Nepal king finds solace in online gambling

Nepal's King Gyanendra has turned to online gambling to console himself after a nationwide revolt that took away his hold on the government and the army. He's now spending much of his time on the Internet playing poker and blackjack.

The 60-year-old monarch is suffering from depression, fluctuating blood pressure and insomnia since the revolt. He plays online poker and blackjack until the early morning hours to take his mind off his troubles and avoid thinking about the impending election that could dethrone him.

Though the king engineered a coup last year to seize power, his actions since then have showed a lack of astuteness and business sense. The same seems to be applied to his online gambling as it's reported he uses an international credit card, entering the details online, to play which most credit card users avoid to prevent online fraud.

It's unknown how well the king does in his online gambling, but his late-night gaming sessions are costly none-the-less. The 900 palace empoyees are required to stay up as long as Gyanendra does in order to attend to him if he needs anything like coffee and water. courtesy of Sarah Polson

News Added: 26 July, 2006

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