he's...a monster!

Priscus made a couple of quick flourishes with his blade before sheathing it and returning to his waiting room.

While several thousand Lanistas in attendance were thrilled at the performance, many more were frantically trying to cancel their bets.

The unfortunate thing for them was that the betting house had a 100% finality policy. This means that once a bet is made, it can never be unmade by anyone for any reason. 

Not even the imminent bankruptcy or death of the debtor could sway them. If you made a bet and lost...that was that.

Priscus of course was aware of this, his own father had run up substantial debts in the betting houses before his death. This was one of the many reasons the Ludus was in such dire straights when he first took over.