If you haven't read the article yet, don't. Just read these last three paragraphs, they're the only parts the least bit interesting, and stripped of the Hemingway prose of the opening paragraphs cited above.
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>The most shocking revelation at the internet casino was the depth and pervasiveness of gambling addiction. Lets face it an internet casino is not Las Vegas. Internet casinos cannot compete with the glitz or entertainment choices of Vegas. However, like the alcoholic who hides his drinking, gambling addicts come to the internet for secrecy. Our volume of business was not highest on Friday or Saturday night like it is in Vegas. We got our peak deposits on Wednesday afternoon. This was a chance to bet when no one was watching. The alcoholic has his favorite bar but he couldn't get through the week without that little flask in his coat pocket. We were the little flask to the gambling addict. You could bet anytime and anyplace. You just needed access to a computer. The wife of an Indiana plumber who had lost over $20,000, much of it on her husbands company credit card, would call frantically demanding todays Western Union name before her husband came back in the office. She told one sales person, " I must be a fool for betting at your casino. I havn't won a Nickel in over a year." The sales person replied, " Slots are streaky, never quit after a long losing streak because a big winning streak is just ahead." She responded with a $2,000 deposit which she lost in under one hour. A retired professional exhibiting possible age related dementia would call early in the morning while his wife was asleep. He had lost thousands with us until his wife disputed the charges with his credit card company. He had sent us cash to cover the debt because he couldn't bare being cut off at the casino. A nurse in Illinois was $50,000 in the hole when the manager "hit the win button". We allowed him to win so he would keep depositing with us. I took the phone call after he won over $5,000. The peculiar rush in his voice was like nothing I had ever heard before. It was more then happiness or excitement. It was as if he were on an adrenaline rush. I offered him a great bonus. "This is your chance to turn $5,000 into $50,000." He took the deal and lost all of his winnings. You didn't have to be a particularly skilled salesman in this job. After gambling addicts are identified, you know they will go for just about anything if it keeps them gambling. The gambling is more important then the money. A story that one of the Indian casino executives loved to repeat at the water cooler involved a professional man who had lost so much that his home was foreclosed. He called us on the phone the year he had lost over $200,000 and asked if we could help with the costs of his mother's funeral. In a teary plea he admitted that he was flat busted. The Indian executive loved to use this story as an example of his humanitarianism. He covered the funeral costs.
The more I learned about the casino the more I became disenchanted. I was contemplating leaving the job and Costa Rica. Perhaps Robert read my body language because he invited me to go out with him on Friday night. His outings were famous in company gossip and frankly were said to be a big reason why many of the Americans had stayed on for years. "Were going out Friday" he said. "Where to." "Don't worry about that we'll take care of you, your safe with us." Prostitution is legal in Costa Rica. In a country where typical wages start at around $200 per month, you could get a lot for your dollar. On one occasion I had made my way to a favorite stop for tourists, The Hotel Del Rey. This was a multiple story pink building that was dominant in the downtown skyline. In a city that did not have street addresses it was used as a reference point. Directions for downtown were usually given in terms of meters north, south, east, or west of the Hotel Del Rey. On a day when my curiosity ruled I entered the bar at the Hotel Del Rey. Seats were scarce and the women stood in a long line just short of the bar. They all faced one direction with their butts lifted and posed to the gallery of men. They were for sale. The women outnumbered the men 3 to 1. The volume and variety were impressive. I spoke with women from Venezuela, Columbia, The Dominican Republic, Russia, and Nicaragua to name a few. They were black, brown, yellow, white. They were tall, short, big, and little in every physical feature imaginable. Robert took me out that night and showed me many of the local bars with "women of questionable morals" available. Prostitution was rampant in San Jose. This was a city of haves and have nots. Every president in the history of Costa Rica bore the name of a conquistador. These were the family names of a few select individuals who had been granted titles and lands by European royalty following the voyage of Columbus. To this date these families hold a tight grip on wealth and power. If your a young lady not in one of these families in San Jose you have choices that rarely go beyond poverty or prostitution. Robert picked up the tab that night. At the end of the night one of the new American's that Robert had asked to tag along said, "I'm liking this job more and more every day."
You don't spit into the wind, you don't tug on superman's cape, you don't pull the mask off the ole lone ranger, and you don't mess around with Jim. Robert had an alter ego. His name was Jim. Robert tilted the scales around three hundred pounds and had a mysterious edge to his personality. He could be charming at one moment and then alarmingly cruel seconds later. He was intelligent, cunning, and manipulative. He began his internet career years earlier in the porn industry. He was now the sales manager for the internet casino. One day I made my mind up about the internet casino when "Jim" began making his collection calls. "Jim" had a voice that could pass for Mike Tyson. He never bothered with small accounts. If you owed us $10,000 or more Jim would give you a call. He did his homework first. He would talk to the sales agent who worked the gambler. He would research our records and search the internet for information. He would find out where they lived, where they worked, where their children went to school. Then he would make the call as "Jim". Jim had a toughguy routine that was very convincing. Imagine a Brooklyn accented voice calling you on the phone and with slow and deliberate pauses saying, "Yeah, this is Jim. I'm here at the park by Central Elementary. I work on commission you see, so I gets me monies." "We can do this the hard way or the easy way." "Either way I don't care. Either way I get's me monies." "Who is Jenny". "Oh, your daughter, well Jenny goes to school across the street from this park, and remember I always gets me monies." A boom of laughter filled the office. This routine served as a favorite source of entertainment for the casino employees. However, the gag was all to serious. Jim's routine worked. It worked quickly and it worked every time. I had heard about it but this was the first time I was in the room when Robert made six of these phone calls. Two of the gamblers called and wired the money in within thirty minutes. One of the Indians from the corner office listened to the phone call and joined in the laughter. As he walked away he replied, "Robert, if these charge backs get out of hand we will have to really send someone out." I left work an hour early that day. I called the airlines and booked a flight out of Costa Rica. I never picked up my last check.
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Oh, and there's a part about making excuses to people who try to cash out. The author never suggests that payouts are dodged because the place is low on funds. He instead suggests that they don't pay because they don't want to, and because no regulatory agency will make them. Payouts are quickly approved to those players deemed likely to redeposit and lose it all back. Everyone else gets a song and dance. Most of those players lose back the winnings, since they figure they're not getting paid any how.