Gambling in Leather Boots and in Tattered Clothes
The cold wind cuts through his shabby clothes like a thief tearing at his victim...searching for valuables. He empties his pocket. All he finds is a dollar bill, a couple of nickels and a dime. Not much to procure him a blankie with which to shield him from the biting cold...not much to buy him bread and cheese to silence the rumbling in his stomach.
Will he survive the night?
Will he see the sun streak as dawn breaks the next morn?
If he can, will he survive the second night...or the next?
Questions plague his very existence. He's got a dollar, 2 nickels and a dime. Not much. Indeed not much. But he's got nothing left. He gambles.
Gambling has been in existence since the earliest of times. People have in fact practiced it throughout the course of history. Records from the earliest periods show that games of chance were as popular among early peoples as they are in modern times.
As time went by, games of chance were no longer believed to have any connection with supernatural beings that affected the outcome of the events such as wars and hunting of the early settlers. It became a favorite pastime. But still there were some who believed that the gods favor them when they win and they have earned the gods' wrath when they lose.
Throughout the ages, gambling has taken several forms. The lottery for instance has become so popular to the penniless more than ever. It strikes the vulnerable. For a little amount, who knows it could bring you back millions. Just spare a few coins and you can kiss tattered clothes and shoes with holes goodbye. Who doesn't wish for better living conditions? Who doesn't crave sumptuous meals and baron garments?
Doesn't he?
Don't you?
Don't we all?
A man wrapped in elegant clothes steps out of a fancy car. His jet-black hair is swept back. His clean-shaven face, his patrician bearing exudes wealth and a life of ease. He's got everything - grand houses, luxury cars, and all the money he could ever ask for. But tonight, this night, like all other nights, he feels restless.
He needs to feel the rush of excitement in his veins.
He needs it badly.
So he goes out...and goes to this ritzy place.
A casino. He gambles.
As the cliché goes, there are two sides in every story. The poor man with only a dollar, a couple of nickels and a dime gambles for there is great need to clothe and feed himself and to ensure that he would still be seeing the dawn as it breaks each day.
And the man who's got everything laid out for him on a silver platter. He gambles not because he has the same needs as the poor man. He needs the excitement, the adrenalin rush and the anticipation that when the night is through, he is victorious amongst the many in the room.
Every man has his own reason.
Gambling was here yesterday.
It's here now...and will be here tomorrow.
Gambling in its many faces...
Gambling in elegant clothes and tattered clothes…
It smiles at you...and at us.
| 
