Stop Predatory Gambling

The government program like no other

by spgadmin

The Las Vegas Sun reported yet another lawsuit has been filed involving Harrah’s for its unparalleled predatory business practices. Christian Peterson, a 41-year old Wisconsin business owner, has testified that Harrah’s pressured him into signing a $3.45 million loan- known as a “marker” in predatory gambling parlance- despite knowing he was a problem gambler. Grand jury testimony indicates that Harrah’s furnished Peterson a jet for transportation to-and-from Las Vegas in April 2008. Peterson says that about 45 minutes into his flight home on April 22, 2008, a flight attendant informed Peterson the jet would be returning to Las Vegas for an emergency landing due to mechanical difficulties. Upon arrival in Las Vegas, Peterson was greeted by a Harrah’s representative who told him he had to sign a casino marker before he could leave on the company jet.

Peterson’s case comes on the heels of two other high profile lawsuits involving Harrah’s predatory business practices. One case involves Terrance Watanabe who lost $127 million in one year. According to a story in The Wall Street Journal, a Harrah’s employee said Watanabe often appeared incoherent and had trouble remembering details of conversations. Other employees recall Mr. Watanabe stumbling around and dozing off at casino tables, some of which were located next to a nightclub blaring loud music.

Another lawsuit presently before the Indiana Supreme Court involves Jenny Kephart, a woman who went to a Harrah’s owned casino in Indiana and lost $125,000 in credit provided by the casino, money lent to her after Kephart had already lost at least $8,000 of her own money the same night. “They knew I had money, and they went after it,” Kephart said, who attributed her gambling addiction to her former job as a dealer in the mid-1990s. Since that time she estimated that she’d gambled away at least $900,000.

What other business in America is allowed to use these kinds of predatory practices? The only reason it survives is because our government has partnered with casino operators and is receiving a cut of the gambling losses. It is a government program like no other.