despite my lack of talent driving, I cleared all the lessons (I took 30) and booked my driving test in just 1.5 months after I registered my account. That involves up to 10 lessons per week at times. So, why did I still took 3.5 months to get my license? Haha, yes, I failed, thrice actually. I made different mistakes each time, but the fatal flaw for all of them was that I was too nervous. Don’t ask me about my total cost, I stopped keeping track after I failed for the first time. The good things about driving a manual car in school is that retest date is the fastest. It’s about a 2-weeks wait on average. 3-week for school-auto learner, and 1 month for all private students. Yup, it’s damn biased. The whole building is run by the school after all. Oh, I think the PT is cheaper for school students too, cause the insurance already covered. I was extremely upset and nervous after each failure, and I thought I would never pass, but I finally, finally managed to do so a few days ago! I kept asking the examiner (who is a very chill and funny person!) if I really passed, and he jokingly said if I ask him one more time, he is going to change to fail. HAHA! Anyway, I’m finally done with this! no more endless worries about the PT! No more days of anxiety! I can finally have my weekends back!
Lastly, if you want to ask me if I get to choose all over again, will I still choose to take a manual car in a school despite everything involved. I will say yes. I feel that the post I’ve written till now doesn’t really elaborate on the pros of learning a manual car, and in a school, but I’m honestly tired now. Maybe I’ll reply in the comments if anyone is even interested to hear about it.
Good luck to you! You can do this!
Edits for clarification, and little bits here and there which I forgot when I wrote it the first time. Thanks for the comments and reward!

Additional Edits: The instructors' system
You will be assigned to a group of instructors, and you will likely get the instructors within this grouping. They will try to assign the instructor you've met most often to you. Instructors are split into 2 shifts, and they alternate each week. Shift 1: 8:15a.m., 10:20a.m., 12:30pm. Shift 2: 3:20pm, 6pm, 8:20 p.m.. One group will take the whole of Saturday, and one group will take the whole of Sunday. So, if one instructor works the morning slot this week and Saturday, it's likely that he will work the afternoon shift and the sunday slot next week. However, this is not for certain, and just a general guide. If you dislike an instructor and you've seen him several times, good luck, it's likely you will keep seeing him in his shift. How to avoid an instructor without going through the hassle of blocking him? Click on the "book an instructor" for that session and see if he is available. If the name is there, it means he will be working, and I suggest you just book another instructor to avoid him. If his name is not there, he's not working and good for you.

Yeah, I have a problem...

On Spells and Society, or how 5e spells completely change everyone's lives.

Today i have a confession to make: i'm a little bit of a minmaxer. And honestly, i think that's a pretty desirable trait in a DM. The minmaxer knows the rules, and exploits them to maximum efficiency.
"But wait, what does that have to do with spell use in society?" - someone, probably.
Well, the thing is that humans are absolutely all about minmaxing. There's a rule in the universe that reads "gas expands when hot", and suddenly we have steam engines (or something like that, i'm a political scientist not an engineer). A rule says 1+1 = 2, and suddenly we have calculus, computers and all kinds of digital stuff that runs on math. Sound is energy? Let's convert that shit into electricity, run it through a wire and turn it back into sound on the other side.
Bruh. Science is just minmaxing the laws of nature. Humanity in real life is just a big bunch of munchkins, and it should be no different in your setting.
And that is why minmaxing magic usage is something societies as a whole would do, specially with some notable spells. Today i will go in depth on how and why each of these notable mentions has a huge impact on a fantasy society.
We'll go from lowest level to highest, keeping in mind that the lower level a spell the more common it should be to find someone who has it, so often a level 2-3 spell will have more impact than a level 9 spell.

Mending (cantrip).
Repair anything in one minute. Your axe lost its edge? Tore your shirt? Just have someone Mend it.
Someone out there is crying "but wait! Not every village has a wizard!" and while that is true, keep in mind any High Elf knows a cantrip, as can any Variant Human.
A single "mender" could replace a lot of the work a smith, woodworker or seamstress does, freeing their time to only work on making new things rather than repair old ones.

Prestidigitation (cantrip).
Clean anything in six seconds. Committed axe murders until the axe got blunt, and now there's blood everywhere? Dog shit on your pillow out of spite? Someone walked all over the living room with muddy boots? Just Prestidigitate it away.
This may look like a small thing, but its actually huge when you apply it to laundry. Before washing machines were a thing housewives had to spend several hours a week washing them manually, and with Prestidigitation you can just hire someone to get it done in a few minutes.
A single "magic cleaner" can attend to several dozen homes, if not hundreds, thus freeing several hours of the time of dozens of women.
Fun fact: there's an interesting theory that says feminism only existed because of laundry machines and similar devices. Women found themselves having more free time, which they used to read and socialize. Educated women with more contacts made for easy organization of political movements, and the fact men were now able to do "the women's work" by pushing a button meant men were less opposed to losing their housewives' labor. Having specialized menders and magic cleaners could cause a comparable revolution in a fantasy setting, and help explain why women have a similar standing to men even in combat occupations such as adventuring.

