Arelia Margarita Taveras, a high-profile attorney has recently filed charges against a number of Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos, stating that her gambling problem was theirs to solve. She has sued for a total over $420 million USD lost more than a million dollars to casinos in New Jersey in gambling spurts lasting days on end. She claims that the casinos should have been aware of her issue, and required her to stop, or prevented further game play; their lack of action caused her loss of funds and she is looking for retribution.

Taveras, who gained notoriety by representing families of victims of the American Airlines accident into Queens, NY, has lost her own and her parents’ home, has lost her law practice, and owes the IRS money, due to her gambling addiction. She claims that her binges required that she play for days on end, surviving without sleep and eating only candy bars for meals. She herself faces charges stemming from her use of clients’ escrow funds to feed her addiction. She has lost her license to practice law and she looks to the casinos now, to pay those debts in court.

The lawsuit goes after a variety of casinos, including the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada; Bally’s Atlantic City; Resorts Atlantic City; Tropicana Casino Resort; the Showboat Casino Hotel; the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort and Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. The only charges not dismissed by a judge for lack of detail in the complaint, however, are the MGM and Resorts, with the stipulation that if more detail were provided she could file again.

Taveras maintains that the casinos knew that she was gambling without sleep or food for days at a time and that it was their responsibility to make her stop, even if that meant escorting her off property.

Joe Carbo, President of the Casino Association of New Jersey did confirm that employees in the state’s casinos go through hours of training to detect problem gamblers and their habits, as well as intervention training to support said players in getting help. He spoke as well of the state’s voluntary self-exclusion list, where a player can bar themselves from entrance and play in casinos to prevent relapses. Because of the circumstances, it will be very difficult for Taveras to win her lawsuit against the casinos.

Taveras, it seems, was encouraged to stop play. In March of 2005, she was warned repeatedly by Resorts’ employees to watch herself, self-exclusion was suggested to her, and a supervisor advised her to slot down. She dismissed the warnings. That following June, a dealer also at Resorts told her to go home. In September, she had become addicted to the point of playing all the seats at blackjack tables to ensure the table to herself. She was told by Resorts authorities she was no longer welcome at the casino unless she was willing to sign a waiver of liability. When she rejected their agreement, she was barred from the casino. That bar later extended to the remainder of the Harrah’s sites.

She may have regrets, but unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the casinos’ responsibility. Taveras plans to hold her ground: “Everybody says, `You gambled and you enjoyed yourself, then lost your money and now you want it back.' They think gambling is fun. It isn't, believe me. Not when you get like I did."