asking strangers for money is a form of gambling. the output is still cash, but the input is your pride.

the situation here is, mike is a connoisseur of gambling and panhandling is the slots of begging, now telling funny stories.. THAT'S the pai gow of begging, THAT'S the real game.

good stuff. on the money with everything

Clearly, I'm curious if there's a line in his head he won't cross for gambling money and if he's got some "ethical" line he won't cross such as "I would scam at an airport but I wouldn't kill a man"

or

"I would commit check fraud but I would never sell my body for sex"

just curious if there's a magic line in Mike's head that he would never cross, and if so, what it is.

You lose on pushes in Pai Gow, so when someone pushes you away when you tell your panhandling story you lose...hence, Mike is doing the Pai Gow of begging.

SGT RJ, you are spot on. Even though Mike's addiction is not alcoholism helping him helps me stay sober. I am hoping he can swallow his pride and get the help he needs. Hardest thing I ever did was go to my 1st AA meeting. My ego said I didn't need it. Glad I was too stupid to listen to myself.

I am curious how good life was with Mike "Little Man" helping you. I mean if this was the pinnacle, were you happy? Beside missing a friend who passed away, are you missing the life you were living then?
Will you one day inherit assets from your parents? I am sure if they have assets they have made arrangements to have your share go into a trust where you would just get an allowance based on earnings or fixed % of the principal with ability for trustee to give you more at their discretion for health, education maintenance and support.
Can you give a little description of a typical week that you were living when Mike "little man" was staking you. Were you living in Atlantic City? How much did you get to spend for yourself each day, week or month? Was this the best it ever was?

Hi everyone. I was wondering if I could Borovetz some money because my roommate Chino'd me on the rent money. I promise not to pull a Lindgren and pay back quickly but if I dont I will do a Booth on youtube.

Sincerely,
Dutch

If that's the case then I can't fault you for trying.

From the sidelines it's just frustrating to watch people posting legit/solid advice and knowing it's falling on deaf ears. But if it helps you to offer it then it's worth something, and especially after the Deadspin article, it's possible someone out there is reading and could be helped as well.

I don't want anyone to get the impression I wish Mike ill will or anything, I don't (although I don't want him trying to hustle/scam anyone here on 2p2, and as such support his ban). I just don't have any sympathy for him when he doesn't show any evidence of wanting to do any actual, tangible work. Yes he suffers from psychological issues that make him vulnerable to bad choices and all the dire consequences there of, but in the end, he is still responsible for those bad choices, and for making the changes necessary to get his life back on track.

I think you know all this, just expounding. For his own sake I offer the general hope that Mike starts to change his life, I just see zero evidence that's likely at the moment.

This brings up an interesting side issue: How does one muster up the tenacity to undergo the hard, hard work needed to get out of a situation like this?

Life is hard, hard work....how does one keep on doing hard work/nose to the grindstone day in and day out without falling off the rails?

Something to be prepared for...

Really lame attempt at something. You are not a good writer, and it appears that you have zero insights. Lazy sarcasm is the sign of low intelligence. I guess you can advertise that if you wish.

really vicious critique of a post. nothing but a conscious merciless eviceration of a guy who's just trying to do something. i hope you're ok with people knowing you're pure evil.

You do it one day at a time. You can't do it all at once. You can only do 1 step at a time. Worked for me, worked for millions of others as well.

Not to minimize anything, but based on what I'm reading (and I don't know if it's true) it appears Mike isn't even the biggest scammer with a thread about him on the front page of NVG at the moment ... beware con artists come in all shapes, sizes, etc. I think Mike can still have a lot of good years left if he gets his act together now.

All the self-serving social justice warrior posts here are hilarious. exit82 is absolutely right, put your money where your mouth is if you feel sorry for this guy instead of personal attacks on people who rightfully point out psu's scumbaggery. A little bit of spare change goes further than posting tldr diatribes of compassion and well-wishing or insights into addiction.

Why don't you lead by example and ship some to him. If you think your way is correct show us. I know the help I am offering will help him. Ship him $500 and let's see if your way of thinking could do better.

FYI, in the US you don't need grounds to call the cops on someone. You simply dial 911.

Screw him. He has every advantage and privilege available to him and he messed it up. Middle class white boy from Queens, two parents, college, health. While he is at the airport hustling, some kid is studying for his SATs or putting in overtime at work.

Russians say something along the lines of "never says never when it comes to jail or or homelessness", because anyone can find themselves in psu's shoes but he is a guy so deep into the hustle and so far away from his rock-bottom, it is laughable. His are the alligator tears of a Pattaya hooker crying about the sick water buffalo to get an extra 3000 baht a month. There are people and families that fall into perpetuating cycles of addiction and poverty because of a lack of opportunity but this isn't the case here.

I hope he gets his **** together but he deserves every bit of criticism and judgment that he receives. He preys on (albeit naive) peoples' fears and compassion to get money and he is damn good at it. The encouragement and the support for him is OK, but attacks on people who justifiably criticize him are outrageous and self-serving.

Not necessarily. It can be pretty easy. All you gotta do is run well at Pai Gow ONE TIME! Hit a big score or 2 and then live the high life.

That's deep.

LMAO, so tell us, which scumbag are you? Chino, Lindgren, Russ Hamilton?

Did Lindgren, TJ Cloutier, Yukon Brad, Chino Rheem and various other scammers get the same amount of venom as this guy. Chino pulled off much worse scams than this guy and he walks around casinos like he is untouchable?

Yep, Chino walks around like he did nothing wrong.

Larry

Not once have I condone his actions. He does deserve criticism for what he has done. Some of the people on here just wish to troll and some seem to live in glass houses. All this is about is helping a man out with his addiction, get his life in order and make amends for his transgressions.

I wish he was in prison right now. Where he belongs.

Mike, I'm pulling for you. Please follow the advice of the thoughtful people on this thread, the ones who are challenging you to confront your addiction issues with a 12-step program.

Your life has value, and you are redeemable. You can overcome your demons, get your life on track, and begin to make amends. Someday, you can be in a much better place, looking back on this dark period and being thankful that you had the strength to overcome it.

It all needs to start from a desire within yourself. You're the only one who can flip the switch.

Best of luck to you!