| Internet Gambler Wagers On His Future |
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Some Compulsive Gamblers Are One Card Short Of A Full Deck
Secure websites and reliable credit card transactions have made it safer for stay-at-home gamblers to participate in online casinos, but at the same time, these conveniences have fueled the economic disorders of compulsive gamblers. After being introduced to Microsoft Solitaire a few months ago when a friend installed Windows XP on his laptop, Bob has been struggling to deal with his addiction to the Windows-based card game and has no idea how he is going to pay back the money he owes. Solitaire, based on the traditional Klondike one-player card game, was set up on Bob's computer under "Vegas Style", a format in which the player pays $52 for each card game, and receives $5 back for each card placed on the pile. Winning the solitaire game rewards the player with a $260 payout. The problem for Bob is that when he started losing at Solitaire, he didn't learn when to quit, and every time he lost a game, he immediately proceeded to the next one, and repeated that until he finally won a hand. Bob would play for several hours a day, at work, at home, and even on his daily train commute. Eventually, the losses got to the point that Bob had to finally admit that he had a problem. Bob, who is just fortunate that no interest (commonly known as the "juice") is accruing on his digital debt, is going to speak with a debt counsellor to see if he can shuffle around some of his other bills. He is hoping that he will be maybe able to pay off the debt in installments, and get the amount to a manageable level before he attempts to gamble again, if ever at all. If Bob plays his cards right, he should be able to be out of the red and into the black in about six years. Bob is determined to face his addiction, instead of listening to the advice of his friends, who suggested that he if deleted the game from his system, the debt would simply go away. 
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