Healing in general (1st-2nd level).
This one is fairly obvious. A commoner has 4 hit points, that means just about any spell is a full heal to the average person. That means most cuts, stab wounds, etc. can be solved by the resident cleric. Even broken bones that would leave you in bed for months can be solved in a matter of seconds as soon as the holy man arrives.
But that's nothing compared to the ability to cure diseases. While the only spell that can cure diseases is Lesser Restoration, which is second level, a paladin can do it much more easily with just a Lay on Hands. This means if one or two people catch a disease it can just be eradicated with a touch.
However doing that comes with a cost. If everyone is instantly expunged of illness, the populace does not build up their immune systems. Regular disease becomes less common, sure, but whenever it is reintroduced (by, say, immigrants or contact with less civilized humanoids) it can spread like wildfire, afflicting people so fast that no amount of healers will have the magic juice to deal with it.
Diseases become rare, plagues become common.

Continual Flame (2nd).
Ok, this one is a topic i love and could easily be its own post.
There's an article called "Why the Falling Cost of Light Matters", which goes in detail about how man went from chopping wood for fire, to using animal fat for candles, then other oils, whale oil, kerosene, then finally incandescent light bulbs, and more recently LED lights. Each of these leaps is orders of grandeur more efficient than the previous one, to the point that the cost of light today is about 500,000 times cheaper than it was for for a caveman. And until the early 1900s the only way mankind knew of making light was to set things on fire.
Continual Flame on the other hand allows you to turn 50gp worth of rubies and a 2nd level spell slot into a torch that burns forever. In a society that spends 60 hours of labor to be able to generate 140 minutes of light, this is a huge game changer.
This single spell, which i am 99% sure was just created as an excuse for why the dungeon is lit despite going for centuries without maintenance, allows you to have things like public lighting. Even if you only add a new "torchpost" every other week or month sooner or later you'll be left with a neatly lit city, specially if the city has had thousands of years in which to gather the rubies and light them up.
And because the demand of rubies becomes so important, consider how governments would react. Lighting the streets is a public service, if its strategically relevant to make the city safer at night, would that not warrant some restrictions on ruby sales? Perhaps even banning the use of rubies in jewelry?
Trivia: John D. Rockefeller, the richest man in history, gained his wealth selling kerosene. Kerosene at the time was used to light lamps. Gasoline was invented much later, when Rockefeller tasked a bunch of scientists to come up with a use for some byproducts of the kerosene production. This illustrates how much money is to be had in the lighting industry, and you could even have your own Rockefeller ruby baron in your game. I shall call him... Dohn J. Stonebreaker. Perfect name for a mining entrepreneur.
Whether the ruby trade ends up a monopoly under the direct supervision of the king or a free market, do keep in mind that Continual Flame is by far the most efficient way of creating light.

Gentle Repose (2nd).
Cast it on a corpse, and it stays preserved for 10 days.
This has many potential uses, from preserving foodstuffs (hey, some rare meats are expensive enough to warrant it) to keeping the bodies of old rulers preserved. Even if a ruler died of old age and cannot be resurrected, the body could be kept "fresh" out of respect/ceremony. Besides, it keeps the corpse from becoming undead.

Skywrite (2nd).
Ok, this one is mostly a gag. While the spell can be used by officials to make official announcements to the populace, such as new laws or important news, i like to just use it for spam. I mean, its a ritual spell that writes a message on the sky; what else would people use it for?
Imagine you show up in a city, and there's half a dozen clouds reading "buy at X, we have what you need", "get your farming supplies over at Joe's store" or "vote Y for the city council".
The possibilities are endless, and there's no way the players can expect it. Just keep in mind that by RAW the spell can only do words, meaning no images. No Patrick, "8===D" is not a word.

Zone of Truth (2nd).
This one is too obvious. Put all suspects of a crime into a ZoT, wait a couple minutes to make sure they fail the save, then ask each one if he did it. Sure its not a perfect system, things like the Ring of Mind Shielding still exist, but it's got a better chance of getting the right guy than most medieval justice systems. And probably more than a few contemporary ones. All while taking only a fraction of the time.
More importantly, with all the average crimes being handled instantly, the guards and investigators have more time to properly investigate the more unusual crimes that might actually involve a Thought Shield, Ring of Mind Shielding or a level 17 Mastermind.
There is a human rights argument against messing with people's minds in any way, which is why this may not be practiced in every kingdom. But there are definitely some more lawful societies that would use ZoT on just about every crime.
Why swear to speak the truth and nothing but the truth when you can just stand in a zone of truth?
Another interesting use for ZoT is oaths. When someone is appointed into an office, gets to a high rank in the military or a guild, just put them in a ZoT while they make their oath to stand for the organization's values and yadda yadda. Of course they can be corrupted later on, but at least you make sure they're honest when they are sworn in.

Sending (3rd).
Sending is busted in so many ways.
The more "vanilla" use of it is to just communicate over long distances. We all know that information is important, and that sometimes getting information a whole day ahead can lead to a 40% return on a massive two-year investment. Being able to know of invasions, monsters, disasters, etc. without waiting days or weeks for a courier can be vital for the survival of a nation. Another notable example is that one dude who ran super fast for a while to be the first to tell his side of a recent event.
But the real broken thing here is... Sending can Send to any creature, on any plane; the only restriction being "with which you are familiar". In D&D dead people just get sent to one of the afterlife planes, meaning that talking to your dead grandfather would be as simple as Sending to him. Settling inheritance disputes was never easier!
Before moving on to the next point let me ask you something: Is a cleric familiar with his god? Is a warlock familiar with his patron?

