Being a good gamb ler may not yield big profits. Consider the following:
SP could well have been an intelligent gambler who after years of mind numbing playing, figured out portions of the algorithms that generate the “random” (but not truly random) card hands on video poker machines. Like many such gamblers, he apparently had a strong preference for certain machines that he knew well.
This knowledge allows him to break even or even gives him a long term mathematical edge over the house if he plays the machine near perfectly for long periods of time. Then, there are dry periods, or periods spent trying to figure changes to the software.
But…. his edge is probably small (casinos are aware of people like this and switch out algorithms, get better ones etc. This forces hard core gamblers to relearn the algorithms). Let’s say his edge was 3%. He would need to funnel 1 million dollars through the machines to gain $30,000. 2 million for $60,000 etc. Though he was relatively wealthy, he may of not had the cash flow to really capitalize on his 3% edge.