The story sucks to be honest. First of all because of the percentage you mention, but is there that much difference between $5,000 and $27,000? If he had said that $5,000 got him $500,000, it would seem to me to be a considerable difference.
And besides, it was the only way he could get that $22,000 difference? I don't know, maybe taking a loan to invest in his company would have made more sense.
this is also what crossed my mind, getting luck on gambling that smith did at the casino in my opinion it was a natural thing but if it was invested in his own company it would not have a big impact especially if it was for the recovery of his company which was on the verge of bankruptcy. unless he gets a big loan to invest in his company, at least I think this makes a lot of sense.
Regardless of the topic of this thread I agree that casinos can change a person's destiny regardless of being poor or earning really big money.