Gambling After Katrina

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Boston Globe >> Some cope by gambling what little is left > Gambling After Katrina

After Hurricane Katrina some survivors are still gambling in a casino near their new shelter at Baton Rouge.

♠ Some are gambling in the hope that they can win back a little of what the hurricane took away.
♠ Some to just kill time, hoping they can return home one day.
♠ Some are gambling at the casino, for the "free booze". In the end, the lure of the lights on the fruit machines talked them into spending more and more. They could have bought more alcohol at an off-license with the money lost, if they could find one.

A survivors story - Still Gambling
Never mind that his New Orleans house is flooded, and his family is living on mattresses at his brother-in-law's home nearby. But by morning, Brown -- a 60-year-old man who has lost everything -- is gambling.

''If I win, I'll make it better for us," he said.

Brown worries that his four dogs, left behind in New Orleans, drowned in Hurricane Katrina or were eaten by alligators afterward. He also worries that they could be sitting at home waiting for him, slowly starving to death. ''We call them our babies," he said, as he put $20 more in the slots.
Gamblog Comment >>
As the boss of Wagering War Blog said ~ this could well be one of the saddest gambling stories there is around today.

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