the story of Modris, a seventeen-year-old who, though he seems at first glance no different from the rest of the teenagers in his small Latvian town, has already developed a debilitating addiction to slot machines. His obsession fuels an ongoing conflict with his mother, who can't stop reminding Modris that his father is incarcerated, irresponsible, no good to anyone, and surely the source of the bad genes that have led Modris astray.