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Monday 25 January 2010
Addict who wagered $2b loses case against casino
A compulsive gambler who wagered close to A$1.5 billion (S$1.9 billion) during a 16-month betting spree lost his lawsuit against Australia’s largest casino, when a judge ruled yesterday that he was not exploited.
MELBOURNE: A compulsive gambler who wagered close to A$1.5 billion (S$1.9 billion) during a 16-month betting spree lost his lawsuit against Australia’s largest casino, when a judge ruled yesterday that he was not exploited.
High-flying property developer Harry Kakavas claimed Melbourne’s Crown Casino facilitated his pathological betting, despite knowing he had a problem that was so severe he had already been banned from one establishment.
Mr. Kakavas, 42, whom police had barred from entering Sydney’s Star City casino, had sued Crown, claiming it ‘lured’ him with gifts and free flights on a private jet to bring him to Melbourne.
But Judge David Harper ruled that the casino had not preyed on the baccarat-loving Mr. Kakavas and ordered him to repay A$1 million in debts.
‘He was not a person so helplessly entrapped by his love of cards that he found it impossible to resist Crown’s attentions,’ the judge told the Victorian Supreme Court.
‘He was the highest of this country’s high rollers,’ he added.
‘He enjoyed some spectacular wins. In the end, however, he lost all he won, and more.’
The judge said Mr. Kakavas never suggested he was incapable of maintaining his high-roller status and had been unable to produce evidence that the casino had conspired to exploit him.
‘Crown had no conception of Mr. Kakavas as suffering from any kind of relevant disadvantage.’
Mr. Kakavas was a prolific gambler who had tried his luck in Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Macau and the Bahamas, the judge noted.
His lawyers had argued that the Sydney exclusion order should have been enforced Australia-wide by the casino authorities, including Crown.
Instead, his defence said, the Melbourne casino knowingly offered to fly him to the city on at least 14 occasions, and left him gift boxes of A$50,000 in ‘lucky money’ on the private jet to help him gamble.
During a period of 16 months in 2005 and 2006, he allegedly turned over A$1.5 billion, and was allowed to bet single hands of A$300,000.
He was eventually banned from Crown after blowing more than
A$2 million on the card tables in just 43 minutes in August 2006.
Mr. Kakavas lost a total of A$30 million, and sued Crown and its executives for about A$20.5 million.
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Addict who wagered $2b loses case against casino
AFP
09 December 2009
MELBOURNE: A compulsive gambler who wagered close to A$1.5 billion (S$1.9 billion) during a 16-month betting spree lost his lawsuit against Australia’s largest casino, when a judge ruled yesterday that he was not exploited.
High-flying property developer Harry Kakavas claimed Melbourne’s Crown Casino facilitated his pathological betting, despite knowing he had a problem that was so severe he had already been banned from one establishment.
Mr. Kakavas, 42, whom police had barred from entering Sydney’s Star City casino, had sued Crown, claiming it ‘lured’ him with gifts and free flights on a private jet to bring him to Melbourne.
But Judge David Harper ruled that the casino had not preyed on the baccarat-loving Mr. Kakavas and ordered him to repay A$1 million in debts.
‘He was not a person so helplessly entrapped by his love of cards that he found it impossible to resist Crown’s attentions,’ the judge told the Victorian Supreme Court.
‘He was the highest of this country’s high rollers,’ he added.
‘He enjoyed some spectacular wins. In the end, however, he lost all he won, and more.’
The judge said Mr. Kakavas never suggested he was incapable of maintaining his high-roller status and had been unable to produce evidence that the casino had conspired to exploit him.
‘Crown had no conception of Mr. Kakavas as suffering from any kind of relevant disadvantage.’
Mr. Kakavas was a prolific gambler who had tried his luck in Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Macau and the Bahamas, the judge noted.
His lawyers had argued that the Sydney exclusion order should have been enforced Australia-wide by the casino authorities, including Crown.
Instead, his defence said, the Melbourne casino knowingly offered to fly him to the city on at least 14 occasions, and left him gift boxes of A$50,000 in ‘lucky money’ on the private jet to help him gamble.
During a period of 16 months in 2005 and 2006, he allegedly turned over A$1.5 billion, and was allowed to bet single hands of A$300,000.
He was eventually banned from Crown after blowing more than
A$2 million on the card tables in just 43 minutes in August 2006.
Mr. Kakavas lost a total of A$30 million, and sued Crown and its executives for about A$20.5 million.
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