Ky. Gambler wants his money back

LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 30 (UPI) -- A Kentucky man has filed suit against Caesars saying its southern Indiana casino never should have let him lose $500,000 because he was drunk.

Jimmy L. Vance, 64, of Corbin, Ky., told the Louisville Courier-Journal he lost $75,000 in a single night.

"They kept serving me till I was totally intoxicated," he told the newspaper. "In fact, I don't remember losing all the money."

Vance filed a countersuit after Caesars Louisville-area casino sued him for failing to make good on a $75,000 marker. He said he was visibly drunk but casino employees kept pushing him to take out credit advances and that makes them responsible for his losses, the suit says. Vance told the newspaper his total blackjack and craps losses between 2000 and 2004 could be as high as $1 million.

"Vance is certainly not the first unsuccessful gambler to want his money back," Caesars' lawyer Gregory Taylor said in response to the suit, noting that drunken gamblers can win and sober gamblers can lose so the argument is inapplicable.

The Courier-Journal said Caesar's has similar suits pending against 14 people in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and South Carolina.