Mark’s Story On How He Quit Playing The Machines in Montana

You can't hardly throw a stick in this town without hitting a casino. They aren't a factor for me because I'm not a gambler. And I'll tell you how I quit playing the keno and poker machines.

About a dozen years ago I was chasing a gal. And we would meet for lunch or dinner. I would almost always get there first. So I would buy a beer and stick twenty bucks in a machine. As I was thinking about it, I decided to keep track of how much I was down for the year. My total for the year was $700. Did I have the money? Yes. But did I feel like I just lit seven one hundred bills on fire? Yup.

So I haven't played the machines since. Now, I didn't quit 100%. I put a hundred bucks on a Super Bowl board that paid out big. Or an occasional shake-a-day. But, for the most part, gambling isn't a vice that affects me.

And part of my reasoning is that I personally believe that some people are just luckier than others. And everybody knows people like that. Every time you run into them, there's another story about how they hit a machine for big bucks. I believe that there are some people who are just naturally lucky. But I also believe there are some who win big. But they also lose big. It's funny how nobody ever gets on Facebook and posts about losing $1,200 bucks sitting at a machine.

All I know is that I haven't seen too many casinos go out of business.