And you thought YOU had a Gambling Probrem..

[Risk44]

Man with $14.7 million in gambling debts pleads not guilty
May 24, 2009

Nebraska philanthropist Terrance K. Watanabe pleaded not guilty Wednesday to felony charges of theft and passing bad checks in connection with $14.7 million in gambling debts.

Watanabe, 52, made the plea during an arraignment in justice court.

Earlier this week through his Las Vegas attorney, David Chesnoff, Watanabe accused Caesars Palace and the Rio, both Harrah's properties, of plying him with alcohol and, at Caesars Palace, prescription painkillers as his losses mounted.

Watanabe, whose wealth comes from the Omaha-based Oriental Trading Co., has said he was kept in a constant state of intoxication by resort employees in the late months of 2007, which is a violation of state gaming regulations.

Nevada gaming regulations prohibit casinos from allowing "visibly intoxicated" players to continue to gamble.

Watanabe's court apperance lasted only minutes and his attorney did most of the talking. Watanabe spoke only to say he understood the charges against him, to spell his name and to enter his plea.

He left the Regional Justice Center flanked by his attorneys and a woman identified as his sister. Watanabe faces the possibility of probation or up to 16 years in prison if convicted.

In 2007, he lost $112 million at Harrah's casinos, including $94.1 million at Caesars Palace and $12.2 million at the Rio, Chesnoff has said. With the exception of the $14.7 million in dispute, all of that money was paid back to the casinos through wire transfers, Chesnoff said.

A Watanabe attorney declined to comment on the case Wednesday, referring to a statement he released days ago about the case.

Trial is scheduled for Nov. 16.
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[Risk44]

Published Wednesday May 20, 2009
Casino kept Watanabe incoherent, lawyer says
BY LYNN SAFRANEK
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER



Why did former Omaha businessman Terry Watanabe lose more than $14 million at Las Vegas casinos?




Terrance “Terry’’ Watanabe at a court appearance in February.His attorney told prosecutors that the casinos kept him so drunk and medicated that Watanabe frequently stumbled into doors, fell asleep at gambling tables and generally became more reckless with his gambling.

As Watanabe prepares to plead not guilty to theft and bad-check charges this afternoon in Las Vegas, court records reveal that casino employees will come to Watanabe's defense, describing how other Caesars Palace employees refused to cut off Watanabe from drinking, supplied him with prescription painkillers and allowed him to continue gambling despite his incoherence.

A personal security guard assigned to protect Watanabe for up to 30 hours a week will say that he "does not recall ever seeing Mr. Watanabe in a sober state," according to the filing by Watanabe's attorney.

Casino spokesman Gary Thompson said he could not comment on the case. But he said Nevada law and casino policy call for cutting off intoxicated people.

Watanabe, former head of the Omaha-based Oriental Trading Co., is known as a generous contributor to Omaha-area nonprofit groups.

The details about his demeanor while gambling were revealed in letter from Watanabe's attorney, David Chesnoff, to a Clark County, Nev., prosecutor. The letter was entered into evidence during grand jury proceedings.

The grand jury indicted Watanabe on four felony charges: two counts of theft and two counts of issuing a check with insufficient funds. He posted $1.5 million bail in February and, if convicted, faces the possibility of up to 16 years in prison.

Watanabe, 52, is accused of signing more than 30 "markers" - or counter checks agreeing to drafts from his bank account - at Caesars Palace and the Rio from October to December 2007. The casinos, both owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc., requested that criminal charges be filed because the loans were not repaid.

In Nevada, unpaid casino debts can be prosecuted as bad checks. Prosecutors must prove, however, that Watanabe intended to defraud the casino.

The allegations in Chesnoff's letter signal that the defense will claim that Watanabe had no such intent. Watanabe is portrayed in the document as consistently and increasingly intoxicated, particularly when the offenses are alleged to have occurred.

Chesnoff, who has represented celebrity clients such as Britney Spears and Suge Knight, released a statement on behalf of Watanabe saying he expects that the charges will be dismissed.

"He did not, among other things, have the requisite intent to commit the alleged crimes," the statement says.

A top Nevada gambling regulator said that defense is not unusual. Gamblers often drink free and sometimes allege that casinos use alcohol to gain an edge.

"If there are regulatory issues that are complained of by the alleged victim, we will investigate," said Jerry Markling, enforcement chief of the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

In Watanabe's case, he was allowed to continue gambling while intoxicated, even after passing out at gambling tables, according to two Caesars Palace employees and a roulette dealer at the Red Rock Casino who befriended Watanabe. Their accounts are detailed in Chesnoff's letter.

The roulette dealer recalled asking waitresses at Caesars Palace to water down Watanabe's drinks. They refused, responding, "Whatever he wants, he gets," the dealer said.

Watanabe was a good customer to the casino.

During the grand jury proceedings, casino cashiers testified that Watanabe was issued millions of dollars in markers. Watanabe was considered a big player, a "whale," in the words of one cashier.

According to Chesnoff's letter, Watanabe in 2007 paid off markers totaling more than $70 million at Caesars Palace and the Rio.

The letter says two Caesars Palace employees saw other employees providing Watanabe with Lortab, a painkiller that made Watanabe "visibly clouded," particularly when combined with alcohol.

