My wife is a gambler.

It’s not a problem if you win, is it?

Peggy likes to play slot machines. There are no legal slot machines in Texas, so we make the three-hour drive to Lake Charles and go to L’Auberge du Lac. Sometimes we stay here on our way back and forth to Baton Rouge to visit our son or to attend events at LSU. And she plays. For hours.

This trip we went to Dallas to spend Easter with Peggy’s mother. After visiting with her we made the drive to Lake Charles to spend a couple of days and allow Peggy to relax. The weather is nice so we will spend time in the pool and have several nice meals. Then after dinner she will play penny slots while I entertain myself.

Here’s the thing. “Penny” slots aren’t. She is typically playing two dollars a pull. And on most spins she wins something, usually something less than two dollars. But every so often she wins more. So she keeps playing.

The casino has a rewards program. They give you a point for every $5 you bet while you are playing slots. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but if you sit there and keep playing you can accumulate some points. Peggy starts every night with $100. She plays until she gets tired or until she runs out of money.

In a year she has accumulated 15,000 points. Do the math — that means she has bet more than $75,000 this year. And because she has accumulated 15,000 points everything we do at the casino is free. The hotel rooms are free, the booze is free, and much of the food is free. Because she plays penny slots.

Sometimes she loses her $100. But usually she comes home with the same $100 she started with. Or more. And we stay at the hotel free.

I know there has to be a catch somewhere. But I haven’t found it. The hotel room would cost at least $300 for the weekend, but we get to stay here because, you know, she plays penny slots.

I have stopped trying to make the math work. I just stay in the pool.