Latest Atlantic City casino suicide was a Sands dealer, police say

John Curran

Thursday, April 6, 2000 | 10:48 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Distraught gamblers aren't the only ones who resort to suicide at casinos. Sometimes, even dealers do it.

Thanh Nguyen, 50, a craps dealer at the Sands Hotel Casino, was identified Wednesday as the man who killed himself by jumping from a casino parking garage Tuesday.

He was the second casino dealer to commit suicide that way in the last eight months. On Aug. 23, Caesars Atlantic City Hotel Casino dealer Sy Souvannavong, 28, of Galloway Township, plunged from that casino's parking garage.

Nguyen, of Ventnor, had worked at the Sands since emigrating from Saigon 10 years ago. Married, with four adult children, he was described as a quiet family man with no known troubles at home or on the job.

"Honestly, I don't know what happened," said his son-in-law, Sy Dang, 30. "Inside the family, he had no problem. It's a very lovely family. We're shocked. We don't know what happened."

According to police, Nguyen went to the ninth floor of the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino parking garage and jumped to his death about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. He died at the scene.

No suicide note was left. Police weren't saying what drove Nguyen to it, or if they knew.

"We just usually try to speak to the family and find out if there was any depression or any history, but we wouldn't release that information. We're satisfied that it is a suicide, though," said Sgt. Michael Tullio, a police spokesman.

A fellow dealer at the Sands who knew Nguyen described him as a quiet man and a good worker. He didn't gamble, according to the woman, who did not want her name published.

"We were really surprised," she said.

Whether he gambled or not, working as a casino dealer is a high-pressure job, according to one expert.

"Dealers certainly have a very difficult job," said Marvin Steinberg, a psychologist who heads the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling. "They are required to provide friendly, good customer service and they deal directly with people who are often not happy with the results of their gambling. Sometimes, customers are pretty nasty, especially if they're drinking and they're losing."

Dang, the son-in-law, said Nguyen sometimes complained about work.

"Sometimes, he'd complain about what was happening on the job, about where he worked at and the people," Dang said. He would not elaborate.

Sands officials declined comment on the suicide Wednesday.

In August, three people killed themselves by leaping from casino buildings here in an eight-day period.

In addition to the Caesars dealer, a gambler who had lost $87,000 at the tables jumped off a Trump Plaza roof and a German tourist died after leaping from the Resorts Atlantic City parking garage.