Some analysts saw the decision to pull the plug on the government as the last roll of the dice for a life-long gambler who felt the trap closing in.
"They were professional conmen and life-long gamblers that's principally what they did with their lives," said Mr Gibbs.
That run was the essence of Miller, who has long taken a gambler's approach to skiing — willing to risk everything for high reward.
Once peace returned to Cambodia, they woke up to the fact that gambling there is legal as long as the gamblers are not Cambodians.
Although Sin City has long offered weary gamblers rock-bottom prices for a place to crash, the recession has driven down rates even more.
Not too long ago, lottery gamblers thought $1 million was a lot, but lately some lotteries have dropped games with such measly rewards.
But just a few hundred yards away, ignored by all the cameramen, a long line of gamblers was walking unconcernedly along wooden walkways to board a river boat casino.
Gamblers have long come to Macao, and their numbers are still increasing.
With their affinity for baccarat, the most lucrative game in Las Vegas, Chinese gamblers have long commanded special treatment — be it with private Chinese gaming salons, Lunar New Year festivities or performances from pop stars flown in from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
What Bonilla had in his hand was a gun — a tiny.22-calibre revolver that looked like the sort of gun that a gambler at the Long Branch Saloon might have pulled out of his sleeve when threatened by a cowhand he'd just fleeced.
Sather has long been considered a riverboat gambler by his peers during his Hall of Fame front-office career, but he said this week that he did not consider his hiring of Trottier much of a gamble, despite Trottier's lack of head coaching experience.
