Is Snoke a gambler? (maybe some light spoilers)

Before I say anything else, I want to be the first person to acknowledge that this theory is way out there. Maybe it's not way out there in plausibility or mysticism but, since Rebels and some of the hints we've gotten in the new cannon books are heading the mystical way, it's way out there in terms of a likely plot. Still, it's sort of interesting and there are some facts to back it up.So, is Snoke a gambler? And, more importantly, does Snoke own the casino world Canto Bight?You can jump right to my almost no evidence at the bottom after the line break. Or you can read the whole thing to set the tone.Snoke is old. We don't know if he's a species we've seen before or if he's associated with or is the force out in the Unknown Regions. Either way, he knows a lot about the Force; enough to instruct Kylo Ren and, according to Wookiepedia, at least one other apprentice in the ways of both light and dark.Snoke is rambling around in the Unknown Regions. Life here hasn't quite organized itself in the same way as life closer to the Galactic Core. Maybe it's the random fluctuations of energy that course through the area or maybe many small, random differences influenced each other to create the landscape he called home. Either way, he had become a master of the Force and could bend what life surrounded him to his will.The unrest coreward called to him. There lay a milieu of sentients who traded, gambled, fought, allied, and played politic with each other. Here, he could put his powers to the test. Fail or flourish, it was a welcome reprieve from the boredom of the Unknown Regions.Snoke arrived on Nar Shadda, a bustling hub where even someone of his strange form could pass without being questioned. He learned his way around sabacc, holo-chess, binspo, and all other games of chance and skill he came by. Snoke would pressure himself to become at least a formidable player at each game before allowing himself to alter the odds with subtle nudges from the Force. In this way, he knew exactly when to use the Force and when to hold back. At this time, the Jedi were still a peacekeeping force in the galaxy and people strong in the Force, though rare, were a group any self-respecting casino or card shark would keep an eye out for.In time, the high he rode from his small winnings on The Smuggler's Moon began to deflate. Snoke needed something bigger, something with a higher payout and a deadlier penalty. He arrived on Canto Bight and set to work on his old strategy. He found himself clothed in garish gold robes and rubbing elbows with - and taking chips from - the galaxy's elite and powerful. A gracious but hard-fought loss to a Republic senator one day might lead to an invitation to a much more high-stakes game the next. And, thus, Snoke found his entrance to the world of politics.Winning fantastic sums and befriending the right people only got him so far. He needed to climb the ladder from playboy to tycoon. He purchased one of Canto Bight's smaller casinos with his winnings, nearly going broke. The move paid out, however, and he soon owned an entire sector.Canto Bight's casino owners had always kept each other in check. When one became too powerful, the other families would ally to knock them down a peg and redistribute the accumulated wealth and tech. This predatory socialism ensured Canto Bight's success in relation to other gambling worlds, but prevented one family from exercising total control. Snoke's Force-augmented senses allowed him to detect the early assassination plots of the allied Canto Bight families. His reflexes and conditioning ensured head-on attacks were likewise unsuccessful. He coerced and bought the soldiers who survived his counter attacks into his service and concocted his own machinations against the Canto Bight families. In a few short years, Canto Bight was Snoke's and Snoke's alone.He took to projecting his image to his underlings and visitors to hide himself from recognition. Not only did he not want to be recognized from his early days on Nar Shadda but he wanted to avoid public scrutiny into his origins. Around this time, the Empire was on rocky ground. Snoke's contacts in the doomed senate told him as much and he saw a new game forming on the galactic holo-chess table. He quietly sent aid to the Rebellion, desperately wanting the current players to leave the table, but leave some of their cards in play.He directly manipulated Yupe Tashu's Acolytes of the Beyond, and possibly Luke Skywalker's Jedi students, into the Knights of Ren. The Knights served as his hands in the galaxy and forced issues where his knowledge of New Republic events, gained through spying eyes and ears on Canto Bight, could not. Snoke also traveled back to his home in the Unknown Regions where he revealed himself as a brilliant tactician to Sloane and Hux.When we last see Snoke in The Force Awakens, he's maneuvering the First Order into all-out war with the New Republic. He's unconcerned about the losses sustained by the First Order because he's planned this game well; no matter which side wins, so does he.Here's the paltry amount of evidence I've accumulated.Look at this fancy dude. He totally dresses like a casino playboy.Rian Johnson said that he wanted this part of the Star Wars world to be a little James Bond-ish. Well, why does Bond ever go to a casino? To meet up with the big bad or the slightly under big bad of the movie. In Casino Royale, Bond plays poker against Le Chiffre. In GoldenEye, he plays baccarat with Xenia Onatopp. So, if Johnson is really creating a Bond-style event in Star Wars, the big bad will be at the casino. Since we've only seen him in hologram form, he could be anyone. Even Benicio del Toro's DJ character.In Looper, written and directed by Rian Johnson, the Rainmaker worked himself up from humble beginnings by using his special powers (TK instead of the Force) and either took out or took over the 5 gangs using looper technology. It's a sort of similar idea.We know Snoke has a preference for Kylo because he uses both sides of the Force. This makes sense because Snoke wouldn't be beholden to the Sith/Jedi dichotomy that pervades the Galactic Core. He can think more freely because no one has created arbitrary rules for him to follow. In my scenario, Snoke isn't fighting for total control, like the Sith, or loving altruism, like the Jedi. He's just bored and doing as a grey Force user might. via /r/StarWars http://ift.tt/2uygo2f