Speak With Dead (3rd).
Much like Sending, this lets you easily settle disputes. Is the senate/council arguing over a controversial topic? Just ask the beloved hero or ruler from 200 years ago what he thinks on the subject. As long his skeleton still has a jaw (or if he has been kept in Gentle Repose), he can answer.
This can also be used to ask people who killed them, except murderers also know this. Plan on killing someone? Accidentally killed someone? Make sure to inutilize the jaw. Its either that, being so stealthy the victim can't identify you, or being caught.

Note on spell availability.
Oh boy. No world-altering 4th level spells for some reason, and suddenly we're playing with the big boys now.
Spells up to 3rd level are what I'd consider "somewhat accessible", and can be arranged for a fee even for regular citizens. For instance the vanilla Priest statblock (MM348) is a 5th level cleric, and the standard vanilla Druid (MM346) a 4th level druid.
Spells of 5th level onward will be considered something only the top 1% is able to afford, or large organizations such as guilds, temples or government.

Dream (5th).
I was originally going to put Dream along with Sending and Telepathy as "long range communication", but decided against it due to each of them having unique uses.
And when it comes to Dream, it has the unique ability of allowing you to put your 8 hours of sleep to good use. A tutor could hire someone to cast Dream on him, thus allowing him to teach his student for 8 hours at any distance. This is a way you could even access hermits that live in the middle of nowhere or in secluded monasteries. Very wealthy families or rulers would be willing to pay a good amount of money to make sure their heirs get that extra bit of education.
Its like online classes, but while you sleep!
Another interesting use is for cheating. Know a princess or queen you like? She likes you back? Her dad put 400 trained soldiers between you? No problemo! Just find a 9th level Bard, Warlock or Wizard, but who am i kidding, of course it'll be a bard. And that bard is probably you. Now you have 8 hours to do whatever you want, and no physical evidence will be left.

Raise Dead (5th).
Few things matter more in life than death. And the ability to resurrect people has a huge impact on society. The impact is so huge that this topic needs topics of its own.
First, diamond monopoly. Remember what i said about how Continual Flame would lead to controlled ruby sales due to its strategic value? This is the same principle, but a hundred times stronger. Resurrection is a huge strategic resource. It makes assassinations harder, can be used to bring back your officials or highest level soldiers over and over during a war, etc. This means more authoritarian regimes would do everything within their power to control the supply and stock of diamonds. Which in turn means if anyone wants to have someone resurrected, even in times of peace, they'll need to call in a favor, do a quest, grease some hands...
Second, resurrection insurance. People hate risks. That's why insurance is such a huge industry, taking up about 15% of the US GDP. People insure their cars, houses... even their lives. Resurrection just means "life insurance" is taken more literally. This makes even more sense when you consider how expensive resurrection is: nobody can afford it in one go, but if you pay a little every month or year you can save up enough to have it done when the need arises.
This is generally incompatible with the idea of a State-run monopoly over diamonds, but that just means different countries within a setting can take different approaches.
To make things easier, i even used some microeconomics to make a sheet in my personal random generators to calculate the price of such a service. Just head to the "Insurance" tab and fill in the information relative to your setting.
With actual life insurance resurrection can cost as little as 5gp a year for humans or 8sp a year for elves, making resurrection way more affordable than it looks.
Also, do you know why pirates wore a single gold earring? It was so that if your body washes up on the shore whoever finds it can use the money to arrange a proper burial. Sure there's a risk of the finder taking it and walking away, but the pirates did it anyway. With resurrection in play, might as well just wear a diamond earring instead and hope the finder is nice enough to bring you back.
I got so carried away with the whole insurance thing i almost forgot: the possibility of resurrection also changes how murders are committed.
If you want someone dead but resurrection exists, you have to remove the vital organs. Decapitation would be far more common. Sure resurrection is still possible, but it requires higher level spells or Reincarnate, which has... quirks.
As a result it should be very obvious when someone was killed by accident or an overreaction, and when someone was specifically out to kill the victim.

Scrying (5th).
This one is somewhat obvious, in that everyone and their mother knows it helps finding people. But who needs finding? Well, that would be those who are hiding.
The main use i see for this spell, by far, is locating escaped criminals. Just collect a sample of hair or blood when arresting someone (or shipping them to hard labor which is way smarter), and if they escape you'll be almost guaranteed to successfully scry on them.
A similar concept to this is seen in the Dragon Age series. If you're a mage the paladins keep a sample of your blood in something called a phylactery, and that can be used to track you down. There's even a quest or two about mages trying to destroy their phylacteries before escaping.
Similarly, if you plan a jailbreak it would be highly beneficial to destroy the blood/hair sample first. As a matter of fact i can even see a thieves guild hiring a low level party to take out the sample while the professional infiltrators get the prisoner out. Keep in mind both events must be done at the same time, otherwise the guards will just collect a new sample or would have already taken it to the wizard.
But guards aren't the only ones with resources. A loan shark could keep blood samples of his debtors, a mobster can keep one of those who owe him favors, etc. And the blood is ceremoniously returned only when the debt is fully paid.

