I DID IT!!!

I enjoy Gamesville. I enjoy lots of their free game stuff like Three-Eyed Bingo, Frantic Fish, Zuma, of course, Pit Stop Slots, Bubble Popper, Miami Dice, and my favorite game: Bottle Rocket.

For those of you who have never visited Gamesville, I was drawn there because most of this stuff is free. AND, best of all, you win GV Rewards Points which can be entered into drawings to win real money. I've done this only a couple times and never won, as usual. As you earn points by playing games, the icon next to your handle changes so everybody knows whether you're a veteran or novice. I've been there for a long, long time, but never made any real attempt to gain points to change icons. But that all changed. Anyway, for the last few months, I've been aiming very high . . . and finally managed to get to the next level of icon for 1,500,000 points. I've finally quit being a baseball and have moved on to being a martini glass! See?

My (Fake) Gambling Addiction

I have come to the realization that I am in over my head. For several years, in the privacy of my own home, an insidious addiction has woven itself into my secret personality. Yes, like millions of other internet junkies, sites like "Gamesville" and "Bingos.net" have worked their way into my life. Every night, about 10 p.m., I head for my home office and plant myself for an hour or so of just vegging out. At Gamesville, points and icons are the rewards. I now have over 1.1 million points, and my icon is a baseball. Next up - after just another 300,000 points will be something new that will designate to everybody there that I have surpassed people with stars, clovers, teddy bears, hearts, pieces of pizza, and a burning yellow flame. Ah - that is a goal worth striving for! But, only weekends and nights at home . . . .

The other one - the most intriguing one of all - is Bingos.net. The actually hand over $10,000 when you sign up! Imagine that! $10,000 FAKE dollars to gamble away at the bingo hall, slots, poker and keno games! In the privacy of your own home!! Does life get any better??? All alone one night, playing "Trolling for Treasure" I hit the second largest jackpot! 7500 coins - or 7500 times the 25 cents I played. $1,875 MORE FAKE MONEY! It was 11:45 by this time - alarm goes off at 6:15 a.m., and I could have cared less! I did a little office chair dance, threw my arms in the air and yelled "yippee!!!"

It only took me a couple evenings of bingo and more Trolling to lose that. Kept telling myself, it's only fake so splurge! Soon, I was betting $22.50 for each turn of the wheels . . . waiting for the boats . . . or the special side game where you get to open a treasure chest. With that much riding on it, I'd surely make a fortune!

Now I'm down to only $8,000 or so and wondering about the glory days of just last week when I had $10,600+ in there. Sigh. Will I ever get back to that grand day of only last Wednesday????

So, where does someone call to announce to the powers that be that you are addicted to losing fake money on fake, but lifelike, games? Is there no number for Fake Gambler's Annonomous? I'm sure I probably need help of some sort, but until that happens, it sure is fun!

Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 - Triple Thrill Pack

Gotta Love It!!! Right??? NOT REALLY!

Ok – Yes, when out of work, I spend time – LOTS OF TIME – playing Roller Coaster Tycoon. Niece Wendy got me RCT2 for Christmas, and the first eight games or so were lots of fun. Not to mention the countless hours I spent on RCT1 last year.

I have run into a bit of a speed bump! There’s this game – Coastersaurus – and the “scenario” is a pre-historic park filled with dinosaurs and weird plants deep in a ravine. The point is to build a great park where 2,700 people want to be by the end of October of Year 4. The beginning park has chairlifts (four of the silly things!), a cool coaster that’s partially underground and partially out over the ravine, a couple monorails, and three double-decker observation towers. First I tried it their way, then I tried taking out some stuff, adding stations on the chair lifts in the ravine, putting rides there, building paths up thru the cliff sides, all kinds of stuff. I swear, I’ve played that darned game about 15 times, and the closest I’ve gotten is 2,200, and I had to put “Do Not Enter” signs in front of the exits to keep that many. My park rating (how much the park is enjoyed by the “peeps”) was up to 988! They got free food, free rides, and at the end everything was free!!

So, of course, I now resemble the peeps who look like the above graphic!! These are the ones who are so ticked off, they break benches, tip over trash cans, and who knows what else. ACK!! I know I should move on, but it’s the principle of the thing, ya know?