Gambling and desperation

Desperate times can lead to desperate measures. Selling your household goods and precious valuables for money is a sign of desperation.

Joel arrived at the casino in the early evening after work. He found his way to a blackjack table and cashed in $500 for chips. He began playing. His luck was good and within an hour his chips were piled high on the table. His bets had risen from $50 to $1000 - the table maximum.

Joel felt elated. Every hand resulted in another win. With bets on three boxes, Joel had been dealt good cards.

Now the dealer was showing a ten, but this didn't worry Joel. When the dealer drew an ace, Joel lost the hand. He shrugged this off. He was having a wonderful run, and the odd win by the house was not a problem. Joel lost the next hand and the next. Not to worry, his luck would return.

The pile of chips became small. The last few chips would enable him to win everything back. But before he knew it everything was gone.

Back to the auto-bank to draw more money and Joel returned to the table. Soon, this too was gone.

Joel knew that he had to recover the money that he had lost. There was the rent to pay, the electricity bill - and of course he would need money to buy food.

Joel was desperate. He drove home and returned with the television set. The pawn shop was located conveniently next to the casino and was open 24 hours a day. The television set brought only a few dollars, but he was in with a chance. It would be retrieved as soon as Joel had won all his money back.

The next few weeks became very stressful for Joel. Money to pay the bills had become a problem. The bad runs at the casino had left him without the means to live and it seemed as if the only way out was at the tables.

One item after another disappeared from his apartment as goods were pawned or sold to give him a chance at the big win.
When all of his own resources were exhausted, he turned to his parents. What kind of parents would allow their son to sink?

With fresh money it was back to the casino. His next win would allow him to buy back all of his possessions. He would buy a huge gift for his parents. Joel's fortunes at the blackjack table went up and down. The occasional win was offset by heavy losses. Everything was gone.

One more act of desperation followed. Joel sold his mother's diamond engagement ring. It was a valuable piece that she had inherited from her mother. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

Joel was desperate.