A Trillion in Turnover: I Gambled My Life Away Online

Based on a true story! Don't gamble! Don't gamble! Don't gamble! I can't say it enough! At 18, I thought online gambling was a gift from heaven. I followed my classmates' bets: 10 yuan could turn into 20, and half an hour's play could earn me half a month's food money. I could even easily buy the fountain pen my desk mate Su Xiao coveted. I believed that “a little gambling is harmless.” I went from betting 10 yuan a day to risking half my living expenses. I went from secretly saving money to spending all night at internet cafes trying to win it back. When I watched my account balance soar from three digits to five, I felt like I was floating every time I walked. But I didn't see that behind those “sure-win” numbers, the platform had already marked me as a fat lamb ready for slaughter. When I was 25 and mortgage contracts were piled up to the windowsill, I finally understood: the sweetness online gambling offers is borrowed. When it's time to pay it back, it'll take half your life. This is the whole story of how I went from saving up to buy a girl a fountain pen to crouching under a bridge, counting coins. Don't believe “I'll stop after one more win.” The end of the gambling table isn't money. It's every tomorrow you lose.