Teleportation Circle (5th), Transport Via Plants (6th).
In other words, long range teleportation. This is such a huge thing that it is hard to properly explain how important it is.
Teleportation Circle creates a 10ft. circle, and everyone has one round to get in and appear on the target location. Assuming 30ft. movement that means you can get 192 people through, which is a lot of potential merchants going across any distance. Or 672 people dashing.
Math note: A 30ft radius square around a 10ft. diameter square, minus the 4 original squares. Or [(6*2+2)^2]-4 squares of 5ft. each. Hence 192 people.
Getting hundreds of merchants, workers, soldiers, etc. across any distance is nothing to scoff at. In fact, it could help explain why PHB item prices are so standardized: Arbitrage is so easy and cheap that price differences across multiple markets become negligible. Unless of course countries start setting up tax collectors outside of the permanent teleportation circles in order to charge tariffs.
Transport Via Plants does something very similar but it requires 5ft of movement to go through, which means less people can be teleported. On the other hand it doesn't burn 50gp and can take you to any tree the druid is familiar with, making it nearly impossible for tax collectors to be waiting on the other side. Unfortunately druids tend to be a lot less willing to aid smugglers, so your best bet might be a bard using spells that don't belong to his list.
With these methods of long range teleportation not only does trade get easier, but it also becomes possible to colonize or inhabit far away places. For instance if someone finds a gold mine in the antarctic you could set up a mine and bring food and other supplies via teleportation.

Major Image (6th level slot).
Major Image is a 3rd level spell that creates an illusion over a 20ft cube, complete with image, sound, smell and temperature. When cast with a 6th level slot or higher, it lasts indefinitely.
That my friends, is a huge spell. Why get the world's best painter to decorate the ceiling of your cathedral when you can just get an illusion made in six seconds?
The uses for decorating large buildings is already good, but remember: we're not restricted to sight.
Cast this on a room and it'll always be cool and smell nice. Inns would love that, as would anyone who always sleeps or works in the same room. Desert cities have never been so chill.
You can even use an illusion to make the front of your shop seem flashier, while hollering on loop to bring customers in.
The only limit to this spell is your imagination, though I'm pretty sure it was originally made just to hide secret passages.
Trivia: the ki-rin (VGM163) can cast Major Image as a 6th level spell, at will. It's probably meant to give them fabulous lairs yet all it takes is someone doing the holy horsey a big favor, and it could enchant the whole city in a few hours. Shiniest city on the planet, always at a nice temperature and with a fragrance of lilac, gooseberries or whatever you want.

Simulacrum (7th).
Spend 12 hours and 1500gp worth of ruby dust, and get a clone of yourself. Notably, each caster can only have one simulacrum, regardless of who the person he cloned is.
How this changes the world? By allowing the rich and powerful to be in two places at once. Kings now have a perfect impersonator who thinks just like them. A wealthy banker can run two branches of his company. Etc.
This makes life much easier, but also competes with Continual Flame over resources.
It also gives "go fuck yourself" a whole new meaning, making the sentence a valid Suggestion.

Clone (8th).
If there's one spell i despise, its Clone.
Wizard-only preemptive resurrection. Touch spell, costs 1.000gp worth of diamonds each time, takes 120 days to come into effect, and creates a copy of the creature that the soul occupies if the original dies. Oh, and the copy can be made younger.
Why is it so despicable? Because it makes people effectively immortal. Accidents and assassinations just get you sent to the clone, and old age can be forever delayed because you keep going back to younger versions of yourself. Being a touch spell means the wizard can cast it on anyone he wants.
In other words: high level wizards, and only wizards, get to make anyone immortal.
That means wizards will inevitably rule any world in which this spell exists.
Think about it. Rulers want to live forever. Wizards can make you live forever. Wizards want other stuff, which you must give them if you want to continue being Cloned. Rulers who refuse this deal eventually die, rulers who accept stick around forever. Natural selection makes it so that eventually the only rulers left are those who sold their soul to wizards. Figuratively, i hope.
The fact that there are only a handful of wizards out there who are high enough level to cast the spell means its easier for them organize and/or form a cartel or union (cartels/unions are easier to maintain the fewer suppliers are involved).
This leads to a dystopian scenario where mages rule, kings are authoritarian pawns and nobody else has a say in anything. Honestly it would make for a fun campaign in and of itself, but unless that's specifically what you're going for it'll just derail everything else.
Oh, and Clone also means any and all liches are absolute idiots. Liches are people who turned themselves into undead abominations in order to gain eternal life at the cost of having to feed on souls. They're all able to cast 9th level wizard spells, so why not just cast an 8th level one and keep undeath away? Saves you the trouble of going after souls, and you keep the ability to enjoy food or a day in the sun.

Demiplane (8th).
Your own 30ft. room of nothingness. Perfect place for storage and a DM's nightmare given how once players have access to it they'll just start looting furniture and such. Oh the horror.
But alas, infinite storage is not the reason this is a broken spell. No sir.
Remember: you can access someone else's demiplane. That means a caster in city 1 can put things into a demiplane, and a caster in city 2 can pull them out of any surface.
But wait, there's more! There's nothing anywhere saying you can't have two doors to the same demiplane open at once. Now you're effectively opening a portal between two places, which stays open for a whole hour.
But wait, there's even more! Anyone from any plane can open a door to your neat little demiplane. Now we can get multiple casters from multiple planes connecting all of those places, for one hour. Sure this is a very expensive thing to do since you're having to coordinate multiple high level individuals in different planes, but the payoff is just as high. We're talking about potential integration between the most varied markets imaginable, few things in the multiverse are more valuable or profitable. Its a do-it-yourself Sigil.
One little plot hook i like about demiplanes is abandoned/inactive ones. Old wizard/warlock died, and nobody knows how to access his demiplanes. Because he's at least level 15 you just know there's some good stuff in there, but nobody can get to it. Now the players have to find a journal, diary, stored memory or any other way of knowing enough about the demiplane to access it.

