I know the guys in it, invested in their latest movie, and even linked them this thread, which they will appreciate since cheap/unusual shilling is a healthy component of marketing their show.

As the main character in this thread's drama has said (about his situation) - the comparisons I gave were completely accurate.

Be sure to give the show a watch when the drama of this thread becomes stale (as people give up on offering advice, and the main character gets bored with the attention con) and you will see what I mean.

All the best.

Mike,

You are still being delusional about your gambling. You NEED to walk away from this life now but this is in direct conflict with your WANT to stay in the game. Take away the rose colored glasses and take a hard look in the mirror. I am certain that as a young adult, you never dreamed about being a homeless, ex-con or a deceiver of innocent people. You need to find meaning in your life away from the rush of winning or misery of losing; in your mindset, these are the two sides of the same coin.

You have chosen a horribly self destructive path and you need professional help to sort out the "why". I am a firm believer in cognitive therapy but there are other paths to get you there. (spirituality, family, support groups, etc)

I hope to never see you in a casino again.

So this post started yesterday, and since you were working the "i need gas" scam at the airport yesterday (i now see you did this Sunday morning, however teh questions still hold), I presume that means you were broke yesterday morning? How did you get the stake from which you won $5,000 at the Bellagio?
Also, was it in the pits that you won $5,000? OR did you bink a Bellagio daily?

But most importantly, how did you get the money which led to yesterday's Bellagio win?

Mike, your horrid decisions continue. You should never have posted your narrative on this site. You will seriously regret this, as the implications these posts have for your future are dreadful. The internet is forever, and you've just laid out one of the worst stories I've ever read.

I feel nothing for you, but I'm devastated for your family. The shame and embarrassment you've brought upon them is horrific. You've destroyed more lives than your own, understand that.

Guys a loser end of story.

Threads get locked and deleted eventually. Posts like this are not needed in this thread. Nobody's lifes have been destroyed here FWIW.

2 Plus 2 is a community and this is good therapy for Mike. Let the man tell his story, It is what it is. He at least has the balls to come forward about his past and faults in life. That's something you will never get from a lot of scammers.

good advice

zero chance of recovery here. i've been to GA and anyone who tells their narrative in a I-can't-believe-how-screwed-up-my-life-is story without intense self-loathing and a real horror at what they have done to OTHER PEOPLE has no chance of personal change. the guys i saw who seemed to have made radical personal change did so to make amends to wives, parents, children, etc and not because they were hoping to "straighten things out"

btw, never met Mike Sica but I wish I did...sounds like someone who REALLY tried to do the lord's work

What a truly sad and awful story. I felt actual pain reading through it and you must be so ashamed of yourself that you have been reduced to a life of depravity. I hope that writing this all out brought you some comfort, and the only consolation is that you are not dead. I mean there is absolutely nothing in your life worth living for... YOU need to realize this situation exists because of YOU and you need to make a radical change which I don't even know how you would.

My friend, you must think of your family. Your father and mother who love you so much and probably cry in every night over the fate of their son. You are no different from a heroin user who has unabashedly brought shame and deceit into the life of good people who did not deserve it, except for one vital piece of information. Your brain is not destroyed by drugs. Yes, you have lied, stolen, cheated, debased yourself for money but your mind is still intact and you can fix yourself. It seems monumentally impossible but I would begin by going to your father and beg him to tell you what to do. But don't ask for a penny, you can cry to him and say "father i am lost" and let the one person in this world who can still help you try his hardest. No friends, nobody else but your father will get through to you. You have no family no house no friends, you have been in jail and rehab and you should be crying over this meaningless existence that is your life

We can tell Mike to just stop gambling and sort his life out all we want but he has been doing this for more than a DECADE!

If i was to guess; he doesnt want to be homeless, he doesnt want to be broke, he doesnt want to con people, he doesnt want to live his life in the gutter. He doesnt want to go to jail. Its not a choice for him. He is compelled to do so.

If we take extreme examples - When you look at a serial killer, you can see someone who's mind works completely different to yours. When you look at Einstein, you can see a mind that works completely different to yours. I find it very easy to believe, that when i read about Mike, his mind works completely to different to mine. "hey man just get some help and quit" is at this point an almost impossible task. Everyone assumes everything is just down to willpower and everyone has the exact equal amount, which is obviously ridiculous. We are all wired completely different.

