On The Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

So, Massachusetts may get casino gambling. There may be one at Suffolk Downs. How convenient. More temptation for us hard working people to blow our money, just like Denise and Carl said.

For a while there, I was a chasing one lottery number. Then I started chasing another one and then a third. With three numbers played at 50 cents “across the board” its $3.00 for each number. That’s nine bucks a day if you play every day like I did and like most people do. It comes to $3285.00 a year.

When I was pretty deep into it, over 20 years ago, I won around $4,000. I never won more that two or three hundred bucks at a time after that. I don’t play the daily number anymore. I get tempted though, when I see a bus with one of my old numbers on it, or a license plate, or my Stop and Shop receipt, or the amount of change I get back. If the clock says 3:07 I get a rush of adrenaline that tries to force me to play that number.

Once you have gotten into the playing the numbers, it’s hard to break old habits. You see your numbers everywhere. If there is a chance you can’t get your number in, you go into a nervous frenzy. When you are up to your ears in playing specific numbers, you are controlled by the lottery. I actually went from three numbers to five at one time. And to make matters worse, they started having TWO drawings, one in the morning and one later in the afternoon. Man, it’s just too easy to lose your money. I remember rushing down to Hodgkin’s Spa or Y-Nots to get those numbers in. God help anyone who got in my way if I was trying to beat the cutoff time for placing bets.

And never mind all of us that play scratch tickets, Mass Million, Mass cash etc. Sure, we all know of people who won $50,000 or a million dollars on scratch tickets, but the chances are slim. To avoid personal torture, if you decide to stop playing your favorite special numbers, do not check the number in the paper or online. Forget about it, if you can.

So, they may build a huge casino complex on the Suffolk Downs site. The place where the horses I would occasionally bet on used to run. The nags I had money on finished so far behind, they had to tip toe into the stable so they wouldn’t wake the other horses up. (Thank you Henny Youngman!) The creation of jobs will be a much-needed boost to the state’s employment woes, but it’s going to be a huge temptation to a lot of get rich quick seekers. Remember the days when just about every bar had a resident bookie? Ah, the good old days.

Want the sensation of gambling? Do you like getting the rush of beating the odds? Here are some alternatives to betting away your hard earned dough. If you want a real gamble, try crossing College Ave at the Library around 4 p.m. Even if you have the pedestrian walk sign, cars will blow it off and run the light. If you want to take a real risk, try driving through Davis Square at 7:45 a.m. when cyclists are on your right, on your left and sometimes in the middle of the street. They force you to hold your breath while inching into the other lane of on coming traffic as you try to avoid nicking one of these bikers.

Then there are the joggers who dart out of nowhere, behind parked cars, and into the crosswalk in front of your vehicle. Hey genius, we can’t stop if we don’t see you! That’s a gamble right there. Try walking on the sidewalk when these joggers who hog the sidewalk try to mow you down. And for pet owners, go up to Powder House Park between 6:30 and 7:30 in the morning. If you have a small dog (or a child) you can try your chances at not being harassed by an unleashed dog. You see the unleashed dog, he sees you, and the free wheeling mutt usually runs at you and scares the hell out of you. The “Yups with Pups” up there obviously feel too important to abide by the rules of the city. If you (or your dog) don’t get bitten, or get into an argument with the scofflaws, you come out on top. You beat the odds.

You don’t need to go to a casino to experience the thrill of betting. You like numbers? Every time I log onto my online banking site, I never know what the amount of my checking account is going to be. If it’s enough to get me through the week, cool. Chase e the Lottery!

I don’t need to go to a casino to experience a thrill. I am about to walk down the hall from my office to the restroom. If it is unoccupied, I win.