The Gambler Who Blew $127 Million

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125996714714577317.html

by cwan • 17 years ago

16 19 17 years ago

online.wsj.com

raheemm• 17 years ago

Guy gambles away $127 million and turns around to sue the casinos - only in America!

brent• 17 years ago

I don't think gamblers suing casinos for millions lost is purely an American phenomenon. There have been similar cases (perhaps a less substantial magnitude) in at least France, England, Australia, and South Korea.

ct• 17 years ago

No sympathy for him.

gojomo3• 17 years ago

Some people have persistent decisionmaking flaws that make them engage in compulsive, self-destructive behavior. Sometimes these bad decisions cascade in a self-reinforcing cycle -- as with intoxication and intoxicant addictions.

Are these people fair game for however much profit can be extracted as they self-destruct? Should competing firms race to break them first?

brandnewlow• 17 years ago

A lot of businesses make their money by making it as easy as possible or those people to make these sorts of bad decisions. Video poker in bars?

Confusion2• 17 years ago

You are wrongly assuming you are immune to this kind of lapse. A friend of mine was recently admitted to a psychiatric institution, while there has been no previous indication whatsoever that she wasn't completely sane. Being addicted is being halfway there: you have lost the capacity to think in a sane, self-preserving, way. Everyone faces that risk and I would damn well like if people helped me when that happened.

Someone like Watanabe should be helped, instead of abusing his shortcomings. Everyone that allowed him to continue gambling is morally responsible. What would you have done if it was a friend? Your father? That is the criterion you should use to judge these cases.

jasonlbaptiste• 17 years ago

haha, he's the heir to oriental trading. that's a lot of noise makers down the drain.

MikeCapone• 17 years ago

And he's now facing up to 28 years in jail. Way to blow it, dude.

lionhearted• 17 years ago

Found this the most interesting part of the article:

> Nevada treats unpaid gambling debt as a criminal matter handled by the District Attorney's bad-checks unit. Most defendants agree to pay the debt through a payment plan before charges are filed, with around 10% tacked on to fund the D.A. unit. Clark County, which encompasses Las Vegas, prosecutes roughly 200 cases involving gambling debts a month, says Bernie Zadrowski, who runs the bad-checks unit.

Unpaid gambling debts seems like it'd be a civil matter to me - pretty crazy that it's criminal, and defendants pay an additional 10% to the state on top of it.

kalid• 17 years ago

That is quite amazing that it wouldn't be treated in civil court or as a bankruptcy -- I wonder how many senators had to be bought to make that happen :).

gojomo3• 17 years ago

Gambling is a such giant part of the Nevada economy, it's not even necessary to "buy" legislators in any backroom way -- voters and legislators can internalize casino preferences because they all prosper together.

ryanwaggoner2• 17 years ago

Agreed, just came here to post that. What's particularly amazing is that the casino might not actually be out any money, depending on what you were playing. In any other state, you can borrow $1000 from a bank, burn it, and then face the consequences to your credit score, bankruptcy, etc. But apparently in Nevada, if I borrow $1000 from the casino, pour it down their slot machines, and then walk out without paying, they can have me prosecuted and jailed, even though they got their $1000 back. Bizarre.

sokoloff2• 17 years ago

If you lent me $1000, and then offered me a fair coin flip for $1000, would the fact that you "won" the coin flip and I stiffed you for the $1000 I borrowed be adequate consolation?

If so, can I borrow $1000 and do you have a quarter on you?

gojomo3• 17 years ago

Casinos are an actuarial business. The relevant number is the weighted sum over all possible outcomes -- or similarly, the sum over all customers offered the same terms.

So the casino is definitely "out the money" in your situation, because at some other table, they offered the eaxct same deal, aad there, the other customer won $1800, paid back the $1000, and walked out with $800. If the casino can't collect from the person who lost, their loan couldn't have been offered in the first place.

dantheman• 17 years ago

I found it interesting that the wynn decided that he was on a self destructive path and decided to ban him from their casino:

> In 2006, Mr. Watanabe resided primarily at Wynn Resorts' Wynn Las Vegas casino. But, he says, his heavy betting drew the attention of Chief Executive Steve Wynn. After meeting with him in June 2007, Mr. Wynn concluded that he was a compulsive gambler and alcoholic, and barred him from the casino, according to a letter to the Nevada Gaming Control Board drafted by Mr. Watanabe's attorney, Pierce O'Donnell.

> Ms. Jones, the Harrah's vice president, says, "It was not our understanding that he was kicked out of Wynn because of problem gambling."

Whereas at Caesars:

>Mr. Kunder and Mr. Deleon say they both voiced concerns to managers that Mr. Watanabe was too intoxicated, and were told not to get involved. "Nobody wanted to be the one to cut him off," Mr. Kunder says. "We were afraid of what upper management would do if he left because of our actions."

I think that its the moral responsibility for any company to not sell products that harm their customers; they should refuse to do business with those who are throwing their life away. Now this is not a legal responsibility, but merely doing what is ethical.

For instance: 1. Bar or Package Store that refuses to sell alcohol to alcoholics 2. McDonalds refuses to sell unhealthy foods to the morbidly obese 3. Firearm dealer refuses to sell weapons to the suicidal.

Also, can credit be extended to an intoxicated person? Do they have footage of when the credit was extended?

ryanwaggoner2• 17 years ago

Sadly, in our society, that's often not possible. McDonald's would almost certainly face class action litigation in your 2nd example.

The Gambler Who Blew $127 Million

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