I say, ‘thanks but no thanks’, and ‘maybe in November when its cooler’. Nothing helps. I know this is going to be bad and then I walk straight into it. But I do take my laptop with me.

On the first Saturday of every month, there is an art fair in the village square. Every artisan in the surrounding countryside arrives carrying their precious goods. They spread them out on tables and sit, willing every passer-by to put his hand in his pocket and buy something. Much of the merchandise is jewelry, every kind of jewelry from ten cents to hundreds of dollars.  Who needs another jewelry stall? But my friend is insistent – mine are different. Please, she begs, go sell my jewelry. I set everything up, make it look good and fire up my laptop. Luckily the stall is near Cuppa Joe Designer Coffees which has a WiFi service. I log into the online casino and begin playing the slot machines.

People stop and look at my wares, and one or two slip rings on their fingers, forcing me to pause with the slots in the online casino and make sure they pay or put them down again. I sell a nice expensive necklace and hit a small jackpot a moment later.

I switch to roulette and click to play with $20 chips. I bet 4 or 5 chips per spin on single numbers, going for the big one. I lose and decide on a last spin before quitting. I drop 5 chips, click on ‘spin’ and a voice asks how much a matching necklace and earrings in pink Swarovski crystal costs. I tear my eyes away from the game and look at the price. “It’s six hundred dollars, lady,” I say. “I’ll take it,” she says. I look back at the game. “I’m in a hurry!” she snaps.  I grab a presentation box, wrapping paper and cotton wool all in one movement. I wrap like a crazed man. Did I win? I almost throw the parcel at her and she hands me the money and storms off. I look at the computer. A $700 win! Saved by a jewelry sale!

Posted on: July 27, 2008

Add This Gambling Article To:
Del.icio.us	Digg	Google	Spurl
Furl	Simpy	Y! MyWeb

Back to July 2008's archive
Back to latest Articles