Terry Watanabe: Deal Cut in Vegas Gambling Lawsuit
Written by Roger S | Monday, July 12th, 2010
One of the most highly controversial cases involving gambling in the United States came to an abrupt end last week after both sides agreed to drop lawsuits against one another following a deal reached between the parties.
The story involved Omaha businessman and philanthropist, Terry Watanabe who was charged by Harrah’s Entertainment for failing to pay a debt worth $14.75 million. The gambling giant claimed that Watanabe ran up these debts while playing at casinos in Las Vegas and that they were not paid back.
Watanabe, as a counter attack, charged that Harrah’s Entertainment had supplied him with liquor and prescription painkillers and, as a result, he had lost tens of millions dollars. In a civil suit filed against Harrah’s, it was claimed that the former owner of Oriental Trading Company lost close to $200 million.
The charges against Watanabe may have seen him receive a prison sentence of up to 28 years, and clearly nobody wanted to see this happen.
With the trial set to begin next week, the court was suddenly informed that the sides had reached an agreement and Watanabe agreed to drop the lawsuits against Harrah’s. The gambling group agreed to freeze counterclaims.
The case has renewed the call for legislation to deal with issue of alcohol and gambling.
“They should consider coming out with a policy that when a certain amount of money has been lost, a casino can no longer serve alcohol at the table,” said Professor of Public Administration, Bill Thompson, who studied gambling for over three decades.
Referring to the Watanabe case, Thompson said: “In this case, the amount of money lost was so extreme that the casino had to be on notice that the gambler did not have full control.”
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· Written by Roger S · Filed Under Poker News · Comments Off
