Former high roller Terry Watanabe is accusing Harrahâs of some serious funny business in Las Vegas. In what may be the nastiest spat since the days when Vegas handled disputes outside of courtâif you get my meaningâWatanabe has filed a lawsuit accusing the casino giant of plying him with alcohol and prescription drugs in an attempt to keep him gambling. In the end, he says he lost more than $100 million. Watanabe made his money with his father in the import/export business, running Oriental Trading Co. in Omaha, Nebraska. He sold the company in 2000 and became known as a philanthropist, with a taste for gambling. By 2006, Watanabe says he was actually living at the Wynn in Vegas, but moved to Harrahâs properties, including Caesars Palace, after being offered better comps. Those comps included a three bedroom palazzo, 15 percent cash back on monthly table losses of $500,000 or greater, and $12,500 transportation reimbursement, a $3 million line of credit, and even tickets to a Rolling Stones concert. Perhaps most importantly, evidence submitted in court shows the casino company promised to wait 60 days before cashing in markers. During much of 2007, Watanabe spent ânearly all of his time either on the casino floor or in his hotel room at Caesars Palace,â the lawsuit says. He had access to private slot machines and gaming tables. Then things went bad. âWatanabeâs losses escalated astronomically in the fall of 2007, just as his level of intoxication was reaching its most extreme,â the lawsuit states. âHarrahâs responded not only by increasing his credit limit and providing him with a non-stop supply of alcohol and prescription pain killers, but also by increasing his table limits beyond those available to other patrons.â Watanabe claims the pain killers were Lortab, which Harrahâs staff allegedly gave to him after he hurt his back slipping at one of its properties. It is against Nevada law for a casino to knowingly let a gambling addict play, especially one who appears incapacitated. Watanabe claims he would gamble for several days in a row âwith little interruption of sleepâ¦Harrahâs executives and employees knew or should have knownâ¦that Watanabe was rapidly running out of money.â The suit says he would be so drunk and sleep deprived âthat at times he became unconscious at his private gaming tables or slot machines.â Why is Watanabe filing the lawsuit now? This week he was scheduled to go on trial for writing $14.75 million in bad checks at Harrahâs properties. The company had him arrested earlier this year in what prosecutors call Sin Cityâs largest bad check case. Watanabe could face 16 years in prison if convicted, but he alleges Harrahâs lied on police reports, claiming it had the right to call in markers earlier than 60 days. The trial has been postponed until next year. In a letter to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, Watanabe claims he suffered a net loss of $112 million at Caesars and the Rio, accounting for six percent of all of Harrahâs revenues in Vegas, and 20 percent of volume at the two casinos. âSenior management was highly incentivized to keep milking Mr. Watanabeâliterally for all he was worth,â his attorneys say in a letter to the board, âbecause they were negotiating the sale of Harrahâs to a major investment firm. The higher the earnings, the more they would receive for the sale, and the more they would garner for their stock options.â Theyâre asking the board to initiate a formal proceeding against the company which could put its gaming license in jeopardy. Harrah's tells CNBC that it cannot comment on pending litigation, and a spokesman says he had yet to see the lawsuit. In a letter last August, the company's attorneys warned that Watanabe and his attorneys âwill face an action for abuse of processâ if they sue. The lawsuit comes as Harrahâs reported a $1.6 billion loss in the third quarter, mostly due to a writedown after the company was taken private by Apollo and TPG at the height of the market, with the help of CalPERS. How much is Watanabe still worth? His team is keeping that information confidential. That team is led by Los Angeles based attorney Pierce OâDonnell, who this week won a federal case which blamed the Army Corps of Engineers for the damage caused to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. OâDonnell may have his work cut out for him, convincing a jury that Watanabe should not be held responsible for his own losses. But his argument is that Harrahâs management had one motive: âto harvest the wealth from a mega-whale whom the casino ruthlessly allowed/encouraged to continue playing while incompetent and incoherent.â http://www.cnbc.com/id/34054105
Video http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1337326045&play= Watanabe gambled $825 million in 2007 for a net loss of $112 million. 6% of Harrah's Las Vegas revenue. He had a credit line of $17 million at one point. He bounced $14.75 million in bad checks. Faces 16 years in prison. LOL What a life!!!!!
This is what casinos do...it's their business to milk customers for all they're worth... This degenerate gambler is trying to blame others for his addiction...I seriously hope he does not win.
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I know ticketprices are getting out of control, but for 100 million I think you can still get 4 or 5 cheaper RS tickets if you get in line early... Seriously, the casino should have hired a PI and figure out when the guy runs out of money. Putting him in jail for writting a bad check is just bad advertisement, after all they made enough money out of him, and probably they can be held accountable...
guy sounds like the average hard core chinese gambling addict with above average wealth. I'm sure the court will throw this out.
No question he will win this, time to short the casino!! They knowingly let him play while intoxicated------ sick!--- they are going to lose big time on the suit.