I Rarely Get Annoyed At News Stories, But...

[sp1814]

...this one has really pressed all my buttons:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/politicians-wife-sues-the-ritz-casino-after-losing-2m-at-card-table-in-one-evening-9581127.html

Have you ever wanted to take someone by the shoulders and shout, "You're a grown up. You are responsible for your own actions. Now go home"

Okay - I might be overracting, but do you think she has a case?

[sunny-dave]

"I might be overreacting" - no you're not

"Do you think she has a case" - no, not a shred of one


The answer to a simple question should settle it :

"Would you have given back £2m if you had won it?"

The answer is obviously a big fat "NO" and she should man up (woman up?) and take responsibility for her actions.

[zoe76]

Hehe is she for real?

[Peter Pedant]

No or er Yes SP
Hi Sp !
there may be a back-story.

Gaming debts were not enforceable in a civil court for until a few years ago.
AND - I am not sure if the cheque cashing facitility they describe is um lallowed in law

[douglas9401]

No, she has no case. Just another rich person with an over-developed sense of entitlement to special treatment.

[Bazile]

//The Ritz originally sued Mrs Al-Daher for £1 million claiming that some of the cheques she handed over that night were not honoured.//

Frank discussion with hubby Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Al-Busaidi,
( i just love the sound of those long names from that part of the world ) next day .
They decide to put a stop on cheques - hotel sues - the lady in question decides that she better come up with a reason not to pay , in her defence

That's all there is to it

[weecalf]

Yes the people should have stopped her gambling when she was going to loose so much money .do you give a drunk person more drink ?I lost thirty bob on andy not even getting a set my bookie said I feel your pain weecalf heres a pound back ..

[Gromit]

If only there was a Holy Book which forbid gambling...

[sp1814]

weecalf

I think there's a flaw in that argument.

You wouldn't carry on serving alcohol to someone who was obviously roaring drunk, because you can see (or predict) what the outcome of more booze could be.

However - there's no way casino owners could know what impact losing £2million could have on a 'high roller'.

There are a (albeit it small) number of gamblers who can actually afford to lose that amount of money in one sitting.

I really wish I knew them...

[Old_Geezer]

You never know, you just might sp1814.

One can never tell with the law, it may seem she has no case but it'll probably turn out not only does she have a case she is entitled to £2M in damages for the stress it has caused.

[sp1814]

O_G

1. If I do, they're keeping very quiet about it.

2. If you're right, and she wins her case, it would suggest a very lucrative career option to those of us with 'malleable morals'.

[andy-hughes]

I would suggest that the lady would have a number of people with her - staff and so on.

It shouldn't be hard to make the sole responsibility of one of them to ensure that this lady does not cross the threshold of any casino, ever.

On the basis that she is an adult, and can choose to go against the wishes of her sraff, then the staff person presents a written legal document confirming that the lady is not to be allowed to gamble, and she will not be responsibile for any of her losses, nor will she accept any winnings.

That should put a stop to this nonsense.

But as it stands? Casinos exist to make money - why would they suddenly decide not stop doing so when one client is putting eight-figure cheques down?

I don't think so!

[kvalidir]

I think it would be impossible to draft the enforceable 'legal document' that you describe andy- it goes against so many laws to try to do so that it makes my head spin just thinking about it.
As for the question, I think Bazile has it exactly right. She needs to pay I'm afraid.

[tamaris]

Just a bad loser

[sp1814]

andy_hughes

From the report:

“I needed someone that night to tell me to stop playing and bring me to my senses,” she told the judge.

“If I had been told to stop, of course I would stop immediately. No one ever told me to stop or think about my gambling.”



Similarly, I keep electrocuting myself by stick tweezers into plug sockets. I am waiting gor someone to tell me to stop.

As it is, every few days my hair ends up looking like Macy Gray's

[askyourgran]

Where was the sheik, why hasn't he coughed up? Or is he expecting it to be written off, probably like the NHS bills that go unpaid. Hopefully Princess Nora will be banned from the casinos 'for her own good' once she has settled her debts. I wonder if she has paid for the cosmetic surgery she seems to have had.

[B00]

I wonder if I can sue KFC because im fat?

[Brenden]

Gromit, there is a holy book which forbids gambling and alcohol -the Koran, although I personally know several believers who drink like fish.

[sp1814]

AYG

If I were her husband (and thank God I'm not, as I'm allergic to man made fibres) I would tell her to 'do one'.

She's a grown up, and should be responsible for her own actions.

[jomifl]

She obviously doe not realise how much it costs to run a playroom for the super rich. It was surely her husbands duty to prevent her from gambling, or was he elsewhere indulging his own special vices?

[askyourgran]

Lol sp, man made fibres Those rich Arabs can play rough I hope she gets a 'telling off'.