True Polymorph (9th).
True Polymorph. The spell that can turn any race into any other race, or object. And vice-versa. You can go full fairy godmother and turn mice into horses. For a spell that can change anything about one's body it would not be an unusual ruling to say it can change one's sex. At the very least it can turn a man into a chair, and the chair into a woman (or vice-versa of course).
But honestly, that's just the tip of the True Polymorph iceberg. Just read this more carefully:
> You transform the creature into a different creature, the creature into a nonmagical object, or the object into a creature
This means you can turn a rock or twig into a human. A fully functional human with, as far as the rules go, a soul. You can create life.
But wait, there's more! Nothing there says you have to turn the target into a known creature on an existing creature. The narcissist bard wants to create a whole race of people who look like him? True Polymorph. A player wants to play a weird ass homebrew race and you have no idea how it would fit into the setting? True Polymorph. Wizard needs a way to quickly populate a kingdom and doesn't want to wait decades for the subjects to grow up? True Polymorph. Warlock must provide his patron 100 souls in order to free his own? True Polymorph. The sorcerer wants to do something cool? Fuck that guy, sorcerers don't get any of the fun high level spells; True Poly is available to literally every arcane caster but the sorcerer.
Note: what good is Twinned Spell if all the high level twinnable spells have been specifically made unavailable to sorcerers?
Do keep in mind however that this brings a whole new discussion on human rights. Does a table have rights? Does it have rights after being turned into a living thing? If it had an owner, is it now a slave? Your country will need so many new laws, just to deal with this one spell.
People often say that high level wizards are deities for all intents and purposes. This is the utmost proof of that. Clerics don't get to create life out of thin air, wizards do. The cleric worships a deity, the wizard is the deity.

Conclusion.
Intelligent creatures not only can game the system, but it is entirely in character for them to do so. I'll even argue that if humanoids don't use magic to improve their lives when it's available, you're pushing the suspension of disbelief.
With this post i hope to have helped you make more complex and realistic societies, as well as provide a few interesting and unusual plot hooks
Lastly, as much as i hate comment begging i must admit i am eager to see what spells other players think can completely change the world. Because at the end of the day we all know that extra d6 damage is not what causes empires to rise and fall, its the utility spells that make the best stories.

Edit: Added spell level to all spells, and would like to thank u/kaul_field for helping with finishing touches and being overall a great mod.

From A New Player: Game Is Too Play To Win With A Little Pay To Win As Well As Unbalanced

