What do you mean I'm a compulsive gambler?!

So I admit that I'm a bit of a compulsive gambler - Who isn't? um scratch that question. It's not the gambling so much as the thrill of winning big, hitting the jackpot, whether it be a royal flush or Red,White & Blue Sevens!

It all started back when I was about 8 years old. My uncle, who was single, had this really cool house and in his basement there were several slot machines, a poker table ( one of those ones that was made out of barrels with the table table that flipped over) and a pool table. We were allowed to play on the slot machines but could not, under any circumstances, hit the cash out button! Well guess what - I hit the button one time and out spewed what seemed like mountains and mountains of money. That's when it hit me - all it took was just one little pull of that big metal arm and I could be rich beyond my wildest dreams. Little did I know that 1000 nickels was only $50.

When I turned 18 I started buying lottery tickets and scratch off tickets. I won quite a bit but looking back at it I probably only broke even because I bought so many.

The first time I went to a casino was in Biloxi Mississippi at the Grand Casino, which was destroyed by hurricanes last year. My sister was stationed at the Air Force base in Biloxi and was graduating from weather school. At the time I was a single mom with 2 kids and little money. I took $20 with me to gamble. I played the nickel machines for a while and hit some decent payouts. By the end of the day I had turned my $20 into $160! I was ecstatic! I guess I just figured that would happen every time I went into a casino. And for a while it did!

I learned to play craps on my honeymoon the following year. My new hubby and I turned our $200 into about $3000. So my streak continued. Only to be a big fat loser the next year. I think the hubby and I went through about $12,000 in 4 days, but we got some very nice comps for loosing our butts! I figured at the point $6000 for a steak dinner was about what it cost me!