Saturday, June 28, 2008

Gambler Sues Casino for Letting Her gamble

Hahahahaha.

I found this at a great site, Choose Help.com.

(http://www.choosehelp.com/news/gambling-addict-sues-casinos-for-letting-her-gamble.html)

Good luck to her, and if she wins I will be a very wealthy man because I am going to jump to the head of the line to sue them next (so that I can then have some money to gamble with).

Thanks,

Preston


__________________________________
A gambling addict who lost 1 million dollars in Atlantic City and Vegas casinos says that the casinos are responsible, and seeks 20 million in damages.

A once wealthy and successful lawyer, who lost everything during years of Atlantic City and Las Vegas gambling binges, says the casinos are partially responsible for her misfortunes, and she hopes to see them pay.

Arelia Taveras once earned hundreds of thousands of dollars per year as a lawyer. Now disbarred, she says she lost over a million dollars in the casinos, caused her parents to lose their house, and even dipped into a client's escrow account; all to feed her compulsion to wager.

Once a recreational gambler, she says that the time she spent in the casinos increased as her gambling addiction escalated - from occasional outings to daily or multi day sessions; and she says the casinos had a responsibility to protect her, from herself.

She describes once gambling for five days straight, surviving solely on complimentary juice and candy, wiping her teeth down with wipes in the washrooms. She maintains that casino staff knew of her compulsions, but did nothing, saying, "These people have surveillance where they watch you. They protect themselves from you, but you should be afforded the same protection from them."

She has sued the Resorts Atlantic City Casino and the MGM Grand Las Vegas for 20 million dollars in damages.

The gaming industry has long maintained it cannot be held responsible for people's overindulgence in a legal and regulated pastime.

Keith Whyte, director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, says that gamblers must take most of the responsibility for getting help.

Archie Karas a Real Life "P"

Archie Karas is a real life "P," the protagonist in my novel. He gambled to gamble.

" . . . nobody, nobody has ever churned mere bus fare into truly big money. Mansion-in-Bel-Air-and-yacht-in-the-Caribbean money. Mythic money.

Nobody, that is, until Archie Karas. In a six-month period, Karas parlayed a borrowed stake of $10,000 into $17 million. That's right, $17 million. . ."


Read the rest of his story on Cigar Aficionado. (cigaraficionado.com) June 28, 2008.

I get all tingly just thinking about it.


Thanks,

Preston

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Six Degrees of Separation

I finally saw Will Smith in "Sex Degrees of Separation." It's a good movie that got me to thinking about the premise: each human is connected to every other human on the planet by no more than six other people. In other words, there are six human steps between me and every other human on earth . . . even the recently-discovered tribal people of Peru (http://www.enews20.com/news_New_Indian_Tribe_Discovered_in_the_Amazon_08347.html)?

I'm not sure that I accept the premise, or even fully comprehend its mathematics, but I do recall some odd coinciding events that seemed to tie me to random people through six degrees or less.

1) During a class exercise that purports to unite the left brain with the right in order to create more vivid and descriptive essays, I used a personal example to demonstrate the technique to the students: I drew on the board (in stick figure) my old piano teacher and the elements of his home that I could recall from memory.

When the exercise was over, a student came up to me and said, "I know him, the man you drew. He used to play piano for my church. He died yesterday."

That is how I ended up attending the funeral of my piano teacher whom I hadn't seen or contacted in over 20 years.

2) I had a friend back in high school, whom I shall refer to as Byron Boiffmaff. We were pretty good friends, but we mostly lost touch after we graduated as so often happens. After I got married, my wife, who is from the Caribbean, said that a very good friend of hers from high school was coming to Miami and would spend a few days with us. We got to talking about this friend of hers, whose name turned out to be . . . let's call her Irene Boiffmaff.

It turned out that Irene and Byron Boiffmaff were brother and sister. Thus, my wife and I, fifteen years before we had ever met each other, were already connected by the Boiffmaff siblings, who had befriended us indiviudally as children.

3) It gets worse. I don't know how much of this I can tell without revealing personal business even with made-up names, but I'll try.

Byron Boiffmaff dated the same girl throughout junior and senior high: Chelsea Wingring (not her real name). Chelsea and Byron wed after high school, but the relationship did not work out and so they got a divorce. Byron moved out of the state and later remarried.

