Partons, the gambler's ruin, and pomerons

The parton picture of Regge theory is extended to the supercritical case αsub(P)>1. The essential results of Amati et al. and others are rederived by heuristic but mathematically very simple arguments. In addition, also some new results are obtained, in particular concerning the role of Pumplin's bound in reggeon theory. The transition between sub- and supercritical pomerons appears as a transition from total to partial ruin in a collective risk problem. In the subcritical case, some problems are encountered whose origin is not yet clear. (Auth.)