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God bless america.
Minnesota Woman Names Several Atlantic City, Las Vegas Casinos In Lawsuit
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) ― She was an ambitious lawyer and TV commentator who starting going to Atlantic City casinos to relax, and soon was getting high-roller treatment that included limousines whisking her to the resort.
Arelia Margarita Taveras says she was even allowed to bring her dog, Sasha, to the blackjack tables, sitting in her purse.
But her gambling spun out of control: She said she would go days at a time at the tables, not eating or sleeping, brushing her teeth with disposable wipes so she didn't have to leave.
She says her losses totaled nearly $1 million.
Now she's chasing the longest of long shots: a $20 million racketeering lawsuit in federal court against six Atlantic City casinos and one in Las Vegas, claiming they had a duty to notice her compulsive gambling problem and cut her off.
"They knew I was going for days without eating or sleeping," Taveras said. "I would pass out at the tables. They had a duty of care to me. Nobody in their right mind would gamble for four or five straight days without sleeping."
Experts say her case will be difficult to prove, but it provides an unusually detailed window into the life of a problem gambler.
"It's like crack, only gambling is worse than crack because it's mental," said Taveras, 37, a New Yorker who now lives in Minnesota. "It creeps up on you, the impulse. It's a sickness."
She lost her law practice, her apartment, her parents' home, and owes the IRS $58,000. She said she even considered swerving into oncoming traffic to kill herself.
In interviews with The Associated Press, Taveras admitted she dipped into her clients' escrow accounts to finance her gambling habit. She was disbarred last June, and faces criminal charges stemming from those actions, but is trying to work out res ution agreements in order to avoid a prison term.
Her lawsuit names Resorts Atlantic City, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, the Tropicana Casino Resort, the Showboat Casino Hotel, Bally's Atlantic City, as well as the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
The casinos deny any wrongdoing, maintaining in court papers that Taveras brought her problems on herself. Casino representatives either declined to comment for this report or did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Last month, a judge dismissed the Trump casinos, the Tropicana, Showboat and Bally's from the lawsuit on technical grounds, but allowed Taveras to refile the suit against them by April. The suit remains in effect against Resorts and MGM because its allegations against them were more specific.
Joe Corbo, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, said casino workers undergo extensive training on spotting problem gamblers and referring them to help, including a self-exclusion list the state maintains. Gamblers can voluntarily bar themselves from casinos, either for a few years or for life. While they're on the list, casinos cannot solicit them.
Dan Heneghan, a spokesman for the state Casino Control Commission, said 663 people are on the list.
"This can be a delicate situation, and it comes down to an individual's personal responsibility," Corbo said. "We can only suggest that they receive assistance and provide information how they can obtain help, but it is up to them to commit to seek it."
Paul O'Gara, an attorney specializing in Atlantic City gambling issues, said it will be difficult for Taveras to prove that the casinos knew she had a problem but ignored it.
"How are you supposed to know whether this was a woman who was just having a good time, or had money and was just lonely, as opposed to someone who couldn't control themselves?" he said.
Arnie Wexler, the former head of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, estimates there are 5 million problem gamblers in the United States, with 15 million at risk of becoming compulsive.
"Hers is not a rare case, believe me," said Wexler, who says he had a gambling problem. "This is the most powerful addiction you can have without putting something into your body. You remember your first big win, and you think `Hey, I can do this again; I can get it all back.'"
As a young lawyer, Taveras made a name for herself representing the families of victims of American Airlines Flight 587, which crashed in New York City's borough of Queens in November 2001, killing 265 people.
Her practice had 400 clients and earned her $500,000 a year. She appeared on TV and radio to discuss legal issues, wrote a guidebook for women dealing with deadbeat dads in the court system, led "The Gangsta Girls' Guide To Child Support," and was a regular contributor to Hispanic culture Web sites. In 2000, the New York Daily News named her one of "21 New Yorkers to Watch in the 21st Century."
As an escape from the seven-day-a-week pressures of her law practice, she started going to Atlantic City to unwind in September 2003.
