MELBOURNE (AFP) - - A compulsive Australian gambler banned from
Sydney's casino blew more than two million dollars (1.5 million US)
on the card tables in a neighbouring state in just 43 minutes, a
court heard.
High-flying property developer Harry Kakavas is suing Melbourne
city's Crown Casino in the Supreme Court of Victoria for
facilitating his pathological betting, despite knowing he had a
problem.
Kakavas, 42, was banned by Sydney police from attending the
local Star City Casino and he claims the exclusion order should
have been enforced Australia-wide, national newswire AAP
reported.
Instead, his lawyers said rival casino Crown knowingly offered
to fly Kakavas to Melbourne on at least 14 occasions and left him
gift boxes of 50,000 dollars in "lucky money" on the private jet to
help him gamble.
During a period of 16 months in 2005 and 2006 Kakavas allegedly
turned over 1.5 billion dollars, and was allowed to bet single
hands of 300,000 dollars, AAP reported.
He lost a total of 30 million dollars, and is suing Crown and
its executives for about 20.5 million, AAP said.
Crown's lawyer Neil Young said Kakavas was eventually banned
from gambling at the casino in August 2006 after losing two million
in 43 minutes at the baccarat table.
But he rejected claims that Crown had attempted to take
advantage of Kakavas.
"There was no effort in any sense of the word to lure Mr Kakavas
to Crown," Young said.
If Crown is found to have breached the Casino Control Act by
allowing Kakavas to gamble it could also be liable to pay 700
million dollars in illegally-paid winnings to the Victorian state
government.
The case continues.
--AFP
