[QUOTE=Princhester]
When people in this thread say they have a gambling budget of $x, what does that mean?
Does that mean you lose that much on the trip ie you stop when you’ve lost $x? Or does it mean you start with $x as your stake, and you play with that till it’s gone or it’s time to go home? Or something else?
[/QUOTE]
What I mean is that for a typical gambling junket (2 or 3 days), I get free room and food & liquor. My “gambling budget” would be the amount I figure I can afford to lose at the tables for that trip. I would include tokes (i.e. tips for dealers and servers) in that, since you usually toke them in casino chips, but not other planned expenses (like golf, shows, whatever). I usually divide this up into however many sessions I think I want to play, and go roll the dice, deal the cards, or whatever. I try not to roll over winnings into the next session, but that’s more of a guideline than a rule.
If I go down fast in a session, I find something else to do. If I get ahead, I play for as long as I want.
I make no pretense that this is a moneymaking exercise. I take it as escapist entertainment. I often remind myself that the friendly people working in the casino are really just friends with my money.
[QUOTE=jsgoddess]
Like I said in the OP, we live in another state and to say we aren’t close would be an astonishing understatement. The other day was the first time I had seen or spoken to her in a year.
This is why I tried to make it very clear in the OP that I do not like this woman and only care about this to the extent that it can bite my husband and me. Frankly, I could live with her being on the street. My husband couldn’t, no matter how casually he’s approaching this.
Edited to add: Oops. I didn’t say that in the OP. Well, again to clarify: We live in another state, 6 hours from my MIL. I do not speak to her unless there is no choice, as she is an abusive, racist, hateful person. Still, I fear that were she to lose everything my husband’s instincts would kick in and he would want to help her.
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What you’re describing here is setting off all kinds of alarm bells for me. This is the kind of stuff that ends marriages. I think you and your husband need to have a looooooong, serious talk about this. I do think that your MIL is heading for trouble. She’s gambling a lot, and being addicted to gambling is pretty common. And I think your intuition that she’s going back to work because she’s blown all her money is dead on.