we are aware he was gambling. reporter: a retiree, he was living off real estate investments and had long been betting big money at casinos. he was a big fish at the atlantis in reno. reporter: eric paddock, stephen s brother witnessed just how big of a gambler stephen was when they visited the atlantis casino resort and spa in reno. it s in the record. my family, he brought us to vegas or reno and we took over the whole top floor of the atlantis hotel. this is how he was. this is the kind of gambler he was. reporter: but he has also been spotted at high roller events in las vegas according to vegas insider anthony curtis. how much do you have to spend nobody that category? it s interesting. the high roller strata is different for different places. but when you re talking about the sort of places that paddock played, you ve got to be a really, really big better. he was playing 25 denomination