Furthermore, we were told that Chelsea still had a flame burning for Byron, dangerously, almost psychotically, and that he was actually hiding from her and that under no circumstances were we supposed to tell her where he or his new wife was.

I was having problems with a governmental agency at the time and when I called to resolve the problem, I found myself on hold for over an hour. Back then most government agencies had phone numbers that were sequential; one could reasonably assume that if the main number was 555-1111, that 555-1112 and 555-1113 would all ring somewhere in the building. So I dialed a few different numbers, in hopes of getting a human voice.

Finally, when I dialed 555-1115, I got what I was seeking, a human voice, an operator in another department, and I began to explain my situation. But the operator interrupted me: "What did you say your name was? Are you Preston Allen from high school?"

"Yes. Who is this?" The voice did sound familiar.

"Chelsea Wingring. I used to date your friend Byron, remember?"

"Yes."

"How's he doing? Where is he these days? You know we got a divorce, don't you? But we still love each other very much. Do you know where he is these days? I haven't heard from him in so long."

Of course, I did not tell her where Byron was, nor that her ex-sister-in-law was right down the hall in our guest room that week.

4) My car broke down on the expressway years ago, back before I had a cellphone. I flagged down a Florida state trooper, who called AAA for me. While he was making the call, another state trooper pulled up, an attractive female trooper, who looked familiar. She rolled her window down and chit-chatted with him for a minute or so before driving off.

When she left, he turned to me and joked, "She is one fine mama, ain't she?"

I nodded, said yeah, and then added, "She's always been cute."

"You know her?" he asked suspiciously.

"She was my babysitter back when I lived in Boston," I said to his bewildered face.

"You sure?" he said. He seemed not only suspicious, but somewhat angry.

I said, "Yes. It's been so long, but I'll never forget her face. Her name is _______ __________, at least that is what it was while she was in Boston. Her last name may be different now. I haven't seen her in 25 years. She may have gotten married."

The trooper smiled. "She did get married. I'm her husband. We've been married ten years."

5) One of my best/favorite students was the son of a girl I had kissed back in junior high, the first girl I had ever kissed.

He resembled her, except that he was male and very tall--so I did not notice. They were also both athletic--she had run track and he was built like a basketball player. They had the same last name (she was a single mother), and it was an unusual name, one that stuck out--and yet I did not notice or make the connection.

He called my office one day and left a message asking me to write a letter of recommendation for him. When I called back, his mother answered the phone.

"Hello is John there?"

"No. Who may I say is calling him?"

"Prof. Allen. His English teacher."

"Hmmm. Is your first name Preston?"

"Yes." I looked down at his last name--and then it hit me. "Is your first name Sarah?" (not her real name)

"Yes," she said.

Just like that.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Here's Another Great Gambling Site!

I love that they are trying to explain this sickness--this addiction. There is hope for us yet!

(I found it at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/24767/the_connection_between_gambling_addictions.html)


Excerpt from site:

It is estimated that millions of Americans are addicted to gambling and that number is sure to rise in the future. There are an unlimited number of Americans who flock to their local casinos and others who take long trips just to get to one. In addition to gambling in traditional casinos, gambling has become easier thanks to online casinos, off track betting establishments, and other similar facilities.

There are many individuals who know that they are addicted to gambling, yet they still continue to gamble. There are many reasons why a person may still continue to gamble even when they know that they have a problem. The most common reason is because they are trying to win back the money that they lost. There are many gambling addicts who need to win back their money because they may have obtained it by lying or stealing.

In addition to trying to win back money, there are many gambling addicts who continue to gamble because they feel that they are not hurting anyone else since they are the only ones that are gambling.

What many gambling addicts fail to realize is that they are not the only person who is affected by gambling. In fact, gambling can be just as dangerous and hurtful to a person who is not gambling than to one that is. There have been many families in America that have been destroyed due to a gambling addiction.

As previously mentioned there are many gambling addicts who get their gambling money from lying or stealing. This affects a gambler's family because they are often the one that is being lied to and sometimes money is being stolen from them. It is also not uncommon for an addicted gambler to steal merchandise to sell if they are unable to get their hands on money. Should an addicted gambler get caught stealing merchandise or money they can be arrested or fined. This often causes a lot of problems, emotional and financial, for the family of an addicted gambler.

