Man sues Las Vegas casino for losing $500,000 he drunkenly gambled away

Did you drunkenly gamble away a half a million dollars and only realize it when you became sober? That's what happened to Mark Johnston, who's suing Downtown Grand in Las Vegas for $500,000 because he's claiming the resort didn't stop him from gambling while hammered.

Johnston claims the casino knew he was drunk, but did nothing to stop him from blowing thousands of dollars on the tables. He said it felt like they "picked [his] pockets" and essentially mugged him of his riches while he was "blacked out."

Since Nevada's laws don't allow visibly drunk people to gamble, Johnston may have a case. The Nevada Gaming Commission won't confirm if an investigation has commenced, but Johnston claims it has. VegasChatter notes that if the lawsuit does move forward, the court will dig through surveillance tapes to see if the casino was aware that he was too drunk to gamble.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up