The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last week has revived allegations that Wynn Las Vegas failed to enforce a German player’s self-imposed gambling limit. According to the Court House News, the court found that gambling markers are “credit instruments under Nevada law,” and Wynn may have been obligated to enforce the man’s $250,000 limit.
In a 2011 lawsuit against the Las Vegas resort, Konsantin Zoggolis argued that the casino had breached an agreement to limit or cancel his credit line at $250,000 during a “gambling binge” that took place in 2008.
Wynn owed Zoggolis $1.3 million for 11 markers it allowed in excess of the $250,000 limit, the complaint states. Zoggolis also sought an injunction to stop Wynn from going forward with a criminal case against him for his unpaid markers.
U.S. District Judge Philip Pro of Las Vegas dismissed the lawsuit, however, after finding that Zoggolis had failed to exhaust his claims before the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which typically has jurisdiction over gambling debts in the state.
But last week, an appellate panel agreed to send the case back to Las Vegas. By a unanimous vote, the panel ruled that markers are credit instruments that “must be resolved in the same manner as any other dispute involving the enforceability of a negotiable instrument.”
