Stop Predatory Gambling: Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock was not a “professional gambler”

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Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock was not a “professional gambler”

 Featured Updates, Investigative Journalism, Online Gambling, Regional Casinos

The facts coming out of Las Vegas are becoming clearer every day that the Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock had a serious gambling addiction. But virtually no one has said it publicly. Read the latest New York Times reporting on his gambling behavior. It was the center of his life.

The powerful corporate gambling operators in Las Vegas have a lot to lose if Paddock is revealed as a gambling addict. No credible gambling addiction expert unaffiliated with gambling operators (and their funding) would describe him as a “responsible gambler.” ‘Responsible gambling’ is little more than a marketing slogan made up by commercialized gambling operators and their partners. Its intent is to place the spotlight on the citizen and shield their predatory and fraudulent business practices.

The mass media continues to use terms like “professional gambler” when describing Paddock. While he may have even said that about himself, he was not a professional gambler.

No professional gambler uses slot machines and video poker machines like Paddock did. The machines create the allusion of skill, but you’re playing against the house, which means you’re mathematically guaranteed to lose all of your money the longer you play them. Once you press the button on the machine, there is no skill involved. The computer inside the machine decides whether you lose or win.

The Times story has a concise description of how the machines work:

“There are no opponents. There is no bluffing or worrying about competitors’ hands. Five virtual cards are drawn from a 52-card virtual deck- instantly on the video screen- and players decide which ones to “hold” or keep, and which ones to exchange for new cards. Players calculate the possibilities remaining in the 47 other virtual cards.”

Paddock was playing hundreds of hands per hour (about one hand every six seconds) for many hours straight. Over and over again.

The business model of casinos is based on people like Paddock losing over and over again. While he may have won occasionally, it’s a statistical certainty that he lost the longer and more frequently he played.

While it’s uncommon for the millions of American citizens who’ve become addicted to electronic gambling machines to become mass shooters, it is very common for them to harm themselves and others close to them (often in the form of domestic violence.) 

http://www.stoppredatorygambling.org/las-vegas-shooter-stephen-paddock-was-not-a-professional-gambler/