Top lawyer launches m casino lawsuit

Author: Simon Dexter

An ambitious lawyer and TV commentator who started taking trips to Atlantic City to unwind is taking legal action against seven casinos to recoup her losses, as they failed to notice she had a problem and then ban her.

Arelia Taveras was given five-star treatment and even allowed to take her dog to the tables, but her gambling consumed her so much she said she spent days on end at the tables, she didn’t eat or sleep and used disposables wipes so she wouldn’t have to get up.

Ms Taveras, who lost almost million (£530,000) has not given up on the possibility of beating the ‘house’ though as she has filed a million racketeering lawsuit in federal court against six Atlantic City casinos and one in Las Vegas.

“They knew I was going for days without eating or sleeping,” Ms Taveras said. “I would pass out at the tables. They had a duty of care to me. Nobody in their right mind would gamble for four or five straight days without sleeping.”

The 37-year-old, who was named as one of ‘21 New Yorkers to Watch in the 21st century’ by the New York Daily News in 2000, lost her practice of 400 clients, her home and that of her parents, owes over £30,000 to the taxman and now works in a call centre in Minnesota.

“It’s like crack, only gambling is worse than crack because it’s mental,” Ms Taveras said of her problem. “It creeps up on you, the impulse. It’s a sickness.”

Her lawsuit names Resorts Atlantic City, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Tropicana Casino Resort, Showboat Casino Hotel, Bally’s Atlantic City and MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Joe Corbo, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, said casino workers were trained to identify problem gamblers, while there is a self-inclusion list that people can be asked to be put on if they consider themselves to be ‘at risk’ from high stakes gambling.

“It comes down to an individual’s personal responsibility,” Corbo said. “We can only suggest that they receive assistance, but it is up to them to commit to seek it.”

Whether Ms Taveras is able to pull off what appears to be a long shot remains to be seen as Paul O’Gara, a lawyer specialising in Atlantic City gambling issues, believes it would be difficult for anyone to prove that the casinos blatantly ignored Ms Taveras’ problem.

“How are you supposed to know whether this was a woman who was just having a good time, or had money and was just lonely, as opposed to someone who couldn’t control themselves?” he said.

Ms Taveras, who spent a year in clinics to overcome her addiction, refutes the suggestion her action is a case of sour grapes.

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