In Vegas and other gambling venues, they speak of "whales" — customers who come in and wager huge sums of cash at the gaming tables. Casinos have been known to do extraordinary things in terms of gifts and personal services to keep such players coming back…especially if they're the kind of whales who consistently lose.
This article details some of what the Harrah's organization did for a gent named Terrance Watanabe, who managed to lose a shocking $5 million dollars at their casinos. That's an awful lot of money, right?
Well, I left off the end of that sentence. He lost $5 million dollars a day. His total losings came to more than $127 million.
And when I hear a total like that, I always think something like the following: At some point, this man had lost $10 million…and he kept on playing because he thought, "My luck has got to change soon." And then at $20 million, he thought, "My luck has got to change soon." And then at $30 million…
Mr. Wantanabe has paid nearly $112 million but he's refusing to pay the last $14.7, insisting the casino got him drunk and kept him that way, and also that they reneged on a promise to forgive some of his losses. He's being threatened with up to 28 years in prison and is being represented by lawyer Pierce O'Donnell. I presume this is the same Pierce O'Donnell who won the famous Art Buchwald lawsuit against Paramount Pictures and who more recently has won some major victories on behalf of victims of Hurricane Katrina. I think I'm gonna follow this case.