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Welcome to R slash today I effed up, where OP loses $600,000 due to a crippling gambling addiction. Today I effed up by losing my entire

life savings of over $600,000 to a rapidly developed gambling addiction and not being able to

afford the taxes that I now owe. I, a 38-year-old guy, had at one point amassed over $500,000 in a retirement account,

with over $100,000 in cash in my checking account. To start, many of you will immediately wonder how

I even got in that situation, so let me give a little backstory. I'm an IT professional with a

background in software engineering, although currently I'm in management professional with a background and software engineering, although

currently I'm in management. I make six figures and have since I was in my late 20s. I'm generally

frugal, save way more than the average person, and don't buy a lot of lavish things. I keep to myself

most of the time, go out on occasion, and buy quality on things that I use the most, but don't overindulge.

Doing this has led to a happy and generally successful life where I never had to worry about

losing my job for even a year, much less where my next meal was coming from. I always knew that

if problems really started, I'd have enough money to survive for years. I've always enjoyed the

occasional casino trip, probably more than my friends, but it was never really a problem. That is,

until mid last year. I was a casual gambler playing mostly parlor table games, when one day I went

to the casino with 600 bucks and sat down to an ultimate Texas Holdham game,

where I proceeded to win nonstop for hours.

...