In one instance, a security guard delivered a children's candy box containing Lortab to Watanabe's hotel room.

A different time, a note was posted on Watanabe's hotel room door saying that "pills" had been delivered and that Watanabe should call if he needed more. The person with Watanabe understood that "pills" meant Lortab.

When intoxicated, Watanabe's speech would become unintelligible, and he had trouble walking, the letter says.

Another security guard at Caesars Palace, a former Marine who served three tours in Iraq, sought help, although when isn't specified in the letter.

He took Watanabe to inpatient rehabilitation for alcohol, drug and gambling addictions, saying he believed that Watanabe was a "lost cause."

Watanabe, however, completed the program successfully

 

[JohnnyMac]

Well, I guess his philanthropic endeavors are $112M light.

 

[TKE683]

That is the same defense the guy who used to own the Eagles tried, now he lives in a one-bedroom apartment.

 

[ScottL]

No actually he's lived in a coffin since 2003.

 

[punter]

If they just would of let his credit line slide a few days he would have won it all back.

 

[SayHeyKid]

I hate stiffs....

 

[Rickey-B-Rickey]

That is the same defense the guy who used to own the Eagles tried, now he lives in a one-bedroom apartment.

Paid for by his old buddy Dick Vermiel I believe.

 

[SpreadOffense]

Idiot.

 

[mrcrash]

Seems like a fun guy to hang with and he is not really a stiff since he paid almost all he owed.

 

[5teamparlay]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/11/24/Loser_Says_Caesars_Kept_Him_Doped_Up.htm

Tuesday, November 24, 2009Last Update: 10:29 AM PT


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Loser Says Caesars Kept Him Doped Up


By CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT
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LAS VEGAS (CN) - A Nebraska man has countersued Caesars Palace, claiming the Harrah's Entertainment gambling joint gave him alcohol and a prescription painkiller, for which he had no prescription, getting him so high he lost millions of dollars.
Terry Watanabe, 52, acknowledges he racked up nearly $15 million in debt playing roulette and the slots at Caesars Palace in 2007. But he says the casino preyed on his obvious addiction to gambling, alcohol and painkillers, and kept him high on Lortab, a synthetic opiate, for which he did not have a prescription, and whose effects are intensified by alcohol. He says the casino kept him under constant surveillance, not for his own good, but so they would not lose him as a sucker.
In his complaint in Clark County Court, Watanabe says he has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges after the casino reported him to the Clark County District Attorney's Bad Checks Unit.
He says Caesars Palace failed to tell the DA that they had an agreement that his markers would not be due for 60 days.
He countersued for breach of contract, negligence and conspiracy by Harrah's Entertainment and Caesars Palace.
He also sued the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, another Harrah's casino, where he says he lived and gambled before he moved to Caesar's Palace.
Watanabe says he got rich through a direct marketing company selling novelties and party items. He came to Las Vegas in 2006 and began a nonstop gambling spree at the casinos, where he had huge losses.
Watanabe said he was splitting his time between the Rio and the Wynn Las Vegas in November 2006. He says he decided to become a professional gambler and relied solely on gaming for his income.
Watanabe says he moved to the Rio in early 2007 because Harrah's executives offered him better comps and perks than those he was getting at the Wynn.
Shortly after moving to the Rio, Watanabe says, Harrah's executives moved him to Caesars Palace, where he gambled "essentially nonstop" and "spent nearly all of his time either on the casino floor or in his hotel room," according to the complaint.
Watanabe says the casino kept him under constant surveillance, not as a security measure, "but to control his every movement, ensuring that he remained on the premises and gambling steadily at Caesars Palace and/or other Harrah's properties."
In April 2007, he says, Harrah's changed the terms of his comps without notice, "to Harrah's own advantage and Watanabe's significant disadvantage."
Watanabe says he went on an astronomical losing streak that totaled millions of dollars by the autumn of 2007. He says he was clearly a gambling addict and alcoholic, "frequently [gambling] for days in a row with little interruption or sleep."
Watanabe says the casino provided him "with a non-stop supply of alcohol and prescription pain killers," Lortab, though he had no prescription for the drug.
He says the casino also raised his table limits higher than other patrons', which "further exacerbated Watanabe's noticeably reckless gambling."
Finally, Watanabe says, despite his agreement with Harrah's executives that his markers would not be presented for payment before 60 days, casino executives presented the markers to his bank for payment in January 2008, before the grace period expired.
He claims Caesars Palace and Rio employees "took the liberty of arbitrarily filling in missing dates [and] filled in bank account information, selecting for themselves from which of Watanabe's bank accounts the funds would be drawn."
The bank did not know of the 60-day agreement and paid what markers it could with available funds, Watanabe says. His complaint adds that he was out of country at the time and had no idea it was happening.
Watanabe says he has filed a complaint with the Nevada Gaming Control Board in which he says he bet more than $820 million at the Rio and Caesars Palace in 2007.
He says Harrah's and Caesars management knowingly exploited his obvious gambling addiction.
He seeks declaratory relief, including adjudication of his marker debts, and payment for any uncredited comps offered by the Harrah's agreement.
He is represented by Pierce O'Donnell of Los Angeles.




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[Redagger029]

Unbelievable!! hno:




.

 

[ThePharmacist+]

Damnn, that man has a lot of debt!