Judge tosses out gambler’s suit against casino company

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004 | 10:50 a.m.

A federal judge in Las Vegas Wednesday has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a high roller who claimed that casino giant Park Place Entertainment Corp. cheated him out of millions of dollars that he had actually won.

The suit constitutes an abrupt reversal of fortune for gambler Steve Mattes, who won an unprecedented $8 million jury verdict in December 2002 against Park Place, now Caesars Entertainment Inc. U.S. District Court Judge James Mahan threw out the verdict a few months later, ruling that it was flawed and not supported by evidence, and ordered a new trial that was scheduled to begin in September of this year.

Caesars Entertainment filed a motion to dismiss the case outright in August and pressed the court to consider it in advance of a trial.

The verdict shocked the industry because it was thought to be the first time a gambler had successfully pursued a fraud charge against a Las Vegas casino. The trial attracted notice from casino insiders and led to an investigation by state gaming regulators into claims that the company lied to Mattes and stole money that was rightfully his.

Regulators haven't pursued a case against Caesars after completing a regular audit of the company's books and finding no wrongdoing.

Caesars spokesman Robert Stewart said the company is "glad that the facts prevailed" and that the ruling "is a vindication of the position that Caesars Entertainment has taken all along."

"Mr. Mattes was treated fairly and honestly by all of our employees," Stewart said. "His allegation of fraud was a cynical attempt to win back in the courts what he legitimately had lost at the tables."

Mattes' Reno-based attorney, Kevin Mirch, said Mattes and other high rollers have been ripped off in Las Vegas and will never gamble there again. Gaming regulators don't do anything to stop it, he said.

"Las Vegas has a dirty secret and the dirty secret is that it forges markers," he said. It's like that ad, 'What happens in Las Vegas stays there."'

He said he hasn't decided whether to appeal the decision.

Bill Bible, president of the Nevada Resort Association, could not be reached for comment by press time this morning to respond to claims against Las Vegas casinos.

According to Mahan's ruling, any other issues related to the accuracy of Caesars' record-keeping procedures must be taken up with the state Gaming Control Board.

After the verdict was overturned, Mattes filed a second suit in state court, adding the state Gaming Control Board and Caesars' auditor Deloitte & Touche to the complaint. State regulators were dropped from the complaint and that case was stayed pending the outcome of the federal suit.

The suit was originally filed in California, in Los Angeles County Superior Court in December 1999, but was eventually moved to federal court in Las Vegas. It centers on a four-day gambling spree by Mattes during opening weekend of Caesars' Paris Las Vegas resort in September 1999. Mattes was invited by a casino host to gamble on a $2 million line of credit.

Mattes claimed Park Place breached a contract with him by refusing to extend him more credit after he blew through the $2 million in addition to earlier gambling winnings. Mattes asked the casino to stop payment on a check for gambling winnings earned during an earlier trip to Bally's Las Vegas. The casino stopped payment but refused to allow Mattes to gamble further at Paris, instead ushering him to the Las Vegas Hilton, another Park Place property at the time.

Mattes claimed he had been granted a "revolving line of credit" and should have been given an opportunity to win back the money he had lost gambling. He said his relationship with Caesars constituted a "business contract."

The loss of an opportunity to gamble doesn't equal damages in a court of law, Caesars argued in court.

"A century of jurisprudence holds that gaming damages -- i.e., those arising from claims that a defendant's conduct prevented a gambler to continue