Ruth de Souza's international initiative with the Think Tank and the International Conference on the ill effects of gambling bring to mind my recent year-ago trip to Goa where I met up with a fellow Goandian, from Montreal, a senior and a very wealthy one at that. He is a very charming fellow, generous to a fault and we spent many hours imbibing spirits during the cool Goa nights of early January.
He unabashedly confessed to me that he has a huge gambling problem. Montreal has casinos that make the ones near Toronto pale into insignificance and all dealers, croupiers and cashiers of casinos in the Montreal area apparently know our Goencar well (as they do with very big spenders). Apparently our Goencar in a moment of weakness and self-admission of his problem decided to apply to all the casinos not to allow him to enter the premises in order to deny himself his bad habit. Our Canadian casinos it seems (maybe the American ones as well), have a system where you can apply in writing not to be let in and they will escort you out the gates the moment you attempt entry. How they recognize you is a testament to western ingenuity since you are not carded upon entry (not asked for identification) and therfore anonymous. After submission of the letter, our Goencar told me that he has attempted to go to the casinos several times but has been refused entry on all occasions even though he has pleaded with them and agreed to write another letter rescinding the first one. When I asked the Goencar why he doesn't come to Toronto and indulge his vice, he said with a swagger "ah, what the hell, I just take off for Goa and enjoy a peaceful holiday instead." I am worried about my Montreal Goencar friend now that Goa plans to have 10 offshore casinos. Hope they block the entire sea lanes when they see him approaching. _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