During one five-day gambling jag at Resorts in June 2005, Taveras says, she existed on nothing but orange juice and Snickers bars that the staff gave her. On the fifth day, she said, a dealer told her to go home because she appeared exhausted and unable to keep track of her cards.
Taveras spent nearly a year in clinics to treat her gambling addiction. She filed her lawsuit last September, representing herself, and is now working at a telephone call center in Minnesota.
"Everybody says `You gambled and you enjoyed yourself, then lost your money and now you want it back,'" Taveras said. "They think gambling is fun. It isn't, believe me. Not when you get like I did."
God bless america.
THAT is the most frivilous lawsuit I've ever seen!
Sincerely,
The McDonald's coffee lady
talk about a gamble....
Did I tell you to put the balm on?
shes loses a million, and suing for 20m?
OUTRAGEOUS
Welcome to America.
Where self responsibility is gone.
Anyone who represents themselves has a fool for a client.
The judge who allowed her to refile her lawsuit should be tarred and feathered. This is stupid.
She lost her parents' house?! Why aren't THEY suing HER? Not to mention her clients who lost funds from their escrow accounts.
I took that as she was paying for their house before she took a flame thrower to her life.
I bet she loses.
HAHA. She is a chronic gambler, and she is playing against the odds with this case.
The casinos should pay the settlement in chips.
Great, so possibly kill some other people while you're trying to off yourself. Lovely.She said she even considered swerving into oncoming traffic to kill herself.
Seriously. Why's everyone too much of a pussy to grab the 12-gauge?
I've had some dealings with the attorney in the Mickey D's coffee suit. If you're an attorney you only need to win one of those type of cases in your lifetime and after that it's all gravy.
Look, I'm all for personal responsibility, but I've also seen addicted gamblers close up and they are as hopelessly hooked on gambling as alcoholics are on alcohol, or crack addicts on crack.
I'm not supporting the law suit, she should have gotten help when things started to unravel for her, but addictive gambling is a serious problem, and the casinos take very little responsibility for it. In fact, they go the other way - the build them so you can't find a way out, there are no clocks, the oxygen level is elevated. They do everything in their power to keep you in there once you go inside. That in itself is morally dubious.
WELL SHEs still not that old
can still do porn though
I don't think anyone here is shocked that casinos go the extra mile to get your money. Thats not to say that any of what they do is a) illegal or b) secret.
This suit is pretty ridiculous and there are no buts associated with that.
Sure Manny, all I'm saying is that casinos prey on the weak. If what they do didn't work, they wouldn't do it. And addictive gambling is serious stuff - people lose their houses, families, commit suicide, etc.
Give her the 20 million and invite her back next week...
but addictive gambling is a serious problem, and the casinos take very little responsibility for it
Uhh
forget it.
Joe Corbo, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, said casino workers undergo extensive training on spotting problem gamblers and referring them to help, including a self-exclusion list the state maintains. Gamblers can voluntarily bar themselves from casinos, either for a few years or for life. While they're on the list, casinos cannot solicit them.
YEAH TAVERAS AND OTHER ADDICTS ARE REALLY HARD TO SPOT:
Dan Heneghan, a spokesman for the state Casino Control Commission, said 663 people are on the list. HA! YEAH RIGHT, 663 PEOPLE WHOM THE CASINOS HAVE VERIFIED ARE BEYOND BANKRUPT AND CAN NO LONGER BE MILKED?During one five-day gambling jag at Resorts in June 2005, Taveras says, she existed on nothing but orange juice and Snickers bars that the staff gave her. On the fifth day, she said, a dealer told her to go home because she appeared exhausted and unable to keep track of her cards.
Paul O'Gara, an attorney specializing in Atlantic City gambling issues, said it will be difficult for Taveras to prove that the casinos knew she had a problem but ignored it.
"How are you supposed to know whether this was a woman who was just having a good time, or had money and was just lonely, as opposed to someone who couldn't control themselves?" he said.
FEEDING SOMEONE SNICKERS BARS AND ORANGE JUICE FOR 5 DAYS. THATS IMPRESSIVE TEAMWORK.
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