Ritz High Roller Before High Court - It Was Devil's Doing

London's Ritz casino has been having a lot of problems with their high roller customers lately. One of the most recent cases involves Safa Abdulla Al Geabury, a business tycoon whose debt to the casino exceeds £2 million. Al Geabury lost this money during one night of gambling but when casino wanted to cash in his check the next day, it bounced.

Al Geabury refused to pay his debts, claiming that he was in the grip of gambling addiction and that someone should prevented him from playing. The casino had no other recourse than to file the appeal with the London's High Court, demanding from the tycoon to pay his debt, plus the interest, around $3.4 million in total.

At the hearing that took place a couple of days ago, Al Geabury stuck to his story that he was refusing to pay because he only gambled because he couldn't help himself and insisted in his talk wiht a psychiatrist that Devil made him do it.

During the questioning, he agreed with the statement that he was a wealthy man, estimating his total networth to be around £1 billion. Despite of these facts, he feels that he shouldn't have to pay because he feels the casino willingly took advantage of his addiction.

Al Geabury claims that he was approached by a casino representative who asked him why he was no longer coming to Ritz casino. The tycoon then explained how he had openly stated that he was a problem gambler and that he restricted himself from accessing his funds for this particular reason. However, instead of backing off at this point, Al Geabury claims that the casino representative offered him a £5 million line of credit, which he could repay whenever he felt like it.

This led to him gambling uncontrollably, accumulating big losses. Despite of stating over and over again that he was a problem gambler, claims Al Geabury, casino staff didn't seem to care and they did everything they could to encourage him to play more.

The case is not as black and white as it first seemed, as if Al Geabury's story is true, then the Ritz could actually be held accountable. Furthermore, the tycoon is now suing the casino for earlier accrued losses to the tune of £5.4 million, as he believes these would have never happened had the Ritz played by the book.

The case before London's High Court continues and it will be interesting to see next developments, as this could set some interesting precedents in the event the Ritz losses - which is not very likely if past is any indicator. However, should the unlikely happen, casinos in the UK may be forced to exercise much more caution in the future to avoid being on the line for any potential losses further down the line.