Jean Scott, born Merla McCormick in 1938, is a retired teacher, an advantage player/comp hustler, and a gambling author who is best known for her 1998 book The Frugal Gambler.[1][2] The book features gambling advice for novice gamblers, including money management strategies and how to procure the best casino comps and discounts.

Scott was featured on 48 Hours as a successful video poker player in 1995, which showed her winning a Mercury Marquis car.[3] She has claimed to win over a million dollars at casino gambling as of 2006.[4]

Scott published a sequel to her first book, More Frugal Gambling in 2003. This book gives more details to help all levels of gamblers to lose less/win more. She went on to publish three more books in her Frugal Gambling series: Tax Help for Gamblers; Frugal Video Poker, a step-by-step guide to becoming a skilled VP player; and The Frugal Gambler Casino Guide (2017), which updates the information in the previous books to help gamblers adjust to the changing casino environment.[5]

Scott allowed the Las Vegas Review-Journal to shadow her and her husband, to shed light upon the casino lifestyle of Stephen Paddock, the American high-limit gambler,[6] fellow advantage player/comp hustler,[7] and mass murderer responsible for the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.[8] Scott was also profiled by her granddaughter Kaity Howard in a documentary Merla & Jean about the dual identities involved in being a public advantage gambler, which revealed her birth name to the public.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Joseph, Brian; Kane, Arthur (October 9, 2017). "Inside the Las Vegas shooter's gambling world". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  2. ^ Montero, David; Winton, Richard; Vives, Ruben. "In the solitary world of video poker, Stephen Paddock knew how to win. Until he didn't". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  3. ^ Cory (2019-12-15). "Parting words from 'Frugal Gambler' Jean Scott: Put the fun back in casinos". CDC Gaming Reports. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  4. ^ How She Made a Million Dollars Gambling in Casinos!, retrieved 2022-12-20
  5. ^ "Jean Scott". Goodreads Author Page.
  6. ^ Joseph, Brian; Kane, Arthur (October 9, 2017). "Inside the Las Vegas shooter's gambling world". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  7. ^ Montero, David; Winton, Richard; Vives, Ruben. "In the solitary world of video poker, Stephen Paddock knew how to win. Until he didn't". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  8. ^ Joseph, Brian; Kane, Arthur (October 9, 2017). "Inside the Las Vegas shooter's gambling world". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  9. ^ "Merla & Jean". Kaity Howard. 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
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