Court finds credit card Internet gaming debt enforceable

Doug Simpson

Friday, Nov. 22, 2002 | 9:44 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- Two gamblers who lost a combined $17,000 to online casinos cannot avoid paying their debts by blaming credit card companies, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

Larry Thompson and Lawrence Bradley filed a class action lawsuit in 2000 against Visa, MasterCard and the banks that issued their cards, arguing the institutions were guilty of racketeering for engaging in a worldwide illegal gambling system. Thompson and Bradley also sued the operators of the unnamed online casinos.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court's dismissal of the lawsuit, ruling Thursday that Thompson and Bradley failed to prove the companies engaged in racketeering when they allowed gamblers to use the cards on the gambling sites.

Thompson and Bradley "got exactly what they bargained for -- gambling 'chips' with which they could place wagers," the panel wrote.

Using a MasterCard, Thompson bought gambling credit at two online casinos and lost $1,510. Bradley used a Visa and lost $7,048.

In their suit, Thompson and Bradley said the banks and credit card companies showed "a pattern of racketeering and/or the unlawful collection of unlawful debt." They sought damages and a judgment saying their gambling debts were illegal and unenforceable.

Named in the lawsuit were the credit card companies, and Fleet Bank of Rhode Island and Travelers Bank USA.