Wednesday, August 04, 2004

When a Gambling Addict Sues a Casino

French casino hit by lawsuit

In the first lawsuit of its kind in France, a court is set to decide if a casino, the state, or the gambler himself is responsible for a gambler's addiction.

As reported on BBC's Crossing Continent's radio programme;
Jean-Philippe Bryk is 43-years-old with a wife and two children. In 1995 he entered his local casino for the first time, just for fun, and won 10,000 francs.
He returned three or four times and won 100,000 francs. He was hooked.
But then he started to lose.
"I spent about 4 to 5 million francs," he said

Byrk goes on to compare the feeling to that of a drug addict and his addiction as a 'cancer' and lays the blame entirely at the casino itself and the way they encourage the gambler by its VIP treatment and comps. He claims; "They drugged me"

As expected, the casino vehemently rejects his claims, stating that Byrk is "an adult of sound mind" and that "it is the responsibility of the player"

Naturally, a lawsuit of this kind could have enormous consequences for the French Gambling industry and could reverberate across the world. If a gambler could blame his addiction on a casino, where would the lawsuits end? Its like an alcoholic suing the pub or the brewery.

Clearly the casino didn't notice this gambler's problem - and that makes way for hundreds of arguments as to whether a casino should stop a player from gambling due to signs of addiction.

However, small things can help the process, - such as self-imposed player bans like those in the US - and even online. But ultimately, if a gambler walks into a casino - the minute money is put down, they can win or lose and its up to them to acknowledge when to walk out - or get help in doing so

posted by jo @ 8:00 PM   0 comments

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