David Gest Once Spent 24hrs Chasing Slots Jackpot

On April 12, American music producer and TV personality David Gest died while staying at the £1,000-a-night Four Seasons Hotel in East London. He had been staying at the establishment for the past six months, but had also been suffering from ill-health while fighting crippling hypertension and insomnia. When he passed away aged just 62, Gest’s company is said to have left behind more than £400,000 in debts.
David Gest also appears to have been fond of gambling, and allegedly had been contemplating selling off his collection of Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson memorabilia in order to stay solvent. According to claims, Gest would often lose thousands of pounds playing slot machines over the period of a single session, and as an unnamed source told the Sun newspaper:
“He would spend 24 hours a day chasing the jackpot. David wouldn’t think twice about spending £10,000 in one sitting. His losses didn’t seem to affect him but in a 12-month period it was a substantial amount, it was six figures. It was an addiction.”
David Gest was also said to have lost around £100,000 at Grosvenor casinos over the past year, playing roulette and the slots, with one twitter poster saying that he “once saw David Gest in a casino playing two slot machines at once.”
Despite the stories now being told about Gest, one of his friends confirmed that while he was fond of gambling and was often seen at casinos, David was “a winner not a loser.” In addition, a spokesman for Gest had the following comment to make:
“David enjoyed gambling and was a popular figure at casinos around the world. He loved to tell stories of his casino triumphs. As far as we are aware, David has left no gambling debts anywhere. To suggest otherwise would be a deeply sad attack on a very popular man.”