Disclaimer: Parts of this all may be wrong or correct. I don't know. If anything is correct here it is how it feels to be a new player in this game. Don't be an ass to me because of my thoughts and opinions. Thanks.
I joined this game with 3 other irl friends about a day after they started playing. On the surface this game looks great with its loot system, its realistic combat, the progression system to give loot a lot of meaning, and the loss on death in game that is put on your back to cause anxiety for it. It feels like Rainbow Six Siege, Arma, and Rust had a three way baby. Well the first few days our squad got destroyed a lot by both scavs and players due to both bad callouts and poor map knowledge. That is fair. If you don't know the game yet, you can't expect to win. We find out the problems we are doing wrong, pull up online maps on our second monitors, and get a system for callouts going. Now we are doing decent and getting scav kills due to knowing where players spawn, which routes they would take, and where the scavs spawn so we know where to be looking for them for kills. We have been doing this across Factory, Shorline, Customs, and Interchange. Factory felt like the best map to get our coms and team awareness down due to the size and simplicity of the map. Even if it is a PvP bloodhouse, it didn't feel all that sweaty and gave time to get a hold of things. We did this for about a good 4 or so days before we felt damn comfortable with our ability as a team. Then we started learning Interchange as it wasn't a map based on long range engagements across open fields. We developed a few good routes around Green that gives some good loot from toolboxes and computer rigs around the back storage room where people don't roam as much. Usually have to kill 2 PvE scavs at most which is easy to do. Emercom Checkpoint was our goto exfil as it had some good cover from long range PvP attackers.
A good week after now and we are playing more Shoreline and Factory to try having fun in the game. We know the hotspots of both maps and the funneling of players as well. Factory has been nothing but getting stomped on by high level players who rush us the moment we try to kill a scav and 1/6th of the time getting killed by players right off the bat of PMC spawn. Shoreline is a mixed bag. It's either getting killed by a player we have no chance of finding or getting killed by a player who is camping an exfil location we need to go to. Shoreline has been a low success map for us as to where Factory is about 30% or so success. Thus far it has been getting killed by things we stand no chance against. No level of map knowledge has been helping us as these players have high tier gear and high tier weapons. We try the acclaimed overpowered shooting for the legs maneuver on them but we always get beamed hardcore by these guys. We will all put on SKS setups and armor but we keep getting destroyed by these players.
Our first guy quits after a run of Interchange due to the lack of winning or feeling of winning in the game. He just finally gave up after getting screwed over so much. Our second guy quits two days after from a match on Reserve after getting beamed by a high level player who squad wiped the three of us. Then my third and I quit the game on the same day after the same thing kept happening over and over of getting destroyed by these players with gear that outclasses us in every way.
What Drove Me Crazy In This Game:
Quests: The quests in this game are so screwed over for newer players. Some of them are fine like the ones that you hand over items for but others are so bs for the level they start at. The one I hate the most is ironically called "Introduction" where you have to go to the map Woods, find a quest item in the middle of the map, and exfil on the other side of the map. I got killed so many times on this map and that quest left such a bad taste for me with this game. I was always getting beamed by players from locations I couldn't find them from. It wasn't until I played this map at night that I finally got to the exfil and holy shit was it the most stressful thing I did in a video game for a long time. The quest I was doing after is called "Operation Aquarius - Part 1" and every time I go to dorms, day or night, I'm getting beamed by rats in the building. Mostly players. I completely gave up on it.
Play To Win: There is a lot of play to win in this game as there has been for at least two years now as I have seen from this SubReddits history. Gear and Ammo being locked off, hideout having dumb requirements for stash, and quests being camped by those players who grinded ahead of ya. I started three weeks ahead of the wipe as a new player and I feel at this point I stand no chance against these players. This is coming from someone who has played Rust since the beginning and have gone through the wiping process week after week. I've still yet to upgrade my stash once and I bet they made it that way to get ya to pay more which brings me to my next point.
Pay To Win: The difference in tiers gear wise doesn't look awful really from first glance. Then the major thing off the bat is the stash size differences. Tier 1 gives 280 stash size, Tier 2 gives 380 stash size, Tier 3 gives 480 stash size, and Tier 4 gives 680 stash size. So at the start of every wipe, those people with the larger account tier will have less to worry about size wise than you. Just look at my stash after optimizations to it https://imgur.com/a/scA31Xe which I don't think I've been doing all that bad at managing after all the Tarkov Wiki research. You also save all that grinding and money you have to spend that you could spend on gearsets and whatnot. Then there is the biggest one of them all which is the pouch size you get. Tier 1 is a 2x2, Tier 2 is a 2x2, Tier 3 is a 2x3, and Tier 4 is a 3x3. These pouches give mixed feelings for me. Yeah they make it easier for lower players to get what they need guaranteed but they also make it harder during a raid to get meds and/or ammo from players you kill. There have been so many times I killed PMCs and I found no meds on them when I needed them most. Yeah I understand that there will be pistol dudes running out there with zero meds on them as I've done it too but I'd think a fully kitted player would have meds on him. This container takes away that many more items from the kill/loot you just got from a player. 9 slots of items being taken from a kill is quite a bit. I have mixed feelings on it but it feels like just another way for these devs to pry for more money from their players. $140 for the final edition from a game that is claimed to be "Early Access/In Beta" is a ridiculous asking. I don't even think Call of Duty is worth that price with all of its DLC.
Balance: From a new player, armor feels like the most overpowered thing in this game. Coming across a player in tier 5 and above armor is such a pain. I can never kill them and it sure as hell doesn't help that I don't have access to the bullet types that can possibly do that. I'm still at Tier 1 of all my traders and I'm at Account Level 9. What hope do I have to kill these people? An idea to balance these juggernaut armors out would to be to hinder turning speed and movement speed a little as that is what they actually do in real life. That could give players a bit of a chance against them. The other thing balance wise I hate would be the trader leveled items. Yeah I get that the higher tiers should have better stuff in them but at the same time you can't leave just junk in tier 1 traders. That is incredibly unbalanced for players returning midwipe or newer players. This game shouldn't require you to play day 1 of the wipe nor commit all of your life to playing it until end wipe. One last note I have is the exfil location rats. It really is demoralizing to actually get a good run of killing 3 pmcs and 5 scavs to only then die to some rat camping the darkest corner of the exfil location. There needs to be some radius to each exfil that gives you a notification in some menu that says "There is 1 or so people in this exfil locations radius" so at least then you can either stand a chance against them.
Those are all my thoughts on this game as a new player that has played for two or so weeks. I feel like everything in this game is trying to screw me over. The game feels like a game of "Powerful player stomps less powerful player". The game gets so depressing, stressful, and demoralizing. That's all I have to say and I am out.

DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) - Deep Dive Research - Part 1

TL:DR

This is Part 1 of my two part deep dive on DraftKings (Ticker: DKNG, I will refer to the company as “DK”)
This first part introduces you to (1) me, (2) the company, (3) my thesis on the company, and (4) digs into how they make money.
The second part (already released, you can read it here - but get through part 1 first :) ) will go in depth to explore the question “Can we 10x from here?”
DK is an exciting, disruptive company working to change how we experience watching sports and make it better.
I am not a financial advisor and this is not investment advice. These are just my opinions to help facilitate learning and discussion.

