Ode to Gambling. The life and demise of a gambler. Perhaps the best story about gambling. It’s an easy read. I definitely recommend it to understand what it’s about. During the reading, two questions arose. 1. Why did Russians gamble so much in Europe? It feels like gambling was prohibited in Russia. 2. Money is constantly mentioned, but what did these sums mean back then and today? 100,000 talers, florens. I can imagine a sum of 100,000 rubles lost by a grandmother. According to “Poor Folk,” a clerk earned about 30 rubles per month, totaling 360 rubles per year. Thus, 100,000 rubles is a huge sum! Just imagine how many years this clerk would have to work for such an amount! ~278 years!!!

Finished: January 2023

Rating: 10