Read This Study

Gender Differences in Pathological Gamblers Seeking Treatment.

(found at http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0010440X0244919X)


Abstract

Gender differences in pathological gambling disorder (PGD) have received little investigation. This study was constructed to detail the demographic and phenomenological differences in men and women with PGD. We assessed gender differences in 131 subjects with PGD who were evaluated in terms of demographic characteristics, clinical features of PGD, and treatment history. Seventy-eight (60%) subjects were women, and 53 (40%) were men. Men had an earlier age of onset of gambling behavior, while women progressed to pathological gambling sooner after beginning to gamble. In terms of gambling behavior, men were more likely to engage in blackjack, cards, sporting events, and the track, whereas women played slot machines and bingo. Women reported that loneliness was the major trigger to gambling, while men were more likely to gamble secondary to sensory stimuli. Although men were as likely as women to have filed bankruptcy because of gambling, women were more likely to have written bad checks and men were more likely to have lost significant savings. Both groups were equally likely to seek treatment, but Gamblers Anonymous (GA) and outpatient therapy were reported equally ineffective in reducing gambling symptoms. There appear to be some gender differences in the clinical features of PGD, and these differences may have treatment implications.

Sex Offender Wins $57 Million

No Comment--

Okay, just one comment--If a convicted murderer spent 30 years in prison, and then came out and won a hand of poker at his father's house, would the headlines read

"Murderer Bluffs to Win $30.47 Pot with Two Jacks and an Ace High at Illegal Home Game as Stunned Father Watches"?

Here are some other headlines to ponder.

"High School Dropout Wins $200 in State of Florida Scratch Off Game"

"Man with 3 Unpaid Parking Tickets Wins $500 Jackpot at Casino"

"Internet Porn Surfer Wearing Lucky Bowling Shirt Wins $1200 in Slots at Famous Vegas Casino"

____________________________________
"Sex Offender Wins $57 Million"

__The Associated Press June 19, 2008_________________________________
LANSING, Mich. -- The winner of last week's $57 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot is a registered sex offender who also pleaded guilty to two breaking and entering charges in the 1980s.

Fred Topous Jr., 45, was discharged from Michigan Department of Corrections supervision in October 2006.

The Kent City man traveled to Lansing on Tuesday to claim the prize from Friday's drawing in the multistate game. Topous chose to take the prize as a $34 million lump sum payment, before taxes.

Topous said he planned to buy a house, send his children to college and have some fun with his winnings. He said he and his wife work multiple jobs to make ends meet and thought they'd have to work till they died.

"I want to enjoy a little bit of life," Topous told state lottery officials. "We're plain folks. We've struggled all our lives."

According to the Corrections Department's offender profile, Topous pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit sexual penetration in 1999 and pleaded guilty to breaking and entering charges in 1984 and 1988.

All three offenses occurred in Grand Traverse County. Prosecutor Alan Schneider said Wednesday that he wasn't familiar with the cases.

The Michigan Lottery told Grand Rapids television station WOOD that anyone can play the lottery except those under 18 and those who work for the agency.

"He's had some tough breaks," friend and co-worker Jan Westcott told The Grand Rapids Press.

"I know some of his secrets, and he knows some of mine. I'm not going any further."

A telephone message was left with Topous on Wednesday night.

Lipshitz 6

Lipshitz 6
Reading T Cooper for Christmas

Punk Blood

Punk Blood
Jay Marvin

Breath, Eyes, Memory

Breath, Eyes, Memory

Anonymous Rex

Anonymous Rex
Reading Eric Garcia for Christmas

Vinegar Hill

Vinegar Hill
Reading A. Manette Ansay for Christmas

Nicotine Dreams

Nicotine Dreams
Reading Katie Cunningham for Christmas

Junot Diaz

Junot Diaz
Pulitzer Prize Winner!!!

Edwige Danticat

Edwige Danticat
New Year's Reading

Greed

Greed
This Brother Is Scary Good

One More Chance

One More Chance
The genius Is At It Again/The Rapper CHIEF aka Sherwin Allen

Sandrine's Letter

Sandrine's Letter
Check out Sandrine's Letter To Tomorrow. You will like it, I insist.