Hello, welcome to my first deep dive write up.
My name’s Mark and I’m an accountant with a passion for investing. About two years ago, I used to work as an auditor at a public accounting firm and have been behind the scenes at many different publicly traded and privately held companies in the U.S. My goal is to bring my unique perspective from that past experience, my current experience working in a new role at a large corporation, and my understanding of accounting to help break down some of the most exciting growth stocks on the market today.
I’m a long-term investor. I am focused on finding great companies and holding them for a long time. I’m willing to endure volatility, crazy price drops, and everything that comes with this approach as long as the facts that led me to originally invest and believe in that company have not changed. If you want to learn more about this approach. I recommend reading the book “100 Baggers” by Chris Mayer.
Introduction
I think it’s fitting that my first stock pick has to do with sports. Sports has been a part of my life since I could walk at the age of 2. First with baseball and soccer, and then later in my childhood with golf. I’ve always played American football and basketball for fun as well and have always been an avid fan of all the major sports in the US.
I started playing fantasy sports (mostly just fantasy football) about 6 years ago and have always enjoyed it. Traditionally, with fantasy football you draft a team at the beginning of the year and those are your players for the rest of the season. If you have a bad draft, oh well. You can try to improve your team with trades and free agent additions but it is tough. Leagues usually consist of 10-14 teams (each managed by an individual) and there’s obviously only one winner at the end of the season (about 4 months after the draft). This can lead to the managers of the lower performing teams losing interest as the season wanes on. I believe DraftKings’ (DK) founders saw this issue and saw an opportunity. Enter, daily fantasy sports. Now, with the DK platform you can draft a new team every week. Or if you want, every day. This allows fans of fantasy sports to engage at whichever point of the season they want and at varying financial stakes.
The Thesis Statement
For every stock pick I make, I want to provide a quick thesis statement that can serve as a reminder for why I’m buying and holding that stock for the long term. I’ll always aim to make it just a few sentences long so it can easily be remembered and internalized. This helps during times when the price may sporadically drop and you need to remember why you’re holding this position.
The thesis statement I have come up with for DK is as follows:
“DraftKings: The leader in allowing fans to engage financially with their favorite sports, teams, and players. Having money at stake makes the game a lot more interesting to watch. The era of daily fantasy sports games, online sports betting, and online betting (outside of sports), is just getting started and DK is as well positioned (or better positioned) than anyone to capitalize off of this trend.”
Notice how I said “allowing fans to engage financially” as the first sentence and not necessarily “allowing fans to gamble”. There’s a reason for that. According to US Federal Law, Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) contests have specifically been exempted from the prohibitions of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). DK has always been, and I believe will continue to be DFS contests 1st, sports betting 2nd, and other forms of gambling/entertainment 3rd. It is noteworthy that states at an individual level can still deem DFS contests illegal if they so wish, but as of this writing (11/26/20), 43 of the 50 US States allow DFS contests and DK, accordingly, is offering DFS contests in all 43 of those US States.
I’ll try to clarify the difference between DFS contests and sports betting real quick:
DFS Contest – Pay a pre-set entry fee to enter a contest. All entry fees go towards “The Pot”. “Draft” 9 players to be on your “Team” for 1 week. Enter your “Roster” into a contest with other players (could range from 1 other person to 1,000s of people, the DK user can choose). Whichever “Roster” amasses the most points for that week out of all contestants wins. The winner will get the highest payout, and depending on the nature of the contest, other top finishers will receive smaller payouts as well.
Sports Gambling – Team A is considered a 10 point favorite to defeat Team B. This means that Team A is expected, by the professional gambling line setters, to outscore Team B by 10 points. This is known as a point spread. You can bet on the underdog or the favorite. If you bet on the favorite, they have to win by more than 10 points for you to win the bet. If you bet on the underdog, you will win the bet as long as the underdog keeps the game within less than a 10 point defeat.
These are just a couple simple examples to help you see the difference. Sports Gambling (the 2nd priority of DK) is a very lucrative market just as the DFS contests are. However, in the US, Federal Laws and regulations are a lot stricter on Sports Gambling than they are on DFS. As of this writing (11/27/20), 22 states (including the District of Columbia) out of 51 possible allow sports gambling.
DK is still in the infancy stages of getting their sports gambling business going. In the 22 states where they could potentially operate, they currently have a sports gambling offering in 11 of those states. The sports gambling business model for DK can be broken into two main offerings – mobile sports betting, and retail sports betting. Mobile sports betting means you can place a sports bet online from the comfort of your own home, while retail sports betting means you must go to a casino and place a bet with the sportsbook in person. I personally believe mobile sports betting is the real potential cash cow for DK out of the two types of sports betting offerings due to the convenience and ease of access. DK is currently working on and encouraging customers to lobby their state lawmakers to legalize sports gambling in more states.
How DK makes money
At the very least, before you invest in a company, you better understand how they make money. In Chris Mayers’ excellent book, 100 Baggers, that I mentioned above, he continually references top line revenue growth as one of the main common indicators of a possible 100 Bagger. This isn’t to tell you that any stock I pick will be a 100 Bagger just because it has great top line revenue growth, but if I am looking at a growth stock to hold for the long term, revenue growth is one of the first things I look at.
For DK, their means of making money is quite simple. I already went into detail above about DFS Contests and Sports Gambling. In DK’s latest 10-Q filing with the SEC (filed 11/13/20), revenue is broken out into two main streams: Online Gaming and Gaming Software.
Online Gaming (82% of Total Revenue for 9 months ended 9/30/20):
Online gaming is the true core business of DK and includes the aforementioned DFS Contests, Sports Gambling and additional gambling (non-sports) opportunities. DK refers to their additional gambling (non-sports) as “iGaming” or “online casino”.
For the 9 months ended 9/30/20, Online Gaming revenue totaled $239M, up 30% YoY from $184M in the same prior year period. Keep in mind, that this is an increase that happened during a COVID-19 global pandemic that delayed and shortened many professional sports seasons.
Online gaming revenue is earned in a few ways that are slightly different, but very similar overall. In order to enter a DFS contest, a customer must pay an entry fee. DFS revenue is generated from these entry fees collected, net of prize payouts and customer incentives awarded to users. In order to place a sports bet (sports gambling), a customer places a wager with a DK Sportsbook. The DK Sportsbook sets odds for each wager that builds in a theoretical margin allowing DK to profit. Sports gambling revenue is generated from wagers collected from customers, net of payouts and incentives awarded to winning customers. The last form of online gaming revenue is earned in similar fashion to a land-based casino, offering online versions of casino games such as blackjack, roulette, and slot machines.
Gaming Software (18% of Total Revenue for 9 months ended 9/30/20):
While the Online Gaming revenue stream mentioned above is a Business to Consumer (B2C) model, the Gaming Software revenue stream is a Business to Business (B2B) model. The Gaming Software side of the business was born out of the acquisition of SBTech, a company from the Isle of Man (near the UK) founded in 2007 that has 12+ years of experience providing online sports betting platforms to clients all over the world. The acquisition occurred as part of the SPAC driven IPO in April of 2020 that combined “the old DK company” with SBTech so that they now are “the new DK company” listed as DKNG on the NASDAQ. SBTech is a far more important part of the story than just being 18% of today’s revenue. The reason for this is because DK will eventually (planned mid-late 2021) be migrating all of their DFS and gambling offerings onto SBTech’s online platforms. Currently, for DFS, DK uses their own proprietary platform but that will move to SBTech with the migration. Currently, for online gambling, DK uses Kambi, the same online gambling platform that services Penn Gaming (PENN), a DK rival. But that’s enough about the software migration for now, back to the Gaming Software revenue.
The Gaming Software revenue stream for DK is essentially a continuation of SBTechs’ B2B business model. DK contracts with business customers to provide sports and casino betting software solutions. DK typically enters two different type of arrangements with B2B customers when selling the gaming software:

