Losing Gambler: I was Drunk

You fly into Las Vegas from your home in California. You have a couple of drinks in an airport lounge before heading to the Downtown Grand where you have a room booked for the weekend.

There you enjoy a couple of other drinks. By the time you start gambling, you have a real buzz working. In short, you are drunk.

The Downtown Grand is a new casino located just off Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas. I haven't visited the place yet, but from what I hear it is a luxury casino with great gambling facilities, nice pool, and all the amenities a visitor to Sin city could hope for.

Mark Johnston, a retiree from California, must have been impressed by the Downtown Grand and he was ready for action. The only problem is he was so intoxicated that he claims he didn't know what he was doing.

P.S. That includes borrowing $500,000 from the Downtown Grand to continue gambling after he lost his initial stake.

Johnston claims in his inebriated state; he asked the casino to extend his credit. To his amazement, they gave it to him -- to the tune of $500,000.

He also says the casino plied him with free drinks despite his intoxication. When he woke up from his hangover and realized what he had done, he contacted his attorney and sued the casino resort, claiming they took advantage of him while he was under the influence of alcohol. The casino has filed a counter-suit, claiming Johnston was the one at fault.

It's court cases like this that make a judge earn his salary.

Before I weigh in on Johnston's case, I have an admission to make: in the past during my drinking years; I often played over my head while drinking.

Yes, I went to the casino cage and tried to cash checks or get my credit extended. Sometimes I would get the credit, and sometimes the turned me down.

In my state of intoxication, at times I would get lucky and win. Other times Lady Luck would abandon me and I would find myself searching for gas money to get back to Phoenix or wherever I was living. Once a poker room supervisor out of the kindness of his heart gave me a $20 bill to fill the gas tank. I paid him back on my next trip to Las Vegas.

Oldtime gamblers are bound by a code of ethics that states you must cover your gambling debts. This holds true whether you have been drinking or lost your money stone cold sober.

It is curious to me that a new casino would extend that much credit to an obviously intoxicated customer. I mean, even the late Frank Sinatra would have trouble getting that much credit and old Blue Eyes could certainly cover his losses, however much they totaled.

Now I know people who have joined Alcoholics Anonymous for reasons of much less consequence than talking a casino into advancing them half a million dollars in credit. I am not saying that Johnston is an alcoholic, but maybe -- just maybe -- he should look into his drinking habits.

And maybe, just maybe, the management at the Downtown Casino should re-investigate its own policies regarding the granting of credit -- especially when it involves a gambler who has locked horns with Demon Rum.