>How do you earn enough money to whale a Mika in 3 days?
>Consider the fact that you've already spent all of your remaining money and have exactly zero balance in your wallet. What do you do?
>The first thing that comes to mind is borrowing money. But if you're a friendless loser, that's not possible. So the second option is to go to loansharks. Very reasonable, yes. But the problem is that loansharks is that their rates are absolutely fucked and you know it's almost impossible to pay them back.
>So the only option left was to gamble. Loan the money, gamble it, and win enough to pay your debts immediately while having enough money to roll for a Mika. It was the only path left.
>Of course, there are drawbacks. If you loan from a reputable place, all you'll get is a jail sentence. But if you loan from more... questionable peoples, the price you need to pay is a lot more damning. But you did get good money. Good money that can be used to get Mika and save our lives. It's an all-or-nothing gamble.
>I had an old college friend hook me up to one. Desperate people come to the guy, there's lots of them here in this little hellhole. Made a deal that I was allowed to borrow money in exchange for helping with an operation of theirs in Borneo if I couldn't pay back. I was never told what's there. I was planning on running away if I couldn't pay them back, but you know how it goes when you try to pull that shit. At that time I probably wasn't in the right mindset, since I was so desperate. I had to win Mika. A promise is a promise, and there was no option not to roll for her. And for that, money was needed. Clinging to the blade of a knife was the only choice.
>Now, you've got your base money. Congratulations. You spent a day on that venture. The next step is growing that money. Remember, you need to have enough to pay back (I borrowed with a 10% interest rate, and was given three months to settle) and enough money to roll for mika. Which was triple the amount I borrowed. Finding a gambling den in this shithole that would deal with the large amounts of money I had was hard. Almost impossible, since I didn't know enough rich people for it. So I kept asking around.
>Did I find it? Yup. Fucking poker. There are actually people who play high stakes poker here. I fucking hate poker, what a fucking retarded ass game. But the rules are simple. And the rates are high enough.
>If I was playing defensively, it would be easy. But I needed to triple it. And my opponents were all old people and strange housewives.
>There was probably no chance of winning. Hell, even cheating was kinda hard. I could pull it off in tong its, but poker was different.
>My tip if you do play poker betting on your life: do NOT tilt. DO NOT FUCKING TILT. If you tilt it's literally over. Just play the natural game and get the natural win.
>...and then?
>I messed up--- at first. I've had experience playing poker, but not with high stakes. When you're betting your life, everything feels wrong. It's like, you know one mistake will drag you to hell. You can't fuck up, so you scrutinize every smile and every hand you have, but it's impossible. You will fuck up. Those hands will never stop trembling. Your eyes will feel hot. Everything feels blank, and you'll stop to wonder what the fuck are you doing with your life.
>But... you'll cross a line somewhere. A line of "fuck it, we ball". A point of no return, almost like being drunk. You know you're gonna fuck up, but who cares? So just enjoy the game. Just have fun. Isn't gambling fun? This was the life! Let the endorphins rush to your mind as you gamble everything for the sake of winning. There was no need for cheating. Just a pure love of gambling, of chances and probabilities. The future and the past disappears, and you're left with you and a simple push-or-fold decision. The thrill of risk, the thrill of reward.
>At some point, I reached that state.
>Do you know the gripping feeling of getting an iishanten yakuman? And then that wonderful blade sound giving you YAKUMAN READY? Do you know of that feeling, of winning that yakuman you worked so hard to build? Sacrificing cheap wins, skipping rons? Holding that smile, as you slowly draw tiles for the sake of a giant moment of triumph? Do you know that feeling when you see that fucking tsumo button?
>Yeah I fucking do. I absolutely fucking do.
>I'm never doing that again.