We’ve heard of lads blowing their money but this is just beyond belief.
A court case in Australia this week has brought to light what has to be the craziest, and saddest, gambling story we have seen in a long time.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Gold Coast property developer Harry Kakavas was treated as the ‘highest of high rollers’ by Crown Casino in Melbourne and he is suing them to try and recoup some of his losses, claiming they took advantage of his ‘special disability’.
The report explains that Kakavas lost almost $1.5billion Australian dollars, about €1.2b, in the casino between June 2005 and August 2006.
It seems he favoured baccarat, so was able to lose huge sums really quickly, such as the day in May 2006 when he lost an eye-watering $146million, around €115m, in just five-and-a-half hours.
His bid to get $20m back has so far been rejected in the Victoria courts so he is now in Australian High Court.
His legal team accuse the casino of taking ‘unconscionable advantage’ of a man diagnosed with pathological gambling.
The casino allowed him to bet $300,000 per hand and even drove him to the bank so he could withdraw $1m on one occasion.
As the say, the case continues, and the implications of a ruling in his favour could be very interesting.
Hat-tip to TheConMurphy for alerting us to this.
