"The Gambler" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a short novel completed in 1866. Set in a German casino town, it follows Alexei Ivanovich, a young tutor working for an indebted Russian family awaiting a wealthy relative's death. Hopelessly in love with his employer's stepdaughter Polina, Alexei becomes drawn into the intoxicating world of roulette. The novel reflects Dostoyevsky's own struggles with gambling addiction, capturing the fevered psychology of risk, obsession, and the desperate pursuit of fortune at the gaming tables.