Posted on 03/08/2008 12:58:09 PM PST by kiriath_jearim
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - She was an ambitious lawyer and TV commentator who starting going to Atlantic City casinos to relax, and soon was getting high-roller treatment that included limousines whisking her to the resort.
Arelia Margarita Taveras says she was even allowed to bring her dog, Sasha, to the blackjack tables, sitting in her purse.
But her gambling spun out of control: She said she would go days at a time at the tables, not eating or sleeping, brushing her teeth with disposable wipes so she didn't have to leave.
She says her losses totaled nearly $1 million.
Now she's chasing the longest of long shots: a $20 million racketeering lawsuit in federal court against six Atlantic City casinos and one in Las Vegas, claiming they had a duty to notice her compulsive gambling problem and cut her off.
"They knew I was going for days without eating or sleeping," Taveras said. "I would pass out at the tables. They had a duty of care to me. Nobody in their right mind would gamble for four or five straight days without sleeping."
Experts say her case will be difficult to prove, but it provides an unusually detailed window into the life of a problem gambler.
"It's like crack, only gambling is worse than crack because it's mental," said Taveras, 37, a New Yorker who now lives in Minnesota. "It creeps up on you, the impulse. It's a sickness."
She lost her law practice, her apartment, her parents' home, and owes the IRS $58,000. She said she even considered swerving into oncoming traffic to kill herself.
In interviews with The Associated Press, Taveras admitted she dipped into her clients' escrow accounts to finance her gambling habit. She was disbarred last June, and faces criminal charges stemming from those actions, but is trying to work out restitution agreements in order to avoid a prison term.
Her lawsuit names Resorts Atlantic City, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, the Tropicana Casino Resort, the Showboat Casino Hotel, Bally's Atlantic City, as well as the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
The casinos deny any wrongdoing, maintaining in court papers that Taveras brought her problems on herself. Casino representatives either declined to comment for this report or did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Last month, a judge dismissed the Trump casinos, the Tropicana, Showboat and Bally's from the lawsuit on technical grounds, but allowed Taveras to refile the suit against them by April. The suit remains in effect against Resorts and MGM because its allegations against them were more specific.
Joe Corbo, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, said casino workers undergo extensive training on spotting problem gamblers and referring them to help, including a self-exclusion list the state maintains. Gamblers can voluntarily bar themselves from casinos, either for a few years or for life. While they're on the list, casinos cannot solicit them.
Dan Heneghan, a spokesman for the state Casino Control Commission, said 663 people are on the list.
"This can be a delicate situation, and it comes down to an individual's personal responsibility," Corbo said. "We can only suggest that they receive assistance and provide information how they can obtain help, but it is up to them to commit to seek it."
Paul O'Gara, an attorney specializing in Atlantic City gambling issues, said it will be difficult for Taveras to prove that the casinos knew she had a problem but ignored it.
"How are you supposed to know whether this was a woman who was just having a good time, or had money and was just lonely, as opposed to someone who couldn't control themselves?" he said.
Arnie Wexler, the former head of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, estimates there are 5 million problem gamblers in the United States, with 15 million at risk of becoming compulsive.
"Hers is not a rare case, believe me," said Wexler, who says he had a gambling problem. "This is the most powerful addiction you can have without putting something into your body. You remember your first big win, and you think `Hey, I can do this again; I can get it all back.'"
As a young lawyer, Taveras made a name for herself representing the families of victims of American Airlines Flight 587, which crashed in New York City's borough of Queens in November 2001, killing 265 people.
Her practice had 400 clients and earned her $500,000 a year. She appeared on TV and radio to discuss legal issues, wrote a guidebook for women dealing with deadbeat dads in the court system, titled "The Gangsta Girls' Guide To Child Support," and was a regular contributor to Hispanic culture Web sites. In 2000, the New York Daily News named her one of "21 New Yorkers to Watch in the 21st Century."
