ADVICE NEEDED

[RodSerling]

There an old friend that I hang out with a few times a month, and tonight we went out the casino. Well, I lost about $50, no big deal. However, my buddy dropped, I think about $1200, and appearantly this is very typical. When we were playing blackjack(its all he plays), I got a call on my phone, and because you can't be on the phone and on the table at the same time, I asked to wait until the next shoe and took the phone call. The person on the other line was much closer friend of mine, and I told him where I was and who I was with.

Well, I told him, he said, "Your out there with him huh, that is no surprise." I asked what he was talking about, and he told that appearently this guy is out there 4 or 5 times a week, and in the past year has lost like $15,000.

When I came back to the table, I just kept playing about $5 to $10 hand, but he started laying down $50 to $200 bets.

I usually don't go out there with him, he merely suggested it and it sounded okay to me. I knew that he like gambling, but after hearing this information and after what I saw tonight, I think it's safe to say there might be problem here.

What is probably most unsettling, is that on the ride home, he seem totally disconnected with the fact he had just lost that much money, which is really a month's house payment. At the time I didn't want to add insult to injury, so I just made conversation like nothing at all happened. However the more I think about this the more and more unsettling it is that this guy is pissing his money away like this.

Really though, I don't know if I want to be in this position, because I'm almost certain his wife doesn't even know about it. When she called him, he made no mention of being out at the casino, he said he was, "hanging out with the guys tonight." (Which as all us men know, is code word for being somewhere or being with someone that you don't others to know about)

I don't really know if I should get involved in this, because I'm not his family, and while I'm his friend I wouldn't say we are great friends. Also, I don't want him to go bankrupt and end up on the streets.

Any advice here or even just similiar experiences would helpful.