The Gambler

"The Gambler" is a science fiction novelette published in 2008 by Paolo Bacigalupi. It was nominated for the 2009 Nebula Award for Best Novelette and the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. Plot summary “The Gambler,” written by Paolo Bacigalupi, is a science fiction novelette focusing on a young news reporter that is struggling to adapt to the fast-paced American culture. After the pretender monarch Khamsing completely burglarized the entire country of Laos, forming the New Lao Kingdom, Laos, otherwise referred to throughout the story as “the black hole,” went into shambles. Concluding that their son should not be in such a chaotic and violent monarchy, his parents shipped him over to Los Angeles, where he became a news reporter at Milestone Media. The company's maelstrom, called LiveTrack IV, is supposed to be tremendously significant to the world of media. Livetrack IV tracks media user data such as Web site, feed, VOD, audio stream, and TV broadcast. Unfortunately for Ong, Milestone Media primarily infatuates itself with the popularity of their company. The number of click-throughs, page views, social-pokes, and ad revenue a story accumulates are precisely what Janice Mbutu, Milestone's managing director, is looking for. She emphasizes the significance of happy, fun, and pleasant reports from her staff. This inaugurates a crucial dilemma for Ong, who enjoys more serious and idealistic topics to write about, involving areas pertaining to politics, government, and environment. When Janice sees that Ong is amassing less than a thousand pings on his byline feed on average, she threatens to terminate him if he does not start accumulating at least fifty thousand pings daily. Marty, a top notch worker who generates an incredible number of readers, clicks and amount of ad dollars by formulating the story about a Russian cowboy rapper who is accused of impregnating a fourteen-year-old, speculates that Ong is on the verge of termination, and makes him a proposition. Marty offers him to interview Kulaap, an Asian pop sensation residing from Laos, whom Omg admire. Obviously, Ong agrees to take the job. When Ong is introduced to her, she is not what he expected. She seems almost entirely Americanized. He becomes even more astonished when she bluntly criticizes the questions Ong asks her during the interview.