Man Sues Vegas Casino For Letting Him Lose $500K On The Super Bowl While Blacked Out

Ashley Schaeffer BMW11 years ago

Mark Johnston lost $500,000 at the relatively new Downtown Grand casino in Las Vegas during this year’s Super Bowl. Presumably, he picked Peyton and the Broncos thinking it would be a tight game, only to have his heart broken by the trouncing the Seahawks handed down. Funny thing is, Johnston probably can’t tell you who he took in Super Bowl XLVIII, because he was BLACKED OUT when he wagered away half a million dollars.

Now, clearly a heavy hitter with a bankroll sturdy enough to retain a good legal counsel (I mean, he had access to $500K to gamble away in the first place) Johnston is going after the Downtown Grand with a lawsuit, attempting to recoup his losses.

From My News 3:

Johnston, who says he had too much to drink before wagering that money, says the resort should not have let him gamble.

Gaming regulations stipulate a casino can be disciplined for allowing a visibly drunk person to gamble.

Johnston says while he doesn’t expect any sympathy from others, he still feels wronged.

“I feel like they picked my pockets,” he said. “I feel like they took a drunk guy . . . like a drunk guy walking down the street, and you reach in his pockets and grab all his money.”

Drinking and gambling: what a heralded American pastime!

But seriously, if the casino employed me, I’d call bullshit on Johnston. Regardless of how imbibed you are, I’m going to argue that any decisions made are completely valid, as long as you retain the capacity to make them and physically follow through with them–which Johnston clearly did in making the wager.

It’s like making a drunken bet with a best friend when you are both hammered at 2 a.m.–by all costs, you must follow through, even if it involves doing something incredibly embarrassing while sober at a later point. As long as you go through the motions in making the wager, you need to take responsibility to carry out the motions that see said wager through. It’s just one of those unwritten principles of life.

In my opinion, Johnston’s lawsuit here says, “I’m too big of a pussy is to accept I lost so much money, so regardless of my BAC, I’m going to play the technicality card. I just can’t look myself in the mirror. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t, because my wife threw me out.”

I really want to think Johnston is a high roller, scoffing over what is really play money. But, in the event that maybe he did get more obliterated than he’d ever been in his life only to liquidate his entire 401(k) to put on the game, maybe I’d feel for him then.

Interestingly enough, Mike Florio weighed in on the story with Dan Patrick on his radio show yesterday, saying Johnston may very well have a case here. Casinos, just like bars, are responsible for not over serving their patrons, and they need to face the repercussions of over serving should a situation arise.

Here’s the clip:

Hopefully that security footage of Johnston in action makes it to the Internet. That stuff is probably YouTube gold. The degenerate gambler in me is definitely keeping my ears open for the verdict here–it could set a great precedent that I’ll hopefully never have to resort to.

[via My News 3]