As an escape from the seven-day-a-week pressures of her law practice, she started going to Atlantic City to unwind in September 2003.
During one five-day gambling jag at Resorts in June 2005, Taveras says, she existed on nothing but orange juice and Snickers bars that the staff gave her. On the fifth day, she said, a dealer told her to go home because she appeared exhausted and unable to keep track of her cards.
Taveras spent nearly a year in clinics to treat her gambling addiction. She filed her lawsuit last September, representing herself, and is now working at a telephone call center in Minnesota.
"Everybody says `You gambled and you enjoyed yourself, then lost your money and now you want it back,'" Taveras said. "They think gambling is fun. It isn't, believe me. Not when you get like I did."
You haven't been paying attention. A 400# black teenager sued McDonalds. He was put up to it by an ambulance chasing lawyer, natch. The judge through the suit out. In New York City, no less.
If this stunt had succeeded, John Edwards would have filed a Federal class action lawsuit, to protect the little folks, or maybe just extort some lucre from Mickie D's. The fat people get supersize upgrade coupons and the lawyers get beachfront property.
BTW, if Micky D's hadn't served him, they wudda been sued for discrimination, doncha know.
Another good reason to line up all the lawyers and shoot them dead.
Heck, at least I get comps at a casino; from the State — nothing.
“It’s like crack, only gambling is worse than crack because it’s mental,” ‘
*************
BS. It’s not like crack, at least crack is a physical addiction. Gambling is ALL mental. Which is not worse for crying out loud.
This woman just admitted that she needs to be institutionalized.
This is exactly her mentality and partly why I feel zero sympathy for her. She wants to off herself and could care less who she takes with her. I could care less about her and her poor pitiful addiction. She had a law practice for God sake. There are plenty of people in this world who would love the opportunity this B pissed away.
Oh yeah, she looks like a ditz.
She sure must have worn it to the lawyer’s office to be able to get such a case.
Then that's an admission that she was not in her right mind. SHE was not in HER right mind. Doesn't in any way reflect on the casino, or create in them some obligation to manage her behavior. This case of baseless and should never see the inside of a courtroom.
“The Desert Inn has heart; the Desert Inn has heart...”
(Albert Brooks; “Lost In America”)
Health care...Welfare...Housing...Citizenship...
'You owe me!' You owe ME everything I want!'
What a sad state this country has sunk to.
Got to go now, something on the TV about Hobama wanting to give me some more something.
What a great guy!
“She said she even considered swerving into oncoming traffic to kill herself.”
Always thinking about herself....She’d end up killing some one else and being a quadro for life with her luck. Drive off a cliff instead.
Gambling and porn....the two things that will destroy America.
21 years ago, I was trying unsuccessfully to count cards at the blackjack table till 4 in the morning. I was surprised to hear that the casino was closing for the night. I hadn’t even thought about where I was going to stay.
The next afternoon, I lost some more money I didn’t have. I don’t know what made me stop, but I’m glad I did. I realized card counting and gambling weren’t working, so I haven’t bet since.
They say that if you don’t know who the pigeon is, then you’re the pigeon. Ms. Taveras, look in the mirror.
I am going to sue the casinos for not encouraging me to gamble more. I’m really good at blackjack. If they had hooked me in to gambling I’d be a billionaire by now.
I enjoy playing a little slots. I know what my limit is and stop. Like anything else, there are people who can drink, gamble, etc., responsibly, and some who can’t.
You’re very wise, indeed.
With all due respect, gambling and porn may be bad in their own ways, but they have been with us for a long long time, and America still survives. Any threat to the existence of America at this time results from the breakdown of discipline in the family, facilitated by liberals in charge of pediatric medicine and child protective services. The fact that you can't discipline children and teach them proper respect for authority, and instill a sense of the value in the gifts from God that are the foundation of our great nation is a much greater threat to America than gambling or porn.
Amen.
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