Disclaimer:
Originally written in black and white years ago by "the gambler" himself - my husband. The article contains minimal profanities and drug issues which is not suitable for very young readers. Strict parental guidance is advised.
This is a true story written by my husband and before I'll proceed, he wrote this article when our daughter was still a baby. We were renting an apartment somewhere up in the mountains in Baguio City, Philippines. We were and it was another noisy day that day. Hammers and saws banging and buzzing from the home renovation next door, and it was only 8 am when we first woke up to it. The landlord's baby was screaming so loud and we could hear it in our bedroom.
So anyway, my mental wheels of inspiration are not rolling too well yet for writing. I figured that I would just write one in favor of Gambling since I have been seeing some bloggers "somewhere" around social media posting against it.
I will begin with a little "my husband's history", and below is what he wrote that day.
The Gambler:
"You guys may, or may not know that I was born and lived most of my life in Las Vegas. Do you know those stories about losing everything in Vegas? This is NOT one of them! $$$!"
"I was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, the"Sin City" and pretty much lived most of my life there. I was about ** years old the first time I gambled. The game was Blackjack - also known as 21, that I first started having fun with. I was pretty good at it. I even got a tattoo on my left hand of an Ace and King of Spades on fire lol. I was good! I didn't count cards, I managed bets and timed my win/loss bet amounts to be in my favor. Kind of hard to explain really, but it was very effective. After some time kicking butt all the time, I got bored and began drinking when I played, which caused me to not stick to the strategy, and lose later in the night. This is the point where I did what any gambler should do - Walk away from gambling.
A couple of years later, I found a bar near the house that had great food and some really cool bartenders so it became a bit of an after-work spot. Well in Las Vegas, in the bars, they have countertop Gambling Machines, and if you sit long enough, eventually your curiosity gets the best of you, and bzzz you slide in a $20 bill and say "what the heck".
My game of choice - 4 card Keno. I did what everyone does. Picked random numbers and bombed! Looks easier than it is. I am very competitive and more competitive against my own abilities than anything so that $20 bill was followed up by another $20 bill and a strategy began in my head. I played with it a little, mixed up my ideas, and then after about $100 had been absorbed into the machine. It happened. I hit 6 out of 6 for a win of $400. Now, thinking I was pretty awesome at this point, I stayed and played on the winnings and lost about half of it back and decided to go home. Math time - I started with $100 and lost most of it, won $400 and lost half of that. Meaning, I was $100 ahead. I got my original $100 back, and left with one of theirs.
I found a new hobby! Now, I know you guys what you're thinking, "Oh boy! Here we go! Here comes the horror story!" Uhmmm,Wrong! You see a SMART GAMBLER does not let his game change, he always tries to improve it. He never loses control letting his emotions play the game. He knows very well when to stay and when to go. HE ALWAYS REMEMBERS "It is only entertainment or occupation" and never turns into an auto button-pushing robot whose brain has turned off. This is me today, telling all of you. I did it right, I did it so well, people paid me to do it for them too! I developed patterns to the game that would give me up to 5 wins a night sometimes of $400-$1,700 per win.
I did so well that an hour playing on my lunch break at work would pay more than that months combined paycheck, and that's when I decided "Why go to work?" So I required 2 long a very long time off from working, and I upheld myself by playing Keno. I traveled from America to the Philippines several times, did all the touristy things on my trip, paid my bills, and had a ton of fun!
I have been seeing posts that depict Las Vegas as "HELL" and it is not, hell is something you create yourself. I saw these references "full of homosexuality, prostitution, gambling addiction, drugs, STDs, violence etc".
PUHLEASE!!!
Tell me one place that doesn't have all those things? The only difference is Las Vegas doesn't hide it lol. Do you know what makes all those things matter? YOU and what YOU do with them!
As for me, I don't gamble anymore. I took advantage of not being locked down and still had some travel money left and moved to the Philippines with no cravings for gambling at all. Also, let me add - I am not a homosexual, have no STDs, I am not an alcoholic or a drug addict (I had been and it started long before living in Las Vegas), I do not have violence issues, nor am I addicted to gambling.
Weak people allow weak things to happen, not the environment."
Now, speaking on behalf of my Filipino friends, "WE" are dreamers (not all, but some are crazy motivated and I respect that) some are doers, even against the odds. Doing something here in the Philippines that will be big is like gambling in Las Vegas. It is something I cannot, nor am I trying to do. I give credit to anyone willing to fight that hard for their future and for their family. Much respect.
Good afternoon, my friends, and hope everyone is working smart enough to get through the struggles we face every single day.
One love
July 27, 2021
4:27 pm
Philippines
(All photos are my own unless stated otherwise - gambling/vegas photos were taken by my husband)
😍😍😍 Great🏆🏆🏆Thanks for sharing.👍👍👍