Thursday, August 19, 2010

Big Loss

As the casinos opened for business earlier this year, I guess it was a matter of time before something like this happen. According to the Today newspaper, a Singaporean businessman lost S$26 million over three days at the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino in early June.

According to the newspaper, the businessman, a managing director of a multi-million dollar company in his 50s, received a $500,000 credit line in March which was extended to S$2 million by the casino in April. However as he was playing baccarat at S$400,000 per hand…

The businessman is now suing RWS as he claimed that at no point in time did the casino perform a background check on his financial situation. He just filled in an application form, deposited S$100,000 and handed over a blank cheque to RWS.

Unfortunately for the businessman, most Singaporean has little sympathy for him. Most Singaporeans I spoke to say the businessman has only himself to blame. I agree.

You are playing baccarat at S$400,000 per hand, lost S$18 million in a single day alone, even your girlfriend pleaded to the RWS senior officer to stop granting you more credit; surely at any of these times, you can say, “Stop!” You didn’t and you are now S$13 million in the hole.

I’m sorry but in this case I can only blame the businessman for being foolish. The businessman was a 50+ MD of a multi-million dollar company, not some young teenager. He should have known better and knew when to quit. He didn’t but that’s hardly RWS’s fault. What were they supposed to do? Stop people from throwing money at them?

That's not going to happen and that's probably what the courts will think as well. The businessman can try to sue the casino but it might be better for him to save his lawyer's fee and use the money to pay back the casino.

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