Problem Gambler Sues Casinos for Twenty Million

Experts on gambling law said it will be extremely difficult for Taveras to prove her case.

A self-described compulsive gambler has sued casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas for 420 million, claiming the casinos should have been aware of her problem and prevented her from losing the sums she did. High-profile attorney Arelia Margarita Taveras, who became well-known representing families of victims of the crash of American Airlines 587 into Queens, alledges she lost almost $1 million while on gambling binges in New Jersey.

Taveras lost her law practice, both her and her parents' homes, and still has IRS debts due. She says she would play for days without sleep and only candy bars for food. She used clients' escrow funds to feed her fixation, and has been disbarred and faces criminal charges as a result.

The racketeering lawsuit names Resorts Atlantic City, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, the Tropicana Casino Resort, the Showboat Casino Hotel, Bally's Atlantic City, as well as the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas as defendants in U.S. District Court in New Jersey. A judge dismissed the charges against all but the MGM and Resorts due to lack of detail in the complaint, but allowed a possibility for readmitting those charges if submitted more completely.

Taveras claims the casino knew she was playing on a jag, going four or five days without sleep, and had an obligation to care for her, by refusing service if necessary.

The president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, Joe Carbo, said employees have hours of training designed to help spot problem gamblers and get them to seek help. He also mentioned the state's voluntary self-exclusion list, through which an individual bars oneself for years or even permanently.

Experts on gambling law said it will be extremely difficult for Taveras to prove her case.

In March 2005, a supervisor at Resorts told her to slow down, repeatedly warned her to watch her limits, and suggested she self-exclude. She ignored the advice, and said she didn't have a problem. In June of the same year, a dealer at the casino told her to go home and call it quits for a while. By September, her play had escalated to where she was playing all the spots at the blackjack table so she could have the table exclusivley to herself. Resorts told her she could no longer play there unless she signed a waiver of liability. When she refused to sign, she was barred. She was later also barred from all Harrah's properties.

"Everybody says, `You gambled and you enjoyed yourself, then lost your money and now you want it back,' " Taveras said. "They think gambling is fun. It isn't, believe me. Not when you get like I did." 

Strange, because it sounds exactly like that; the casinos made many sincere efforts to help her, but she resisted and now she blames them. Similar to people who read the warning on cigarettes, smoke them anyway, and then blame the manufacturer?