The only way these stories ever have a happy conclusion is by outside intervention. Unfortunately doesnt look like that is going to happen in this case.

Why do you think this would make any difference?

You've binked enough cash to start a new life several times already and yet never have. You're on a treadmill chasing a dream that will always be out of reach because you will always move the goal posts. So you bink $500K. You'll take $100K to the pit to try and win another $500K and make it a cool million. That $100K will be gone in fifteen minutes. So then you'll start chasing loses. And by lunch you'll have lost the $500K.

Rise. Repeat.

The only way to win is to not play.

Please seek help Micheal before you end up back in prison. That is certainly where you are headed if you continue down the same path. If that isn't enough motivation for you, then I suppose you are doomed to spend the majority of the rest of your life broke and behind bars.

Shocking read, wow. One of the saddest things I've read here because it's taken so incredibly long, 10 years+ as a world class degen never getting anywhere is just insane. I can definitely sympathize with you to some extent.

Here's a suggestion; take that $5000 and move to a country where gambling isn't allowed and that has 0 casinos. That probably includes 60% of all the countries in the world, and most of them are nice warm places with cheap living. Use your degree to get a job there, I bet they won't be able to find out about your criminal record at the states. Once you get there throw your passport away or something so you can't get on the next flight easily when you're about to relapse but would have to go through an embassy (takes a few days in my experience).

Also, from the perspective from a former fellow gambling addict (although to a much much lesser extent, not trying to claim I have any idea what it's actually like for you), IMO the best way to get clean is to have something else in your life to fill that void by not gambling. It sounds from your posts that all you want to do is gamble, and I can remember it being like that for me as well in the past. No matter how much I won, it didn't matter because I had zero interest in anything else but keeping gambling. It sounds like it's that way for you as well, I mean those 150k wins are pretty big yet you did nothing it but gambled, what if there was something else in your life you really wanted and could now have done with the money? That's why the change of scenery is a good option imo, go find a wife, get interested in something new, build a career, something. I'm sure it gets better once you manage to stay away for a long enough time and have something else in your life to make it easier to forget about gambling. I'm sure the urges aren't going anywhere if you don't have any other goals in life but to gamble.

GL, sounds like you're gonna need it.

This is a v good post.

High Pitch Eric is exactly who I pictured reading all of this.


How many people have you flat out stolen from(parents, sisters, friends who let you stay on their couch for a few nights)?

Keep making Little Man proud.

Stop playing poker too. You're very very bad at it.

FWIW, Two+Two's next book should be a bound version of PSUMike's posts in this thread alternating chapters with Dynasty's "Three Years in Vegas" posts. I only need a cpl of points for the idea.

+1 to Chuck's whole post and this part in particular. Preferably something productive. You could blog, learn a new language, or volunteer at a zoo (after you find a job obv).

Please seek help from a therapist.

I think I would rob a bank before I started trying to con people for 200 dollars at airports

did you ever ask no home jerome for a stake or bunk with under the boardwalk while you were in ac in the early 2000's?

My favorite Borovetz story. Many years ago at the Trop my buddy is in the bathroom after registering for some $100 tourney. Beggar in the bathroom (turns out to be Borovetz) tells him some sob story how he needs $100 to get a bus back home for some emergency. My buddy buys into it and gives him the $100. A few minutes later he takes his seat in the tournament. Obv he gets seated next to Borovetz.

-ActionBob

Most countries do a criminal background check as you enter their country to exclude felons. Also they generally require you to leave the country on a regular basis (ie 72 hours every 90 days). And if you're caught without a passport you'll almost certainly be detained and exported.

Chemical Engineer? Not a chemist but close enough?

Been done, after dropping a life roll in his first visit to Vegas. Didn't end well.
http://m.chronicle.augusta.com/stori...t_122924.shtml

as Jesse Pinkman might say. .

"outstanding post, yo!"

if you are looking to get started. . use the $5,000 to get a bite at el pollo hermanos. . as for Mr. Fring. . tell him Heisenberg sent you. Also, it would help if you can make the product blue.