All or Nothing

All or Nothing

Editorial Reviews of All or Nothing

New York Times--". . . a cartographer of autodegradation . . . Like Dostoyevsky, Allen colorfully evokes the gambling milieu — the chained (mis)fortunes of the players, their vanities and grotesqueries, their quasi-philosophical ruminations on chance. Like Burroughs, he is a dispassionate chronicler of the addict’s daily ritual, neither glorifying nor vilifying the matter at hand."

Florida Book Review--". . . Allen examines the flaming abyss compulsive gambling burns in its victims’ guts, self-esteem and bank accounts, the desperate, myopic immediacy it incites, the self-destructive need it feeds on, the families and relationships it destroys. For with gamblers, it really is all or nothing. Usually nothing. Take it from a reviewer who’s been there. Allen is right on the money here."

Foreword Magazine--"Not shame, not assault, not even murder is enough reason to stop. Allen’s second novel, All or Nothing, is funny, relentless, haunting, and highly readable. P’s inner dialogues illuminate the grubby tragedy of addiction, and his actions speak for the train wreck that is gambling."

Library Journal--"Told without preaching or moralizing, the facts of P's life express volumes on the destructive power of gambling. This is strongly recommended and deserves a wide audience; an excellent choice for book discussion groups."—Lisa Rohrbaugh, East Palestine Memorial P.L., OH

LEXIS-NEXIS--"By day, P drives a school bus in Miami. But his vocation? He's a gambler who craves every opportunity to steal a few hours to play the numbers, the lottery, at the Indian casinos. Allen has a narrative voice as compelling as feeding the slots is to P." Betsy Willeford is a Miami-based freelance book reviewer. November 4, 2007

Publisher’s Weekly--"Allen’s dark and insightful novel depicts narrator P’s sobering descent into his gambling addiction . . . The well-written novel takes the reader on a chaotic ride as P chases, finds and loses fast, easy money. Allen (Churchboys and Other Sinners) reveals how addiction annihilates its victims and shows that winning isn’t always so different from losing."

Kirkus Review--"We gamble to gamble. We play to play. We don't play to win." Right there, P, desperado narrator of this crash-'n'-burn novella, sums up the madness. A black man in Miami, P has graduated from youthful nonchalance (a '79 Buick Electra 225) to married-with-a-kid pseudo-stability, driving a school bus in the shadow of the Biltmore. He lives large enough to afford two wide-screen TVs, but the wife wants more. Or so he rationalizes, as he hits the open-all-night Indian casinos, "controlling" his jones with a daily ATM maximum of $1,000. Low enough to rob the family piggy bank for slot-machine fodder, he sinks yet further, praying that his allergic 11-year-old eat forbidden strawberries—which will send him into a coma, from which he'll emerge with the winning formula for Cash 3 (the kid's supposedly psychic when he's sick). All street smarts and inside skinny, the book gives readers a contact high that zooms to full rush when P scores $160,000 on one lucky machine ("God is the God of Ping-ping," he exults, as the coins flood out). The loot's enough to make the small-timer turn pro, as he heads, flush, to Vegas to cash in. But in Sin City, karmic payback awaits. Swanky hookers, underworld "professors" deeply schooled in sure-fire systems to beat the house, manic trips to the CashMyCheck store for funds to fuel the ferocious need—Allen's brilliant at conveying the hothouse atmosphere of hell-bent gaming. Fun time in the Inferno.

At Books and Books

At Books and Books
Me And Vicki at Our Reading

Bio


Preston L. Allen is the recipient of a State of Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Literature and the Sonja H. Stone Prize in Fiction for his short story collection Churchboys and Other Sinners (Carolina Wren Press 2003). His works have appeared in numerous publications including The Seattle Review, The Crab Orchard Review, Asili, Drum Voices, and Gulfstream Magazine; and he has been anthologized in Here We Are: An Anthology of South Florida Writers, Brown Sugar: A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction, Miami Noir, and the forthcoming Las Vegas Noir. His fourth novel, All Or Nothing, chronicles the life of a small-time gambler who finally hits it big. Preston Allen teaches English and Creative Writing in Miami, Florida.