So my life pretty much derailed back in the spring of 2022.

This is when the downward spiral, so to speak, really began for me.

Trust me, this is necessary context for the rest.

I was at Buffalo Wild Wings, watching some UFC fights as some friends,

and we decided to cook up a harmless little parlay before the main

card. I'd never gambled at anything before. I only had this vague understanding of how it worked,

but I just passed some exams, and I was about five or six drinks deep, and the world just seemed

so open and rife with possibilities, so I thought, you know, why

the hell not?

I ended up turning $15 into over $200 that night.

At least in the way I was acting, you would have thought that I'd won $200 million.

The high was just, it was, it was that good. More visceral than I would have thought.

I never reached that high ever again.

Even after hitting ludicrous bets that paid out 50 to 60 times more,

nothing really came close to replicating it.

Which was really the crux of my issues.

My dumb ass just kept trying to chase it.

As much as I'm sure you'd all love to hear it, I'm not going to go into a detailed timeline of my misery.

Just know that it was bad.

Probably worse than you're imagining right now.

Bridges burned legal trouble having to avoid calls from very persistent debt collectors. The works.

The only reason I'd been able to somewhat keep my head above water for so long was due to my job.

...