BEFORE: The second in this little trilogy of movies with losers played by Philip Seymour Hoffman centers on gambling, and after today I'm going out of town to a casino in Connecticut, so the timing is perfect. I'll still watch movies (tomorrow's film is also available on Netflix, I can watch on my phone), but I probably won't be able to post until I get back on Tuesday, so I'll just have to catch up then.
We've been going to Atlantic City two or three times a year for the last three years, it's a nice, quick little break when we've gone too long without a vacation. We've come to feel really comfortable in A.C., we've eaten at all of the buffets and most of the steakhouses, done most of the fun things to do in that town, won a little money here and there on the slots but nothing huge to speak of. Usually whatever winnings we get go right back to the buffets and restaurants anyway.
We also usually stop at Foxwoods in Connecticut on Christmas Eve, it's a nice break from the drive up to see my parents, we play the slots for an hour or so, plus they have a nice buffet there, too. We did that for years without telling my family why the trip up in December always took longer than the drive back to New York - eventually we let the cat out of the bag because we were tired of always telling them every year that we encountered terrible traffic right around the casino part of the state.
But hey, sometimes you have to shake things up, and since we were just in A.C. two months ago, a 48-hour trip to a casino in Connecticut sounds like just the thing. But we're bolstered by the news that the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City is going to re-open as the new Hard Rock Casino, and the shuttered Revel Casino is also going to re-open under another name. So the next time we go back there, we may have some new places to visit.
THE PLOT: A bank manager with a gambling problem and access to a multi-million dollar account gets into a messy situation. Based on the story of the largest one-man bank fraud in Canadian history.
AFTER: This is based on a true story, that of Brian Molony, who embezzled over $10 million (U.S. or Canadian?) in 18 months to support his gambling addiction. Although I don't quite understand all of the financial shenanigans that are depicted here, it seems that in some way the casinos were not just taking advantage of his gambling habits, they were somehow working with him to get more money sent from his bank to their house accounts, sort of in collusion to get more cash. The real-life bank sued the casinos to get their money back, and the case was settled, so it sounds like they were partially successful.
But it serves as a great portrayal of addiction, and since I don't have access to million-dollar funds, I can only speak about my experiences gambling, which of course are minor by comparison. I don't watch the high-rollers either, but I can extrapolate. The problem with gambling is that people come to believe that the more time they spend doing it, the greater their chances of winning money, and this is just false. The more time you spend gambling, the more money you're going to lose, or the greater chance that you'll burn through whatever you walked in with. The hardest thing is stopping after a win, either a small win or a big win - because if you win once, it's easier to believe that you'll win again. And if you win small, it's easy to believe that you'll win bigger, if you just keep playing.
Casino games, however, are structured so that the odds are in the casino's favor, so eventually, they'll get whatever money's being played - unless the player can find the strength to walk away after a win. This is very difficult for certain types of people, and Dan Mahowny here is one of those. Here he keeps coming back to the casino with more money, because he needs bigger and bigger theoretical wins to get him out of the financial hole he's dug for himself. Over time this leads to greater risks, larger wins, and bigger thrills, but ultimately larger losses too. The casino owner even remarks that it seems like Mahowny is trying to win more and more money just so he can then lose it all. He's stuck on a treadmill because he can't walk away, even when he's busted the table.
I'll play a slot machine with a $20 bill, and if I find myself with a sum greater than $20 on that machine, even if it's after the first spin or even if it's 50 cents over $20, I'll cash out. Then I'll put that ticket in my wallet and move on to another machine, and start with a fresh $20 bill. Same rule, if I'm ever up over where I started, cash out. It's a system that sometimes allows me to turn a profit at a casino, or if I'm not successful overall, at least it minimizes my losses. On the last trip to Atlantic City, I was up about $37 after playing the slots for a few hours, but this was on the first day. Naturally I lost money on the second day, but what was I supposed to do, stop gambling a few hours after hitting town? (The answer is yes, if I was only there to make money, but this would have minimized the fun for the rest of the trip.).
I've never seen the side of Atlantic City, or Vegas for that matter, that tends to show up in movies - with the giant rooms, the casino managers who will "comp" your suite and your meals. It seems like fiction to me - heck, I'm happy if I fill up at a buffet, that alone makes me feel like I've put one over on the casino, if I paid $25 for a meal and ate maybe $50 worth of food. Also, since we started doing this Sunday-through-Tuesday thing, we've probably saved a fair amount of money on Groupon deals. One of the casinos in A.C. is sending me offers for a free night, which drives my wife crazy because they don't send this deal to her. I'm guessing it's probably because someone has my name and info after buying drinks at this casino, but they don't have any record of me staying there, since our room is always in my wife's name. So they're desperate to have me come back and stay at their hotel, and maybe next time I should book the room there, if they offer me a free night again. (Just don't tell them that I'm already a frequent guest.).
I don't do any sports betting, that just seems really risky to me. The movies have always managed to make that look very dangerous, like dealing with a bookie who will then have his goons break a few of your bones if you don't cover your losses. It just seems too easy to start betting with money that you don't have, and then where will you be when you lose? At least when I go to the casinos, I'm aware that I'm probably going to lose whatever money I'm walking in with, and therefore I shouldn't bring any amount that I can't afford to part with.
Also starring Minnie Driver (last seen in "Ella Enchanted"), Maury Chaykin (last seen in "Where the Truth Lies"), John Hurt (last seen in "Jackie"), Sonja Smits, Ian Tracey (last seen in "Stakeout"), Jason Blicker (last seen in "The Walk"), Chris Collins, Matthew Ferguson, Janine Theriault, Conrad Dunn, Philip Craig, Vincent Corazza, Eric Fink, Judah Katz, Russell Yuen, Joe Pingue (last seen in "Drive"), with a cameo from Sandra Oh (last seen in "Rabbit Hole").
RATING: 5 out of 10 orders of ribs
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