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According to the initial story, Bennett had to draw on a $1.4 million line of credit at one point to cover losses.

I'm not an expert on gambling, but from what I understand about slot machines, it would be pretty difficult to recover from a $1.4 million deficit.

Bennett claimed that he came out pretty close to even overall.

Dear Ken H,

The authors of the smear pieces have told a few different versions of their stories in different settings, and gone on to repudiate some of the things they have said in other settings. One of the authors admitted that the $8 million was the "handle", not net losses, in a television interview, then repudiated his own interview only a short time later. They have been fuzzy in their presentation of the facts. If one didn't know better, one might think that they were deliberately twisting the facts to make the story more sensational.

But I, for one, know better. It is more likely that the two journalists involved are merely stupid. My own experience is that journalists and "communications majors" and similar twisted creatures often are innumerate. That is, they are mathematically-illiterate. I wouldn't rely on interpretations of liberal slime journalists, especially when it comes to things that require knowing how to add, subtract, multiply, or divide.

To lose $8 million via video slots would require gambling literally tens and tens of milliions of dollars. At $500 per throw, it would require a level of participation on the part of Dr. Bennett not acknowledged by Dr. Bennett, nor alleged by the criminals who wrote the articles. If he had been spending the time required to lose $8 million, that would have been the headline: "Bill Bennett in casinos 24/7/365".

As to coming close to break even, because the video slots are set up to return between 92 cents and 98.5 cents on the dollar, it is likely that the amount of money lost over the course of ten years is a fraction of $8 million. Net losses are almost certainly under $1 million, and more likely in the range of a few hundred thousand dollars. Which over ten years, winds up as some tens of thousands of dollars per year of losses. For a guy who gets $50K per speech.

But the evil-doers who smeared Dr. Bennett are relying on the fact that most people will be unable to decipher the facts from their shoddy accounts, and will assume the worst about Dr. Bennett. In this, they have proven largely correct.

sitetest

According to the initial story, Bennett had to draw on a $1.4 million line of credit at one point to cover losses.

I don't remember reading THAT bit of info. That initial story was a hit piece that was filled with innuendo and personal opinions.

I'd still like to know who in the casinos in Nevada broke the code of silence followed by all the casinos to protect their 'players'. If that person is ever identified, I think his name is gonna be MUD in Las Vegas or Atlantic City!