Born in the wrong country, at the wrong time or in the wrong family. The ever complaining Romanian will always be eager to take chances or - to put it the other way - will always think he / she has not had the chance to do this and that. This happens, of course, while one’s neighbour that has a better paid job is a lucky bastard and his status is only linked to the amount of pot luck he has had at breakfast. With a saying going that ‘merg la bal sau la spital’ (En. approx. ‘I shall either win or lose everything’), Romanians love luck games: betting, playing cards, slot machines, all in a country where life is not what one makes of it, but the will of God, the Devil, John Doe, the Patriarch, the President (that’s a top fav disregarding of who is president), or anyway of someone untouchable the invariably impoverished Romanian should kiss the feet of or heartly curse every now and then.
Simply crossing Bucharest or a few other large cities in the country, one cannot but notice the many casino this and that commercials and venues. From the fancy options downtown, located in period properties or top end hotels and all the way to the plethora of shop-like venues spread in residential districts, casinos abound and at a certain moment Bucharest ranked third in a classification of cities by the number of registered casinos. While that is arguably true, the city has its share of venues selling bonds to Chance. Slot games, sport betting and brand casinos are busy day and night in the same city where smartly dressed people complain about their low or rather insufficient income upon returning home with a dozen bags of shoes, perfumes and the like every other weekend.
Betting starts early in Romania. Back in the 2 hour per day TV times (the 1980s), it was the ‘liniuța’ or ‘barbut’, luck games children would play at school on the pocket money their parents used to give them. Dice and cards followed suit. Slot games were a popular luxury only to be found in seaside resorts back then, so there was no wonder that they boomed in the 1990s are are still very popular especially for the young and presumably too fearful to go farther. People in their 20s or 30s will go for more serious (and pulsating) things like sport (mostly football, of course) betting. At the same time, the loteries (lottery shops) are busy especially when a major jackpot 6/49 draw is to happen; just look for the Loteria Română commercials and queues. Then, once one has got enough experience there, the blackjack or poker table is there for the daring just like drinking is for the poor (that would not be so poor provided they stopped drinking). And it is, you have got it I hope, the chance that is to blame for one’s (invariably) bad luck while losing or... not winning enough.
While betting is not my cup of tea and Romanians appreciate more the social impact of their actions than these actions themselves, I think it is more fair to the society and to oneself to gamble online like the people at Party Poker do than to spend nights smoking (one’s or others’) cigarettes and taking odds at life. Not to mention that the Palladium VIP Membership does not require limos or the typical escort gir... hooker attached to one’s arm when going gambling.
