Barkley: My bad on unpaid 400G gambling debt
That Charles Barkley, he's such a card.
After the Clark County, Nev., district attorney's office started talking criminal complaint because of Barkley's $400,000 in unpaid markers to the fancy-schmancy Wynn Las Vegas, the former NBA star and TV commentator promised to make good on the debt.
Reached at a golf tournament yesterday Barkley blamed himself for letting so much time pass -- the markers were signed back in October -- but he also said: "All they had to do is call and say, 'Hey, you owe us this money.'"
If you're not rolling on the floor laughing right now, apparently you have no idea how casinos operate. Someone owes them 400-large and they just keep quiet, kind of like you do when your buddy forgets to pay back that $60 he borrowed?
Uh, here's what part of casino's civil complaint said: "To date, and despite repeated demands, Barkley has refused to repay the $400,000."
"Repeated demands," yep, that sounds more like a casino that's owed $400,000. And in Nevada, where they're real serious about unpaid debts to casinos, refusing to pay a marker is sort of like writing a bad check.
So Barkley wants everyone to know that he's not broke and intends to pony up the money. But there's a serious side to this that I wrote about in today's Sun.
There is a tendency to write off Barkley's well-known gambling as the relatively harmless vice of choice of a well-heeled bon vivant. But when you're a punter like Barkley -- who has claimed to lose more than $2 million at a stretch -- your pockets just might not be deep enough, and richer men than Barkley have faced disgrace because of it.
Photo: Associated Press
Comments
Let me say this bill , over the years i have lost lot's of money on the horses.Being hooked on gambling is a lot different then being hooked on anything else. The reason i say that is people tend to look at a gambler and view him as being normal because he doesn't show or have any outward signs of being sick. He dresses great, goes to work everyday, raises a family and does all the things that a normal person does. Society in general doesn't have all the support groups like they do for drug addition with only the weekly meetings to go throught out the city. Health insurance doesn't cover any treatment because gambling is not viewed as a sickness, yet trust me it's more deadly then any drug, and causes just as much if not more grief and heartache then anything. More marriages and homes are destroyed, houses and businesses lost. See gamblers are well liked people with great personalities , and for the most part are very very successful in what they do.,which is one of the reasons they can't stop, they are also so competive with that success that they have achieved they can't understand why they can't do the same gambling.Yes maybe Charles Barkley say's as long as he can afford it he doesn't have a problem , but i have seen many big shots lose everything with way more then he has This is a problem that never goes away and needs to be worked on every single day.
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Bob,
Thank you for that contribution. That's why I wrote the piece. Gambling addiction is so difficult to tackle for all the reasons you point out. I am not a prohibitionist by any meansbut a lot more study needs to be put into the field of gambling addiction since it is obviously part of our culture and not going away any time soon.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: bob lancione | May 16, 2008 12:35 PM
Could you imagine Barkley in the WSOP... Him and Helmuth would make for great television....
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Nate,
Can you hear Barkley after he wins a pot from Hellmuth....
Phil, that was a terrible play, just terrible. That was just crazy.
Then Phil calls Charles a donkey and, well, as you say ... great television.
-- Bill O
Posted by: Nate | May 16, 2008 1:16 PM
Like many others who visit Vegas, it seems even the rich easily lose perspective on how much they spend, lose, or possibly win in the casinos.
The hypnotic ability of the city is amazing (not necessarily in a positive manner) when you think about it. People will lose 6 months of mortgage payments on a night of blackjack and not bat an eye, but if that same amount were stolen from their home they'd have a coronary.
I cannot imagine even having $2 million to lose in life savings, let alone a disposable income far higher that would allow me to weather that storm.
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Jay,
When one strolls by the tables and see those tidy little stacks of colored chips, a green representing $25, a black for $100, a purple for $500 and you translate that, as you mention, into spending power, it does make you shake your head.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Jay Maduro | May 16, 2008 5:22 PM