As I drove home, I wondered how it all had happened. I had a plan when I left early Tuesday morning. Swirl was in a kennel, I didn’t have to think about work for two days, and my $500 already felt like it wanted to be $1000. The best laid plans…?

Tuesday evening

I didn’t watch much of the news. In fact, I watched more slothoki than anything else. I was restless. I kept going over in my head how I had lost $100 without even trying. I started gambling at about 12:30 and after just 2 1/2 hours, I was wondering if I should turn around and go home.

Then my stomach growled and I remembered I had a free dinner at 7pm. I had about an hour to kill and took the longwalk back to the casino.

First stop, the Slot Machines.

Bankroll: $400

I once saw my …