How to lose your money before the other players

Sir,
As a child growing up in England in the 70’s, board games were a big part of our play time, apart from the usual candidates like Monopoly, Scrabble and Cluedo, I also owned a game called “Go For Broke” by MB games. It was not a very popular game but it was a Christmas present from someone I cannot recall right now, and it was dragged out of the wardrobe occasionally.

The objective of the game was to lose all your money (a million pounds) before the other players. Some of the options available to you were buying worthless property, investing in failed businesses and going to the casino, etc. You were given money-making opportunities but you had to ignore those and concentrate on mismanaging your capital. Once this was achieved you were the winner. You could say it was opposite to Monopoly in some way.

Now, why have I dragged this memory from the dark depths of my brain? Well, I have come across someone who would be an excellent player at “Go for Broke”. His name is Constantinos Loizides and although he is Chairman, MD, VP and SOB of an airline, a bank and some “minefield”, all of which are losing more money per day than David Blunkett at a poker table. Not only is Loizides great at leading organisations down the road of ruin, he also shows no signs of leadership, charisma, or man management. This last week’s events were very original and a great money losing exercise. The money Cyprus Airways wanted to save in a year by sacking 22 employees, they lost in two days from cancelled flights and future passenger loyalty. What a genius this man is.

I have read mainly in the Greek press that Tassos Papadopoulos, our President, will not even consider sacking Loizides. Why, nobody knows,unless of course Loizides has some polaroids of Tassos in a compromising position. So why would anyone support a loser? The only answer is you want the outcome to be a loss. As well as placing money on winners you can also bet on losers. Who will benefit from a bankrupt Cyprus Airways and Hellenic Bank? The future buyers of course.

George Georgiou
Nicosia

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.