Self-Excluded Billionaire Sued By Ritz Club Casino For $2m Losses

Self-Excluded Billionaire Sued By Ritz Club Casino For $2m LossesDespite signing a self-exclusion order in 2009, billionaire Safa Abdulla Al-Geabury still managed to lose £2 million in just under two hours playing roulette at the exclusive Ritz Club in London on February 19th 2014. The check he signed, however, was returned unpaid and now the London Clubs International owned casino has taken the wealthy gambling addict to the High Court to reclaim the outstanding balance, plus an extra £200,000 in interest.
Nevertheless, Safa Abdulla Al-Geabury insists Mayfair’s Ritz Club was to blame and that he was only able to gain access to gambling funds after the casino courted him with tickets to watch an Arsenal against Bayern Munich soccer game at the Emirates stadium in London, before offering him a £5 million gambling credit line. As the 52 year-old billionaire explains:
“[A casino representative] asked why I was not coming to the Ritz Club. He then suggested I should go to the Ritz Club and said my style of play was very attractive. I told [the man] I was a problem gambler and that I had limited my access to my own money for that reason. He said access to money was not a problem and I would be provided with credit of up to £5million, which I could pay back when I liked.”
Arguing the former currency trader’s case, counsel Kevin Pettican has asserted that The Ritz Club breached its own gaming license terms by extending credit to the self-excluded problem gambler, and that it was the casino which bore responsibility for exerting “undue influence and unconscionable transaction”. Furthermore, a counter claim for £5.4million has been filed against the casino, representing the amount of money Al-Geabury lost gambling at the Ritz Club between October 2010 and February 2014.
Meanwhile, as part of the case the High Court has asked psychiatrists to assess the extent of the Swiss national’s gambling addiction problem, and whether it should have been reasonably apparent to the casino’s employees.


Poker News
Online Poker Cheats Able To See Opponent's Cards Using Netbot Attacker
10 Oct 2019
Poker social media and news sites has been a buzz all week with reports of high-profile cheating by poker pro Mike Postle on the Stones Gambling Hall live streamed game, Stone Live. The accusations were taken up a notch yesterday after a lawsuit was filed against Postle and a list co-conspirators. The lawsuit was filed
Japan Introduces Responsible Gambling Bill
28 May 2018
Japan’s bicameral legislature, known as The National Diet, consists of an upper House of Councillors and a lower House of Representatives, with the latter having started discussing the Integrated Resorts Implementation Bill last week. Being debated is the regulatory framework required in order to set up an efficient and well functioning casino market in the
Ohio Casino Revenue Up 1% to $71.8m in April
17 May 2018
The Ohio Casino Control Commission has released its gambling results for April, with the state’s four casinos collecting $71.8 million last month, up by almost 1% compared to the prior year. Meanwhile, the Buckeye State’s seven racinos fared considerably better, with their revenue rising by 8% to $89.7 million from their slots and video gaming
NJ Generates Record iGaming Revenues in February
15 May 2018
In April, New Jersey’s online gambling market saw its revenue rise by 10.6% to $23 million versus the same month in 2017, with the amount posted second only to the record $25.6 million collected in March 2018. As a result, the Garden State has now generated $92.5 million over the first four months of this