Sydney - Melbourne's Crown Casino enticed a gambling addict into losing 30 million Australian dollars (25 million US dollars) in 14 months by providing free flights in a private jet, wads of notes to get him started and a 20-per-cent rebate on losses, a court was told Tuesday. Property developer Harry Kakavas is suing the casino for allowing him in when he had voluntarily banned himself from entering.
"They deliberately set out to identify a punter they knew they could win large sums of money from," Kavakas's lawyer told the court. "During the time he lost all this money in the casino he had no lawful right to be there, because he was known to be subject to an interstate exclusion order."
Problem gamblers banning themselves entry to one Australian casino means they are banned from all of them.
The court heard of 30 free flights and occasions when the captain of the private jet handed him 50,000 Australian dollars in a free starting-stake.
Crown's lawyer denied it had entrapped Kavakas. "He didn't have to go to the Crown Casino," he said. "No one told him he had to bet 300,000 dollars on every hand. He could not have bet at all."
