Legal Question in Consumer Law in Pennsylvania
On line casino sites
Over the past 5 years I had become addictied to online gambling, I had exausted all means of obtaining cash to gamble, but the casinso I was dealing with always came up with some way for me to get additional funds. I had sold some property I had a year ago to pay off some debts and had 20K left over, I wnet thru that in 2 months with all the casinos promotions ect. Always telling me so and so hit it rich with only a small wager, this went on and on, with me thinking I'm going to hit the jackpot like the rest of these people and at least break even, I must have gone thru around 80k. This casino knew I was in trouble but kept edging me on to spend more. I do not want other inncent people to fall into the same trap I have. I am now having to file for bankruptsy because of my addition that has been constantly fed by this casino. Can you help me get some of my money back and have them change there promotional lies. If it wasn't for them constantly edging me on I would never got into this situation. They knew my income and what I could afford, I even had them freeze my account but did no good. They inticed me to gamble again to win back my looses. Can anyone help or is this a loss cause.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: On line casino sites
There was a series of cases in the 1980s concerning gambling debts involving National Recovery Systems suing people in Pennsylvania to recover on lines of credit advanced for gambling purposes. The end result was that the Superior Court affirmed a decision of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to the effect that Nevada Law governed the transactions because that's where they took place and under Nevada Law "The Nevada Supreme Court has consistently held that debts incurred, and checks drawn for gambling purposes are unenforceable. National Recovery Systems v. Ornstein, supra, id. at 1133; Sandler v. Eighth Judicial District Court, 96 Nev. 622, 614 P.2d 10, 11 (1980);[**4] and Burk v. Buck, 31 Nev. 74, 99 F. 1078 (1909)."
I'm not sure how this is going to work out under the new gaming laws. Some quick research shows me that slot machine licensees may not extend any credit or accept any credit or debit cards for gaming purposes.
Under federal law I don't think there is no question that the online gambling
business is illegal under 18 U.S.C. � 1955. Therefore you probably do have a cause of action under the civil provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Since you are filing Bankruptcy the claim can be raised in your Bankruptcy proceeding by the Trustee. It sounds like an interesting claim. If you'd like to discuss it further please e-mail me.
Re: On line casino sites
This is a lost cause. Unless you have some theory of recovering your money that is not present in your facts, there is no claim against the online casino.
Daniel Cevallos
Law Offices of Daniel L. Cevallos, PC
1420 Locust Street, Suite 24Q
Philadelphia, PA
19102
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