Are casinos obligated to prevent compulsive gamblers from betting? That was the question a federal judge in New Jersey was recently tasked with answering, who ultimately decided that there was no legal burden on casinos to deny problem gamblers a wager.
The ruling came after a New Jersey resident, who according to his lawyer was addicted to gambling, sued Borgata Casino and its parent company. MGM Resorts. Sam Antar said the casino continued to send him gambling offers despite being aware of his problems.
Antar made more than 100,000 bets totaling $30 million over the course of nine months in 2019, and estimated he lost “at least by six figures.”
There is no law against taking bets
Despite the myriad of rules and regulations, U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox ruled that New Jersey’s laws do not prohibit casinos from accepting bets from compulsive gamblers.
Its ruling noted that the Garden State’s gambling law “broadly regulates the responsibilities of casinos as they relate to compulsive gamblers, but is notably silent on whether casinos or online gambling platforms may incentivize people who present compulsive gambling behavior to patronize their businesses.”
Cox also noted two previous cases in which a compulsive gambler and a drunk person sued casinos in an attempt to recover losses, but to no avail. Similar efforts have been ignored in other states as well, according to the Associated Press.
Antar is the nephew of Eddie Antar, the founder of the Crazy Eddie electronics chain in the 1970s and 1980s who was convicted of defrauding investors of $74 million and later spent nearly two years in federal prison.
Nevada has seen a similar lawsuit in recent months. In October, a high-stakes blackjack player filed a lawsuit against him MGM for $75 million after claiming his drink was tainted. He claimed that someone had put ketamine in his cocktail.
