# OC CA high roller sues Las Vegas casino, blaming his multimillion-dollar losses on a spiked drink does he have a case? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 16, 2023, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629 "2023-10-16T02:11:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/21 "2023-10-16T14:13:05Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > IIRC, you can completely eliminate the house’s edge in craps if you have a sufficient bank and bet in a certain way I’m skeptical - would like to hear the details of this. Note that the “sufficient bank” aspect may fail due to bet limits imposed at most (all?) tables. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/22 "2023-10-16T14:16:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The idea that him playing unskillfully would itself a) be evidence of impairment that b) a casino would be regulatorily required to act on, seems pretty fanciful. You’re allowed to be a rube in a casino. In fact it’s encouraged. Whether or not this guy usually plays skillfully isn’t the point. I don’t agree. He’s a regular player hosted by the casino, a whale making huge bets flown in on a private jet - definitely not a rube. The casino is always going to pay attention to what he’s doing. From my limited knowledge of casino games, such a player would never (say) hit on 20, a very stupid thing to do in blackjack. If he were making such obviously stupid plays repeatedly, throwing money away, I think there’s a strong case that the casino should have known something was wrong. Of course, many experienced gamblers will still mechanically play blackjack just fine when impaired, so I’m not suggesting that the reverse is true - that him playing normally would imply that he was definitely _not_ impaired. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/23 "2023-10-16T14:17:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Either way. Well, once again I left out a crucial word. “Not.” “Not because I played poor strategy.” I can play proper blackjack strategy even when quite impaired. But yes, I agree. Level of play is not correlated to sobriety for most people. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/24 "2023-10-16T14:39:53Z")
It’d be interesting to know details of the testing that supposedly showed ketamine. The story makes it sound like he was quickly tested after returning to California, while drugs reportedly take at least 5 days to show up in hair follicle testing. Were there any factors that are known to cause false positives? Was confirmatory testing done after the initial positive screen (i.e. GC/MS)? Was there complementary urine testing? [Theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo4L1xivF1E) for the thread. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/25 "2023-10-16T15:59:59Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > He filed the suit almost two years after the incident. Any reason given for that? Especially if he tested positive for ketamine right after the trip, why the long wait? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/26 "2023-10-16T16:08:19Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Which casino? I only make it out there once every few years, but that’s not something I’ve seen on the Strip or on Fremont. Apparently you can buy them at the casino and are able to use them at the table according to this: > **[Use A Blackjack Strategy Card At The Table · EDGe Vegas](https://www.edgevegas.com/use-a-blackjack-strategy-card-at-the-table/)** > > Use A Blackjack Strategy Card At The Table. Better gambling strategy gives you a better chance to win whether you're playing $5 hands or $500 hands. I almost never gamble, so I don’t know from personal experience, but I have heard this before (which, I know, doesn’t count for much.) This Reddit thread also agrees, but some posters say the gift shop cards are not 100% accurate, FWIW. It also says some casinos (without naming them) will give you one if you ask for it. [https://www.reddit.com/r/blackjack/comments/s97exp/can\_you\_bring\_a\_print\_out\_of\_basic\_strategy\_to\_a/](https://www.reddit.com/r/blackjack/comments/s97exp/can_you_bring_a_print_out_of_basic_strategy_to_a/) ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/27 "2023-10-16T16:26:09Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Of course, many experienced gamblers will still mechanically play blackjack just fine when impaired Anecdote time: autopilot can be strong with a algotrithm-based game like blackjack. Not long before my father slid into a catatonic state from MS-related dementia, my sister and I took him to Vegas at his request for a last blast. Woke up one morning to find that he’d slipped out of the room and gone missing. I found him at a blackjack table with a significantly higher limit than we’d all agreed he’d play. I asked im how he was doing and he said, “I’m up $5,000!” And if fact, he was. He hadn’t been able to figure out the total or the tip on the dinner check the night before, but he had blackjack strategy on lockdown still. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/28 "2023-10-16T16:39:18Z")
I’ve always heard that it’s ok to use a strategy card at the table, but in over 15 years of playing blackjack I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone do it. I wonder if there’s any stigma or anything associated with it. I’m taking my wife to Vegas in a few weeks and she’s never played blackjack before, so if there is no downside to it, I’d like her to have such a card in sight while she’s playing. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/29 "2023-10-16T16:43:03Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Any reason given for that? Especially if he tested positive for ketamine right after the trip, why the long wait? I dunno, I’m just reading the article linked in the OP. It does say > He filed a police report in Nevada and a complaint with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. so maybe he was waiting for the conclusion of a police and/or Gaming Board investigation. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/30 "2023-10-16T16:46:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Either way. The casino has no obligation to, and no reason to, consider how you play as part of an evaluation of sobriety. I would be willing to bet (ha!!) that the standard in Nevada for being too drunk to gamble is identical to the standard for being too drunk to be served booze - physical symptoms of intoxication. It’s probably all documented in SmartServe training. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/31 "2023-10-16T16:54:01Z")
Unless he can show that the casino spiked the drink, I don’t see how this situation would be all that different from someone who was impaired through alcohol. His behavior doesn’t seem all that different from someone who has been drinking. Since players get free drinks, it has to be a common situation that an inebriated player has had these kinds of credit increases and big losses. Do players who drink too much successfully sue the casino to recoup their losses? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/32 "2023-10-16T17:04:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > Either way. The casino has no obligation to, and no reason to, consider how you play as part of an evaluation of sobriety. > > I would be willing to bet (ha!!) that the standard in Nevada for being too drunk to gamble is identical to the standard for being too drunk to be served booze - physical symptoms of intoxication. It’s probably all documented in SmartServe training. I’d also bet you’re right. I know shit about bartending; I sit on the other side. Per something like SmartServe what constitutes “physical symptoms of intoxication”? Impairment starts with the first sip, and we all know bars are allowed to sell more than first sips. “Impaired” is not “intoxicated”. Of course the regulations we’re all talking about but haven’t read may well go into painful detail about the definitions they use. And there’s no guarantee the NV bartender regs and the NV casino regs use the same words to mean identically the same things. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/33 "2023-10-19T21:02:35Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Can I be from WIWI (Why Why)? > > Wautawaunee Inlet, Wisconsin Why not? ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629/34 "2023-10-25T05:51:16Z")
Nevermind [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oc-ca-high-roller-sues-las-vegas-casino-blaming-his-multimillion-dollar-losses-on-a-spiked-drink-does-he-have-a-case/991629.md?page=1)