[JaggerFoo]

$3 Million vs cost to repair/rebuild casino with a five story crater - which was the better choice economically?

They would've caught the guy eventually, so they may have been able to recover some of the ransom.

[tsycho]

Fair point, but the other part of the game theory equation is deterrence - by paying the ransom, you might encourage others to copy the crime, even if many of them get eventually caught.

[bombcar]

Word gets out you paid a $3m ransom for a bomb and bombs start appearing everywhere.