Direct Customer Contract Revenue: In this type of transaction, the software is sold directly to a business (casino for example) that wants to use the software for their own gambling operations. This revenue is generally calculated as a percentage of the wagering revenue generated by the business customer using DK’s software and is recognized in the periods in which those wagering and related activities conclude.
Reseller Arrangement Revenue: In this type of transaction, DK provides distributors with the right to resell DK’s software-as-a-service offering to their clients, using their own infrastructure. In reseller arrangements, revenue is generally calculated via a fixed monthly fee and an additional monthly fee which varies based on the number of gaming operators to whom each reseller sub-licenses DK’s software.

As mentioned above, SBTech was an international company based in the Isle of Man before being acquired by DK. Thus, the majority of their business in their first 12 years of operating independently has always been international and outside of the United States. This has helped DK, which has historically been US focused, expand it’s international reach.
A perfect example of expanding this international reach occurred recently during October (technically Q4) in which DK’s B2B technology (powered by SBTech) helped enable the launch of “PalaceBet”, a new mobile and online sportsbook offering from Peermont, a South Africa based resort and casino company. The deal was headed by DK’s new Chief International Officer, Shay Berka, who previously spent 10 years working for SBTech as CFO and General Manager. Mr. Berka took on the role of DK’s Chief International Officer upon the merger in April earlier this year. I think this deal shows that DK has integrated SBTech and it’s business very well into the larger business as a whole. They are not wasting any time using their newly acquired resources to expand their reach and bring in new sources of revenue.
This is the end of my first article about DK. My goal is to drop Part 2 later this week. The focus of Part 2 will be an in depth answer of the question – “Can we 10x from here?”
Disclosure: I am/we are long DKNG. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) - Deep Dive Research - Part 1

TL:DR

This is Part 1 of my two part deep dive on DraftKings (Ticker: DKNG, I will refer to the company as “DK”)
This first part introduces you to (1) me, (2) the company, (3) my thesis on the company, and (4) digs into how they make money.
The second part (to be released later this week) will go in depth to explore the question “Can we 10x from here?”
DK is an exciting, disruptive company working to change how we experience watching sports and make it better.
I am not a financial advisor and this is not investment advice. These are just my opinions to help facilitate learning and discussion.

Direct Customer Contract Revenue: In this type of transaction, the software is sold directly to a business (casino for example) that wants to use the software for their own gambling operations. This revenue is generally calculated as a percentage of the wagering revenue generated by the business customer using DK’s software and is recognized in the periods in which those wagering and related activities conclude.
Reseller Arrangement Revenue: In this type of transaction, DK provides distributors with the right to resell DK’s software-as-a-service offering to their clients, using their own infrastructure. In reseller arrangements, revenue is generally calculated via a fixed monthly fee and an additional monthly fee which varies based on the number of gaming operators to whom each reseller sub-licenses DK’s software.

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[NAFA][Poly] All about NAFA for prospective students! (mainly SOAD stuff)

Content

Things to note before entering NAFA

During your study

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