Usually in Nevada a casino client who appears to have been drinking too much will be refused more alcohol by the casino. However a Californian businessman, Mark Johnston is suing a Nevada casino because he alleges that he was served several drinks and not prevented from gambling when he visited the Downtown Grand Casino on the 30th of January.
Mark Johnston who has a motor and a real estate business says that he readily admits that he had already had some drinks before he got to the casino but that during the seventeen hours that he spent in the Downtown Grand Casino he was served twenty more alcoholic drinks. Since under Nevada law, clients who appear to be inebriated while gambling should not be served more alcohol, part of Mark Johnston’s case against the casino rests on the fact that he was so drunk that he couldn’t even see his cards and should never have been offered free alcoholic beverages. He also claims that the casino allowed him to borrow money which should not have happened either as he had obviously had too much to drink.Mark Johnston played black jack and Pai Gow after arriving at the Downtown Grand Casino on the night of the 30th of January. He gambled all night and returned to his hotel room the next afternoon. When he woke up the next day he had no recollection of what had happened in the casino the night before which led to him losing half a million dollars. Johnston’s lawyer is hoping to force the casino to cancel his client’s 500 000 dollar debt as he should have been prevented from continuing to gamble since he was inebriated at the time. He is also looking for damages for his client. The Downtown Grand Casino has not commented on the case being brought against it but it is believed that it will use the courts to get Mark Johnston to honour the 500 000 dollar debt. The investigation into the case is ongoing.