60. Save Me From Myself

Freakonomics Radio

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.6 • 32K Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2012

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A commitment device forces you to be the person you really want to be. What could possibly go wrong?

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Well, I was in late August of 2009. I went to Harris Casino and played PyGal. And I was
0:12.0	doing fairly well. I couldn't believe the luck I was having.
0:17.4	That's Tony Belandrin. This was on one of those riverboat casinos in Kansas City, Missouri.
0:23.1	Belandrin is a journalist in his late 40s.
0:27.5	The big hand that I was dealt was a seven-card straight flush.
0:31.3	Wow.
0:32.3	And a seven-card straight flush is pretty amazing, pretty rare. And of course I had a joker
0:39.7	involved, so there was a wild card there. And I believe that was 750 to 1 on the odds.
0:46.2	So my $5 bet on it netted me, I think, $37.50.
0:52.4	What happens then? Did you keep playing for a few hours or were you jazzed? You decided
0:55.7	that I'm going to cash out? How'd it work?
0:57.6	No, they spread the cards out for the camera, of course. They did a card count.
1:01.4	Oh.
1:02.4	And the supervisor congratulated me and asked for my ID, because this was going to be a big
1:10.8	payout, a significant payout. And I just thought, wow, here it goes.
1:19.0	Here's the thing, that beautiful hand, Belandrin was dealt that 750 to 1 straight flush hand?
1:26.9	It actually turned out to be bad luck.
1:29.2	You see, Tony Belandrin wasn't supposed to be gambling in that casino or any other
1:35.2	casino in the state of Missouri. It all began when he realized that his gambling had gotten
1:41.0	out of control.
1:42.7	Sometimes after work, and on the weekends, when the casinos did not close, I there were
1:47.7	a couple of times when I stayed there until I had to go to work the next day.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.