However, being asked about not only the actual mechanics of skilled play but also the psychological aspects led me to some serious thinking. I have always tried to stay pretty positive when I write about casino gambling, my goal to shine a light on the path that leads to better financial results. I started wondering if I had painted this journey with colors that were a little too bold or bright.

True I have mentioned the negatives.   I put the list of problem gambling danger signals in most all of my books. I have talked about the risks of playing above your bankroll. In my most recent book, The Frugal Gambler Casino Guide, I changed the emphasis from pure financial success to increased entertainment value.

But the change in the casino environment for the last few years has not been kind to skilled gamblers and many are having a hard time adjusting. I addressed this problem here in this blog over two years ago, with a 3-part series starting in my March 19, 2015 blog, continuing in Part 2  and Part 3.  Although I gave many coping options for gamblers at all levels, I especially was seeing the danger that might lie ahead for players who were mixing in not-as-good plays with their former best plays.

The advantage player knows the math, that the more under-100% plays they do, the more their profits on the over-100% will be diluted.  And they know that they will need a bigger and bigger financial bankroll as the non-advantage plays become a bigger percentage of their total play.  There can also be a psychological bankroll problem.  They may be used to short-term losses because they have always seen long-term success.  But if the average of their various plays is now under 100%, they might not be able to bear the pain of short-term losses with no hope of long-term financial success.

With so few available facts, there can be only speculation about the motivation of the Vegas shooter to turn to such extremely violent action on One October. There might have been mental-health factors that had nothing to do with money issues. If financial downturn was a factor, it might have been caused by failing real estate deals and/or risky speculation in other investments.

And yes, it could have been wholly or partly because there was no longer the opportunity for skillful high-level casino gambling with the accompanying luxurious comp life that he had been enjoying for many years. Skillful gamblers can be addicted gamblers. Their problem might not have manifested itself during the golden age of advantage casino gambling, when serious, hard-working, and well-bankrolled players who knew the math and could use it to their advantage, would be able to scramble and find plays that would allow them to achieve financial success.

This golden-age opportunity has been fairly quickly disappearing the last couple of years, to the dismay of players on all levels. All of us have had to made major adjustments, as I described in the 3-part series I mentioned earlier, “When Casinos Cut VP Benefits.”

Violent actions following a person’s major financial loss is not unheard of. There were stories of men jumping from their penthouse offices when the Great Depression hit. Sadly too often the news has to cover stories of individuals who lost a good job and then returned to shoot co-workers and/or bosses they blame. Many relatives will talk about a suicide of a family member and how he or she was depressed over recent financial struggles.

Most reactions to financial downturns do not end up in violence, and certainly not mass shootings. However, many consequences of problem gambling do have serious effects – broken marriages, splintered families, and painful lives and wasted talents.

It behooves us all to not shut our mind to possible negative consequences of our gambling. In this rapidly changing casino environment we will need to constantly re-evaluate our actions and perhaps make adjustments that will make us feel less stressed out and give us more inner peace– and maybe will make life better for the ones we love.