The San Diego mayor who gambled $1 billion at casinos

If you've ever woken up after a night of poker regretting that awful decision to buy back in for another $20, then you may have a microscopic notion of what Maureen O'Connor is going through. The former mayor of San Diego gambled a staggering $1 billion in casinos across the country over the course of a decade, a betting marathon that came to light when she was charged with laundering $2 million from a charity founded by her late husband. O'Connor made an appearance in court this week, where she admitted to having an out-of-control gambling addiction. According to The New York Times:

All things considered, O'Connor didn't do too badly at video poker (her poison of choice), suffering a net loss of $13 million between 2000 and 2009. However, to keep fueling her gambling, she was forced to get rid of up to $50 million in assets — savings, belongings, and real estate — much of which had been bequeathed to her by her husband, Robert O. Peterson, who founded the popular Jack-in-the-Box burger chain. She partly blames a brain tumor, which she eventually had excised, for her bad decisions. "There are two Maureens — Maureen number one and Maureen number two," she said. "Maureen number two is the Maureen who did not know she had a tumor growing in her brain."

As part of a deal with prosecutors, O'Connor is expected to undergo treatment and pay back her husband's foundation.

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But that probably won't be the end of O'Connor's ordeal. As the Matt Damon's character says in the poker film Rounders: