I think two things triggered this:

1) Suffered massive losses at the slots and it became overwhelming

2) Mental illness due to years of playing slots/video poker. It is just not a natural lifestyle to sit in front of a slot machine every day. There were stories he went into places absolutely hammered, such as getting a haircut, so he had severe addiction issues beyond just gambling

My guess is he just lost his mind after going on a prolonged losing streak. There have been no stories of anyone trying to claim his assets, so my guess is we was completely broke and likely riddled with credit card debt.