Gambling Destroyed My Life Novels & Stories

And that was how rapidly greed blinded men when they saw money, and it destroyed them and everything around them. I saw this picture every day. When someone won, the happiness in their eyes was so pure like a newborn baby, their eyes sparkled that you might sympathize with that bastard until you saw him losing every one of that wealth on the game. There was a thing you needed to know when you gamble.

And by extension… To me. Or at least it would soon. A bitter laugh left my mouth. If anyone had told me a year ago that my life would turn out like this, I would have punched them in the face. A year ago I was just drifting. From one gambling den to another. Cards. Liquor. Women. Debt. That was my life. Until I saw Paula again. That day had changed everything. I had followed her out of curiosity. Nothing more. But then…

Not after she found out that her father was a gambling addict. Two years ago, she lost her mother and ever since, her father’s coping mechanism involved a lot of gambling and drunk nights. During day time he would find some small work around the neighborhood to gather money to buy food for both of them but the leftover money often went into gambling. Luck almost never favored him and he mostly returned empty handed.

But then Calvin started gambling. Calvin had lost everything to gambling, draining the family's money until there was nothing left. Ella watched helplessly as their home fell apart day by day, their lives descending into chaos. Arguments between them became routine, their house filled with shouting and frustration. The final blow came when Calvin racked up an enormous debt—one they had no way of repaying. Debt collectors stormed into their home, smashing furniture and taking whatever they could find, leaving them desperate and without options.

"It's okay. If you want a divorce, then get a divorce. We're all here for you," Chris said. Tears pricked my eyes again. The year I finished my SATs, Dad had a little too much to drink while celebrating and died in a car accident. I went to confront the driver responsible, only to get knocked out and sold to traffickers, eventually ending up somewhere in South Treya. Those days were hell, but luckily, a gang happened to be recruiting new casino dealers.

Why the hell is he asking so many questions? I broke out into sobbing. My voice quivered with both fear and desperation. "I…I don't know how to tell you this. I'm f-feeling too ashamed to share this with you. I-I accidentally got involved in gambling before, and now the usury is collecting debts! But…but I promise that I have put that dark phase of my life behind me!" He still didn't speak. Is he not believing me? Gosh! This stingy bastard! I continued crying. "I don't gamble anymore. I was very lonely in the United States, I made a terrible mistake. I went to the casino. But I got addicted and lost control. I lost vast sums of money, and now they're asking for the debt."

With nothing but organ failure. But was it too late to redeem myself? Wasn't it too late to quit? Wasn't it too late to tap out just after being so invested with everything I had. I would gamble, use the money to drink or smoke. Then lose my senses from drinking or smoking and go gamble again. Then I would drink again. Lose my senses again. Gamble again. It was a daily routine that I couldn't do without. Wouldn't it be tough to go back? To return at this point?

Everything here is already resolved. We set off towards the bingo hall. Yes, it's a bingo hall, but it's just a facade because behind the scenes, there's high-stakes gambling where people lose everything, even their lives, due to their bets. Like me, many ended up losing everything they had due to addiction, and some even lost their lives because they couldn't handle the debts acquired here.

But no matter how many people she flirted with or how many jobs she found, I ruined them all. I had already given up on my own life. All I wanted was to drag her into a living hell. In the third year of our entanglement, I used the money I had saved to hire an old gambling addict to lure Tricia into gambling. She had never been exposed to gambling before, but her nature had always been extreme. Everything she did carried an element of risk. Once she started, she fell into it without fail. Her money was gone first. Then came loans, loan sharks, and mounting gambling debts.

She went back to her hometown after that, and that was the last I heard about her. I put down my phone and let out a heavy exhale. This was the effect gambling had on a person. The taste of a winning gamble made one greedy for more, and those who lost became desperate to win their money back. It was a slippery slope that would eventually lead to taking out loans that could never be paid back, going on the run to evade one's creditors, and even taking one's life to end it all. No one ever truly won at the gambling table. There were only people who hadn't lost everything yet.