Ritz Casino Sued by Minister’s Wife Over Gambling Debt

Nora Al Daher, the wife of an Omani government minister, is suing London’s The Ritz casino after losing £2 million playing at a card table. She is accusing the casino of taking advantage of her gambling problem by extending her credit limit and encouraging her to keep playing.

Al Daher ran up the huge debts while playing at the casino in April 2012.

During an appearance at London’s High Court, she said that she should not have to pay the debt as the staff knowingly exploited her gambling addiction.

She has been quoted as saying, “I needed someone that night to tell me to stop playing and bring me to my senses. If I had been told to stop, of course I would stop immediately. No one ever told me to stop or think about my gambling.”

 

Al Daher reached her credit limit of £1.7 million in just a few hours play, but was allowed to keep playing and she eventually lost £2 million. Her barrister, Robert Deacon, claims that the “staff paid no regard to her distraught demeanour or what she told them”.

Al Daher has always been a regular visitor to London’s casinos and she said she acknowledged her addiction in 1999.