Casino

I can be pretty lame sometimes. This past Saturday, I went on a tour bus trip to a casino. My friend, Heather, volunteers for a charity and her charity had a fund raiser where folks paid $25 bucks for a bus ride from Belleville to Greektown Casino. So I figured it is for a good cause and I enjoy Greektown *and* gambling *and* Heather's company so I signed up for the event. We went out to dinner at Hellas which has been a favorite place of mine since the first time I was taken there as a small child and the waitress came out with the OPA! cheese. It is funny because I have always wondered about the people arriving at Casinos in big tour buses. I always wondered what kind of person would decide to go to the casino on a big ole party bus. Now I know :) Anyways,I won $50.

The Church of the Slot Machine

I am an generally an atheist. But every once in a while, I have a moment where I find myself wondering if just maybe...there might be a God/Goddess/Higher Power, etc. Mostly is because of some long talks with a friend of mine who believes that God sends people into our lives or puts us into situations in order to teach us something. And while I don’t actually believe that, I do occasionally ask myself, “If there were a Goddess and she put me in this situation, what is the lesson I am supposed to learn”? And then there are times when the lesson just seems oh-so-obvious. I had a brief moment of that tonight...

I went to Detroit with a friend to go to one of the casinos there. I went even though I think that I have a personality that could be prone to developing a gambling problem. I probably shouldnt go at all but I *really* like it. I like it enough that I can justify my losses as an entertainment expense as long as I can keep control of myself while I am there in the casino.

Money is a little bit tight for me this week so I told myself that I would only allow myself to lose $20. $20 is an amount, btw, that can be lost in a casino in a matter of seconds if one is not careful. But no matter, I can nurse my $20 by playing the low denomination slot machines which generally means that since I am not risking much, I don’t stand to win much either. But that is ok. Still, it is hard for me.

Anyways, I had $100 in my pocket because earlier in the day, I went to the bank and got out that $100. But I pretty much need $80 of it for the rest of week for things like buying lunch at work and for buying VERY IMPORTANT things like...oh I don’t know...pizza and beer. At any rate, after a couple of very enjoyable hours in the casino, I had lost $12 or so but I found myself in a state of mind where I wanted more. I could feel the $80 burning a hole in my pocket. I kept having a compulsion to just put it all in a slot machine and go mad. There is something about all those lights and ringing bells that makes me feel I just must put the money into the slot machine.

So there I was with “MUST PUT MONEY IN SLOT MACHINE” running through my mind like some kind of crazy mantra. But it was getting late and I was resisting the urge to see how fast I could lose the rest of my money in a slot machine.. I chose that moment to remark to my friend that it was probably a good time to leave because she had won $70 or so and I had only lost $12. I told her too that we HAD to go because I was feeling like I didnt want to be in control anymore and if I lost that $80, I was going to be grumpy and no one wants *that*! I even said something about how I thought I could be the type of person to have a gambling problem.

And just then a haggard looking woman walked up to me and asked me for a dollar. And I thought, “Now there is a person with a gambling problem.” Because I imagine that she must have lost everything but even after that couldnt bring herself to leave the joint. The timing was perfect too and certainly firmed up my resolve to quit before losing more dough. And I have to admit that if I did believe in God, I would think that woman was sent to me just then to help me as I learn to control at least one of my bad habits.

But I don’t belive in God so I suppose it was just a fortunate coincidence for me (although not fortunate for the woman begging money on the floor of the casino).

Sunday Morning Gamble

I spent the morning with a friend in Detroit. She got a coupon for a free brunch from MGM casino so I went with her because I have a fondness for brunch buffets. MGM's is only $13 or so and for that price it is pretty nice. We played the slots for a couple of hours after we ate and she lost $60 and I broke even which was cool. I had set a $40 limit for myself before we went. I dont know why but I love slot machines and casinos. I love the way they sound and all the blinking lights and stuff.

But it always amazes me how much money other people are willing to lose. I mean, I thought the $60 limit my friend gave herself was a lot being that it was a whole $20 more thanI was willing to shell out. But some of the people there were losing HUNDREDS. In fact, while I was playing one of the machines the woman on the machine next to me won $1000! She didnt seem too excited about it though. I mean if I won a grand on a slot machine I would be all up dancing around the joint and screaming "oh my god, oh my god" but she just sat there. I asked her why she wasnt very excited and she said that she had already lost that much playing the slots that day. I think my eyes bugged out when I said, "You've already lost a grand?"

She said, "Well I've been here since 9a" with a tone that suggested that I was silly to think losing a thousand dollars gambling was any big deal (It was around 1p at that time)

It is too bad that I didnt win big too. There is a house across the street from my parents' house that is for sale and I really wish I could afford to buy it. It is $275,000 which is a real bargain for that house but it might as well be a million dollars since I simply cant afford it. My sister wants to buy it too but she cant afford to buy it either. She suggested that we buy it together but then when I seemed agreeable to that, wished she hadnt suggested it because she thinks I am too much of a slob to share a house with. HAHA. But it has a partially finished basement that has a bathroom and the plumbing in place for a kitchen so it could be easily converted into a small apartment. Of course, I would have to sell my house first and houses arent selling quickly here in Ypsi. So it will probably never happen. Oh well. It would have been nice to live up at the lake with built in doggy care in the form of my mother living right across the street.